August 9, 2024 - PBS News Hour full episode

GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On the "News Hour" tonight: Israel kills another senior Hamas commander in Lebanon, as the region sits on the brink of a wider war.

We travel to the border area, where thousands have already been displaced.

GEOFF BENNETT: Here in the U.S., a scorching summer is threatening Americans' way of life and life itself.

DR. JOHN BALBUS, Director, Office of Climate Change and Health Equity: The outdoor spaces are becoming uninhabitable now in places like the Desert Southwest.

AMNA NAWAZ: And as the Olympics near their close, the historic moments and remarkable images that have defined this year's Games.

(BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Israel continued its assault in Southern Gaza today.

It struck Khan Yunis, claiming that Hamas fighters still operate there.

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 21 Palestinians, according to medics at the city's Nasser Hospital.

One airstrike killed a Palestine TV journalist, his wife, and three daughters.

Another strike smashed into tents, housing displaced people in Al-Mawasi.

That's an area Israel had designated as a humanitarian zone.

GEOFF BENNETT: Israel also confirmed it killed a senior Hamas commander in a drone strike in Lebanon.

Meantime, diplomatic efforts intensified to head off an Iranian retaliation against Israel for the killing last week in Tehran of Hamas political leader and negotiator Ismail Haniyeh.

The U.S., Egypt and Qatar called on Hamas and Israel to meet next week in a bid to settle remaining disagreements over a cease-fire and hostage deal.

For some perspective on all this, we turn to Hussein Ibish, senior resident scholar at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

Thanks so much for being with us.

HUSSEIN IBISH, Senior Resident Scholar, Arab Gulf States Institute: It's great to be with you.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, the U.S. Qatar and Egypt are calling for a new round of cease-fire talks on August 15.

These three countries have been trying to mediate a deal for months now.

Might this time yield a different result, in your view?

HUSSEIN IBISH: It is possible.

Even though Prime Minister Netanyahu authorizing a hit on Ismail Haniyeh, who was the main Hamas negotiator, at least in the first sort of wave of efforts you have to go through to get to Hamas and Gaza -- you have to begin with Haniyeh and then go through that -- killing him was not conducive to making a deal.

Let's put it that way.

However, I do think both sides could stand to gain from a temporary pause in the war.

Both sides would enjoy getting their prisoners back.

They would look for political benefit from that.

And I think as the war is morphing from the original Israeli campaign to kind of destroy everything above ground that's of value into an insurgency versus counterinsurgency that's kind of open-ended, which I think is the war Hamas wanted to begin with when they launched the October 7 attack, as that's been going on, I think both sides could use time to regroup their militaries to prepare for this next round of fighting, which both appear perfectly happy with and both appear to want to go forward with indefinitely.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, this is the latest attempt by the Biden administration to end the war in Gaza, even as the region braces for an expected Iranian attack on Israel... HUSSEIN IBISH: Right.

GEOFF BENNETT: ... in retaliation for the assassination of the Hamas political leader, Haniyeh, in Tehran.

HUSSEIN IBISH: Right.

GEOFF BENNETT: So what more do you know about how and when Iran might respond?

HUSSEIN IBISH: Well, we don't know anything about it.

And what's really interesting is that time's a wasting, in the sense that you would have expected something more prompt if it was going to be a direct retaliation.

The reason that you haven't seen anything is probably the dilemma that Iran and its ally Hezbollah in Lebanon, which also lost their senior, most senior military chief of staff, Fuad Shukr, in a different Israeli assassination.

That's probably more of a significant loss to Hezbollah than Haniyeh to Iran, because Haniyeh was just kind of a figurehead, and the Iranian-Hamas alliance is a bit shaky.

But both sides are going to need to retaliate, because Iran was really humiliated by the way in which Israel exposed its penetration of Iranian intelligence by hitting Haniyeh in a safe house in Tehran.

The reason both of them have held back, in all likelihood, is that they're dealing with the dilemma of wanting to be seen to strike back and restore deterrence and show their continued strength without giving Israel either the reason for or an excuse for -- could be either, right, depending on which Israelis you're talking about -- to escalate even further because it is still true that neither Iran nor Hezbollah wants a regional war with Israel.

It isn't in their interests at all.

They have got caught up because of their own bad policies and their own mistakes in a series of tit for tat strikes with Israel, where Israel now has the advantage of kind of escalation dominance, you could say.

You know, they're the ones who are always pushing things forward.

And it's a difficult thing for Iran and Hezbollah to hit back without giving Israel another opportunity, excuse or need, depending on how you analyze it, to take the whole thing further towards a regional war that they don't want.

GEOFF BENNETT: So are you suggesting that Iran and its proxies are coordinating their response?

HUSSEIN IBISH: Without a doubt they're coordinating.

And Hezbollah leader Nasrallah said in his last speech, we will either act together or separately.

They're buying time, and they're buying time because they're in a bind, because they don't want a bigger war, but they have to do something.

And there have been many Israeli assassinations in Syria, in Iraq and in Iran that went unanswered.

This -- these could be other examples of that, but I don't think so.

I think both, Hezbollah especially, but also Iran, will feel the need to do something, but they really don't want to give Israel another opportunity to escalate even further because they fear a broader regional war, and a minority in Israel's cabinet does want a war for various reasons.

They think they can restore the credibility of the Israeli security state, and they think they can maybe deliver a strategic blow to Iran and its alliance, where so far in the post-October 7 environment, Israel has suffered strategic setbacks.

Iran doesn't care about Gaza or Hamas particularly, but they do care about Hezbollah, who's supposed to protect Iran from an American or Israeli strike, especially on Iran's nuclear facilities.

That's their role.

So Iran doesn't want to waste that Trump card on a place, Gaza, they don't care about, and an unreliable ally in Hamas.

GEOFF BENNETT: Hussein Ibish, thanks so much for walking us through all this.

We appreciate it.

HUSSEIN IBISH: You're very welcome.

Thank you so much.

AMNA NAWAZ: The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah began the day after the Hamas October attacks last year, with the militants striking Israel's north with rockets and artillery.

GEOFF BENNETT: We have reported on the toll on Northern Israel and lives lost and lives disrupted by evacuations and displacement due to the violent clashes.

Now special correspondent Simona Foltyn takes us to the Lebanese side of the border.

SIMONA FOLTYN: A race against time as fighting and flames engulf Southern Lebanon.

We are with the Lebanese Civil Defense in Khiyam, one of the hot spots of a widening war between Hezbollah and Israel.

Since fighting began in October, there's been a sharp increase in fires here.

During all of last year, this team responded to a total of 55 fires.

Now it's more than 20 per month.

The vast majority have been caused by Israeli bombardment, and as Salem Zarush and his colleagues deploy, there's no guarantee that the shelling has stopped.

SALEM ZARUSH, Lebanese Civil Defense (through translator): We're afraid because we're going to a dangerous area, an area under bombardment.

Of course there's fear.

Maybe we will come back.

Maybe we won't.

SIMONA FOLTYN: They have to work fast and get out of what is an active war zone.

We are about two miles from the closest Israeli position, well within reach of Israeli tanks.

The planes around Khiyam have been pounded with Israeli strikes every single day.

And the civil defense is the first one to respond on site.

But they have very little equipment to contain the fire, no protective clothing to shield them from flames, no bulletproof vests to dampen the impact of incoming fire.

The Civil Defense is Lebanon's public emergency service, but their chief admits resources are scarce.

Lebanon's state collapsed long before this conflict flared.

ANIS ALBA, Lebanese Civil Defense (through translator): Of course, we need a lot of things.

Our cars break down a lot.

They're more than 20 years old.

We lack personal protective gear like body armor, vests and helmets.

We are working with our bare flesh.

SIMONA FOLTYN: The broken wind shield a reminder that first responders have not been spared.

The IDF has killed more than 20 paramedics since the conflict began, according to a U.N. tally.

Despite the risk, they persevere.

SALEM ZARUSH (through translator): We have to answer the call and protect the people's livelihoods.

The people trust us.

They're expecting us to respond.

SIMONA FOLTYN: Salem has a wife and two small children.

SALEM ZARUSH (through translator): Our mission has become more important than our children.

Our families have stayed and they endure the pressure alongside us.

SIMONA FOLTYN: They spot another fire further uphill.

We drive towards it, passing residential buildings damaged in recent fighting.

Most of Khiyam's residents have fled, leaving their homes, their beloved olive groves and pomegranate trees at the mercy of the bombs.

The few civilians left are Syrian refugees who have nowhere to go.

Once again trapped by conflict, all they can do is help the understaffed Civil Defense.

SALEM ZARUSH (through translator): We have become few.

The volunteers who used to help us have left with their families, so we are forced to deploy in small numbers.

SIMONA FOLTYN: Soon after we leave, the shelling of Khiyam resumes.

Along with allied Palestinian and Lebanese armed groups, Hezbollah uses these areas as a launching pad for attacks on Israel.

But Israeli strikes on Lebanon are far more numerous, and in addition to taking out fighters, they have killed dozens of civilians and destroyed civilian infrastructure.

That day, this pharmacy was hit.

Hussain Idriss fled Khiyam months ago with an airstrike leveled a nearby house.

The shockwave ripped through his apartment.

So this is your balcony?

HUSSAIN IDRISS, Displaced From Khiyam (through translator): All the glass broke.

I quickly packed my stuff, got into the car and drove off to Beirut.

SIMONA FOLTYN: He has since rented this apartment in a neighboring village.

HUSSAIN IDRISS (through translator): In my opinion, Israel targets the civilian infrastructure so that people vacate these areas.

Of course, a pharmacy isn't a military post.

The same way Israel has empty areas, they want us to have empty areas.

The same way they have been displaced, they want us to be displaced.

SIMONA FOLTYN: This tit for tat has created a no-go zone for civilians.

The only safe way to get there is with U.N. peacekeepers, known here as UNIFIL.

We are headed for the U.N. blue line separating Lebanon and Israel.

As we approach, the gunner ducks inside and closes the lid.

From now on, we're not allowed to leave the armored vehicles.

LT. COL. JOSE IRISARRI, UNIFIL: We are not the target, but maybe one attack could fall close to the patrol.

SIMONA FOLTYN: Lieutenant Colonel Jose Irisarri is part of a Spanish battalion.

Do you think that your presence and these patrols have any impact in terms of calming the situation?

LT. COL. JOSE IRISARRI: It's the only way to avoid an open war in the south.

UNIFIL wasn't here, the level of attacks and the kind of attacks would be much worse.

SIMONA FOLTYN: The destruction tells us we're getting closer to the blue line.

On the other side of this wall lies Israel.

The Lebanese village of Kfarkela has become a ghost town.

We haven't seen a single civilian except for a few paramedics.

The village is entirely deserted, and this is not just Kfarkela.

This is what the entire border areas look like.

A quick stop at a U.N. post not far from the triangle where Lebanon, Israel and Syria meet.

The official borders have yet to be demarcated.

Much of this land remains disputed, a matter that further complicates a resolution to this long-lasting conflict.

LT. COL. JOSE IRISARRI: There are so many factors.

They have to get in agreement with so many people.

SIMONA FOLTYN: The Blue Helmets have been here since Israel first invaded Lebanon in 1978 and are supposed to help the Lebanese Armed Forces, or LAF, keep these areas free of Hezbollah.

But UNIFIL has no mandate to use force.

These bullets are only for self-defense.

Throughout the patrol, we see very little of the Lebanese army.

The international community and also the Israeli government are pushing for the Lebanese army to take over security in this area, but we don't see them with you.

LT. COL. JOSE IRISARRI: Twenty percent of our patrols are with the LAF soldiers.

SIMONA FOLTYN: Which is not much.

LT. COL. JOSE IRISARRI: But it's what -- nowadays, we are -- no, it's not mess.

We are pushing to the patrols of the Lebanese army to participate as much as possible with us.

SIMONA FOLTYN: The ground truth is that Hezbollah, formed in the 1980s to fight the Israeli occupation of Lebanon, has become more powerful than the army.

This latest conflict is bolstering its already strong position and once again turning Lebanon's south into a battleground.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Simona Foltyn on Lebanon's border with Israel.

AMNA NAWAZ: Severe weather starts our day's other headlines.

The East Coast is experiencing heavy rains and flooding as the last remnants of the post-Tropical Cyclone Debby moved north.

Flash flooding warnings stretch from the Carolinas up through Maine, with Pennsylvania and New York potentially hardest hit.

Tornadoes also remain a threat.

In Vermont, still reeling from flooding earlier this summer, officials today updated the state of emergency to include the impact from Debby.

JENNIFER MORRISON, Commissioner, Vermont Department of Public Safety: There will be damage.

There will be various types of flooding.

It will be a challenging next 18 hours, but we will get through it.

Stay safe and take care of each other.

AMNA NAWAZ: The death toll from Debby has risen to eight after a tree fell on a home in North Carolina yesterday, killing a 78-year-old woman.

Russia, meanwhile, declared a federal emergency today in the country's Kursk region, where officials say they have evacuated 3,000 civilians.

That comes four days after hundreds of Ukrainian troops crossed the border in what's believed to be the largest attack on Russian soil since the war started.

Also today, a Russian missile strike on a shopping mall in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region killed at least 14 people, injuring 44 more.

The U.N. reports that July was the deadliest month for Ukrainian civilians since October of 2022.

An airplane carrying 61 people crashed in Brazil's Sao Paulo state today.

Brazilian airline Voepass said the aircraft was en route to Sao Paulo's international airport when it came down in a residential area in the city of Vinhedo.

Footage on social media shows a fiery wreckage just steps from people's homes.

The airline has confirmed there were no survivors.

The cause of the accident is not yet known.

A California man was sentenced to 20 years in prison today for attacking police during the January 6 Capitol riots.

Authorities say that David Nicholas Dempsey, seen here at a tunnel entrance to the Capitol, used flag poles and other makeshift weapons to assault officers who were trying to hold back rioters.

His sentence is one of the longest out of the hundreds of prosecutions related to January 6.

In Austria, authorities say that they have arrested a third person in connection with a foiled plot to attack fans outside Taylor Swift concerts this week with knives and explosives.

Two Austrian teenagers were arrested on Wednesday.

Officials say they were inspired by ISIS and al-Qaida.

Austria's interior minister said today the third suspect is an 18-year-old Iraqi citizen.

GERHARD KARNER, Austrian Interior Minister (through translator): He was in contact with the main perpetrator, but according to the state of the investigation, he is not directly connected to the attack plans.

But there was indication that he took an oath of allegiance to the Islamic State group a few days ago.

AMNA NAWAZ: Though the concerts were canceled, some fans decided to make the most of the situation.

Hundreds gathered in Vienna to sing Taylor Swift songs and to commiserate.

Swift travels to London next week for the final leg of her European tour.

On Wall Street today, stocks closed out a roller coaster week with modest gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average added about 50 points, helping to erase those losses from earlier in the week.

The Nasdaq rose 85 points, or about half-a-percent.

The S&P 500 also ended higher on the day.

Still to come on the "News Hour": Jonathan Capehart and Eliana Johnson give their view on Kamala Harris' new running mate; how Ferguson, Missouri has changed 10 years after Mike Brown's death sparked massive protests'; and the photographs that have captured history at this year's Olympic Games.

GEOFF BENNETT: It has been a deadly summer.

Extreme heat from across the country has killed dozens of people.

The Biden administration recently announced new rules to protect workers in communities from extreme weather, but it may not come soon enough.

In Maricopa County, Arizona, which includes Phoenix, there have been nearly 450 suspected heat-related deaths this summer.

Stephanie Sy has this report from the Valley of the Sun.

STEPHANIE SY: Summer steamrolled into Phoenix fast and furious, NOAA concluding it's been one of the hottest summers on record, and heat has been suspected in hundreds of deaths, including that of a 10-year-old boy on a hike.

The outdoors can be dangerous at this time of year.

Living outdoors is even more so.

At any given time each summer, some 9,500 people are unhoused in Maricopa County; 49-year-old Jerome Lee is one of them.

JEROME LEE, Unhoused: I mean, my head was -- I was dizzy.

I had a headache.

This heat is hot over here in Phoenix.

STEPHANIE SY: Lee got a saline I.V.

to rehydrate him.

He'd been drinking.

Alcohol can increase the risk of heat illness.

PERLA PUEBLA, Associate Medical Director, Circle the City: We're hoping we can help save some lives with the I.V.

Hydration.

STEPHANIE SY: Perla Puebla works with the nonprofit organization Circle the City, which this summer is trying to meet the most vulnerable where they are.

PERLA PUEBLA: We did encounter a lot of patients last year that needed I.V.

hydration, but they didn't want to go to the emergency room.

They didn't want to leave other belongings behind.

STEPHANIE SY: Last year, 645 people died in Maricopa County from the heat, the most ever recorded.

Almost half the victims were homeless, and over 60 percent had alcohol or drugs in their system.

DR. JOHN BALBUS, Director, Office of Climate Change and Health Equity: Heat is the most readily observable and most attributable adverse health effect of a warming planet.

STEPHANIE SY: Physician John Balbus is the director of the Biden administration's new Office of Climate Change and Health Equity.

How bad are things?

Has there been like a sea change in the risk here?

DR. JOHN BALBUS: The really disturbingly high death tolls that we were talking about in places like Maricopa County are saying that the outdoor spaces are becoming uninhabitable now in places like the Desert Southwest, where the temperatures are getting so high and the heat waves are lasting so long and those minimum temperatures are so high, that people who are suffering in our society, suffering from poverty, suffering from mental illness are at highest risk.

STEPHANIE SY: Another high-risk group, outdoor workers.

Filiberto Lares' job involves ferrying food to planes around the tarmac of Phoenix's main airport, where temperatures can run three to five degrees hotter than surrounding areas.

His truck doesn't have air conditioning.

FILIBERTO LARES, Driver, LSG Sky Chefs: We have to stay there in our cabin.

I think that, when you go to the shopping, when you go to the parking, how is your car, how hot it is.

STEPHANIE SY: He's done this job for 11 years, but now, at 56, he's working mostly at night to avoid the worst of the heat.

FILIBERTO LARES: I got problems with my feet on the summer.

I feel like my feet are burning.

So, as soon as I finish my shift, I got to take my shoes off.

STEPHANIE SY: A new ordinance in Phoenix requires employers to provide access to water, rest and shade.

The new rule also ensures access to air conditioning in vehicles, but won't go into effect until next May, which mean Lares has several more weeks of extreme temperatures to sweat through.

FILIBERTO LARES: I was thinking if I'm going to make it this year.

Now we are on July, so I said half of the season, I can make it.

So, I'm fighting.

I'm fighting to do it.

STEPHANIE SY: It's an occupational hazard that is getting worse every year.

For some, the risks aren't on the job, but at home; 73-year-old DeAnna Mireau divides her time between playing piano in retirement communities and serving as president of the Arizona Association of Manufactured Homeowners.

She says she's an advocate for residents.

DEANNA MIREAU, President, Arizona Association of Manufactured Homeowners: Forty percent of all indoor heat-related deaths occur in mobile homes in Arizona.

STEPHANIE SY: In her home, she added window treatments to block out the sun.

Outside, she's installed awnings and planted large bushes for shade.

DEANNA MIREAU: I said from the minute we moved to Arizona, if people took the measures to keep the -- keep your house warm and keep the cold out like they do in Michigan, all right, they don't seem to do that here in Arizona.

STEPHANIE SY: And older mobile homes are heat magnets because they're not as well insulated, she says.

DEANNA MIREAU: They don't have the dual-pane windows.

They're not necessarily designed to keep the heat out as well as a site-built home.

STEPHANIE SY: Just down the road, Trahnel and Brian Mays' mobile home was built in 1973.

TRAHNEL MAYS, Mobile Home Owner: Our last electricity bill was over $350 for this small trailer.

BRIAN MAYS, Mobile Home Owner: Like when it's this hot, I have got it set at 78 and it's running 82, 83, sometimes all the way up 85 in here, which isn't the end of the world.

But when you have got -- you know your air conditioner is running that long, you know it's going to hurt at the end of the month.

STEPHANIE SY: Trying to stay safe from heat while conserving their limited finances is a challenge.

TRAHNEL MAYS: We just -- we don't go out to eat.

I try to buy everything on sale.

We don't buy a lot of extra stuff.

We don't treat ourselves.

STEPHANIE SY: And to make matters worse, Trahnel is on disability and Brian was unable to work until recently because of a kidney transplant.

Their preexisting conditions raised their risk for heat-related health problems.

TRAHNEL MAYS: I have type 1 diabetes, and if I get to a point where I start getting nauseated, I know that it's gone too far and I'm just going to be dehydrated.

And then, once I start throwing up, I have to go right to the hospital.

STEPHANIE SY: But making places like Phoenix safer outdoors and indoors in a warming climate is possible, says Dr. John Balbus.

DR. JOHN BALBUS: There's a difference between saying the temperature is increasing and saying that there's nothing we can do to help people and that the deaths we're seeing are all because of climate change.

It's that balance of the warming of the planet and our effectiveness of our measures to protect people.

STEPHANIE SY: In an already deadly summer, that protection can't come soon enough.

For the PBS "News Hour," I'm Stephanie Sy in Phoenix.

AMNA NAWAZ: We're at a major point in the presidential race now with both tickets fully set.

On that, we turn to the analysis of Capehart and Johnson.

That is Jonathan Capehart, associate editor for The Washington Post, and Eliana Johnson, editor in chief of The Washington Free Beacon.

David Brooks is away.

Good to see you both.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Hi, Amna.

ELIANA JOHNSON, Editor in Chief, The Washington Free Beacon: Hi, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: So we now just had our first full week with both tickets fully set.

Harris and Walz have been on the battleground blitz.

They have been taking this message to voters.

Take a listen.

KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: We believe in our country.

We believe in each other.

We believe in the collective.

We're not falling for these folks who are trying to divide us, trying to separate us.

AMNA NAWAZ: As you know, Senator Vance has also been on that battleground blitz, largely alone, but Mr. Trump held his first press conference at Mar-a-Lago, his first, rather, since the full Democratic ticket was set.

Take a listen.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: Because I'm leading by a lot and because I'm letting their convention go through.

She's not smart enough to do a news conference.

AMNA NAWAZ: Jonathan, though, from the Walz rollout to strong fund-raising numbers, it's been a good week for the Democrats.

Can this sustain for the next several weeks?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: It's been a great week for the Democrats after the last three months that they put themselves through with all the yelling and screaming at each other and pushing the president off the ticket.

But enthusiasm's up.

The fund-raising's up.

The spirit among Democrats is up.

And yet all things that are up must come down.

And the thing that the rank-and-file Democrats have to prepare themselves for the bad press that's about to come, the attack that might land, the punch that might land.

The thing that Democrats also have to keep in mind is that Vice President Harris is fully aware of that, that she's been saying to her team, right now, this might be a sugar high.

We have to keep our eye, our focus on November.

And so knowing that the vice president is thinking in that way gives me confidence that, when the momentum starts to slag or when they get punched really hard with an effective attack, that they will be ready to parry it.

I -- I'm sorry.

I just lost my train of thought.

(LAUGHTER) JONATHAN CAPEHART: There was another really good thing I was about to say.

AMNA NAWAZ: It will come back to you.

Let me know when it does.

But response to that, if you can, Eliana, I mean, this idea that Trump and Vance are still sort of adjusting a bit to this ticket.

Is it clear to you what the strategy is to go after the Harris/Walz ticket?

And, also, why haven't we seen Mr. Trump out on the trail more?

ELIANA JOHNSON: You know, all of us here are following this race really closely right now, but the campaign doesn't really begin in earnest until after Labor Day.

The challenge for Trump and Vance right now is dominating a national news cycle, which, given all the news around the Democrats, the Harris campaign has been dominating those news cycles.

So, in terms of the rallies, I can understand why he's not doing a ton of them right now.

They're big events.

They're very expensive.

His time is probably actually better spent doing these press conferences, like you saw him do yesterday, where he had the entire attention of the national media for an hour.

And his point there was to draw a contrast with Vice President Harris to say, I'm doing press conferences.

I'm taking questions from the press.

She's not.

AMNA NAWAZ: What about that press conference?

Please, Jonathan, go ahead.

(LAUGHTER) JONATHAN CAPEHART: OK.

I mean, talk about contrast.

Fine.

Donald Trump has done rallies, but he's all upset because he's done rallies in the same spaces where Vice President Harris has done rallies and hasn't gotten the same size crowd, which is why, when he was asked about crowd size, he went off the deeper end of the deep end.

Look, just because you stand before the press doesn't mean that what you're saying is doing you any good.

And I'm so glad you showed the vice president and then followed by showing just a snippet of Donald Trump's press conference, because what we saw are two completely different visions for the country, but also two different campaigns.

Vice President Harris and Governor Walz, they are happy warriors.

They are talking about, we're in this for you, in this together, together, we can move the country forward.

And Donald Trump is still stirring the grievances of the last four years, last eight years, if you want to go all the way back to his start of his campaign, a very heavy, dark vision for the country that I don't think is going to sit well once we really do get into the campaign in the fall.

AMNA NAWAZ: Eliana, what do you make of that, also this idea that, while we have seen Mr. Trump continue with personal attacks and kind of veering way off-message, we have seen from Senator Vance focusing now on Tim Walz's military career?

This is a new line of attack we have seen open up from Republicans.

We know Mr. Walz served in the Army National Guard for 24 years before retiring, and we have heard Vance attack him in this way from time to time.

SEN. J.D.

VANCE (R-OH), Vice Presidential Candidate: I did it honorably, and I'm very proud of that service.

When Tim Walz was asked by his country to go to Iraq, you know what he did?

He dropped out of the Army and allowed his unit to go without him.

AMNA NAWAZ: Eliana, this is so reminiscent of that swift-boating attack on John Kerry back in 2004.

We know the same man is behind it.

He's running the Trump campaign now, Chris LaCivita.

Why run with these attacks when there's no evidence for what they're saying right now?

ELIANA JOHNSON: Well, I do think there's some evidence for what they're saying, but let's look at it in two parts.

One is the issue on the merits, where I think there's no question Tim Walz has padded and inflated his resume.

And the second is... (CROSSTALK) ELIANA JOHNSON: ... his military resume.

AMNA NAWAZ: In what way specifically?

(CROSSTALK) ELIANA JOHNSON: Well, J.D.

Vance mentioned that the timing of his retirement is suspect, and I think it would take a little bit longer to talk about the timeline of that.

But the... (CROSSTALK) AMNA NAWAZ: He's alleging that he retired because his unit was being deployed.

ELIANA JOHNSON: Right.

He knew that they were going to be called up.

He had gotten a warning that they were going to be called up, and he said in a press release for his campaign, if called up, I have a duty to serve.

He didn't do that.

It's clear he has -- he's inflated this, and he's made it a part of his biography.

By the way, this has been an issue in every single one of Walz's campaigns.

But, separately, I think there's a question of, how significant is this going to be down the road?

You mentioned the swift-boat veterans.

Those attacks were effective, but they were levied against the presidential nominee of the Democratic Party, John Kerry, back in 2004... AMNA NAWAZ: We should say they were also discredited.

ELIANA JOHNSON: ... which is different.

And so this race is not going to be won or lost based on attacks made on either J.D.

Vance or Tim Walz.

It's going to be about Trump and the Harris/Biden record.

So I don't think they're -- that this is actually likely to be a very significant issue down the line.

AMNA NAWAZ: Jonathan, please -- your face... (CROSSTALK) AMNA NAWAZ: I don't know how to react.

(LAUGHTER) JONATHAN CAPEHART: It's a spurious charge.

The man served his country for, what, 24 years?

And, sure, this is a race between Trump and Harris.

And if you're going to talk about military record and military service, Donald Trump has none.

And so let's just put that to the side.

I remembered what I was going to say in that first -- and the thing is, Vice President Harris is not afraid of Donald Trump, which is why I think she has been very effective on the trail in terms of reacting in the most minimal way possible to the racism and sexism and misogyny that he's been hurling at her since she got to the top of the ticket.

AMNA NAWAZ: At the same time, the criticisms being levied at the top of the ticket on the Democratic side are valid.

She has not yet sat for an interview since she moved to the top of the ticket.

We also haven't really seen any kind of policy rollout, right, which leaves a lot of voters wondering, if you're voting for Harris/Walz, are you essentially voting for the same policies as Biden/Harris?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: It's a legitimate concern.

I also think it is one that the Harris/Walz team is fully aware of.

It's also we are a week out from the Democratic National Convention, which will be her opportunity and his opportunity, but specifically for the vice president, to lay out in some detail before -- to the American people, the largest audience she will probably get during the campaign, her vision for the country more specifically.

I mean, her campaign speech is fantastic in terms of rallying the nation and trying to unify the nation, heal the nation compared to the other ticket.

But there are gaps.

Like, what is her economic policy?

What are some specifics of her international relations, her view of the United States on the world stage, what a Harris administration would be doing?

Those are all legitimate questions, and I'm confident we will find out.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, the context for all of this, of course, is what we're seeing in the polls, that Harris has been rising since she was moved to the top of the ticket.

Our latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll says that she's four points higher than she was about two weeks ago.

She's now leading Mr. Trump 51 to 48.

Cook Political Report this week moved three battleground states, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada, from lean Republican to toss-up.

Eliana, when Republicans look at that, not just at when you're talking about the presidential race, but are they worried about downballot implications here?

ELIANA JOHNSON: I don't think so.

The scenario before was the Democrats saying, this is a catastrophe.

Now what we have is a toss-up race.

There's no question Harris is a more competitive candidate.

The situation isn't a catastrophe for Republicans.

Now we're back to a jump ball race.

And I think what the Trump campaign needs to keep in mind and the candidate would do well to keep in mind is that he actually retains an issue advantage on the economy and on immigration.

And any day that he spends not talking about those two issues, which are of the utmost importance to voters, is a wasted day.

AMNA NAWAZ: These are also issues sure to come up in a debate, Jonathan, which we now believe will happen on September 10.

Both Vice President Harris and former President Trump have agreed to that.

We saw the impact the last presidential debate had on the contours of this race.

Could this one have a similar impact?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: It could.

It all depends on what happens.

It depends on what Donald Trump says during the debate.

It depends on how the vice president reacts to whatever Donald Trump says on the stage.

It depends on what she says in terms of staking out new policy positions or says something or has a gaffe, the other has a gaffe.

We will all be watching that debate, I think, with the same amount of anxiousness and anticipation that we did the June 27 debate, but for different reasons, because now, with these two tickets, they're both on firm, solid ground, and the stakes -- now folks can really focus on the stakes of November.

AMNA NAWAZ: How do you look at that?

ELIANA JOHNSON: Well, the last debate was hugely important for Joe Biden.

He had to show that he could perform, and he didn't.

This debate is really important for Donald Trump, because he needs to force Kamala Harris out of the controlled settings that she's engineered for herself.

She said she'd sit for a debate this month at some point.

We're three weeks to go in this month.

He has got to get her talking extemporaneously.

That has never gone very well for her.

And he's got to force her to answer for why she's turned 180 degrees on issues from fracking to Medicare for all.

And those are things that I don't have a lot of faith in the media to press.

I don't have a lot of faith in her sitting for interviews.

He's got to take matters into his own hands on a debate stage.

AMNA NAWAZ: One month to go before we believe that debate will happen, and we will see.

Eliana Johnson, Jonathan Capehart, thank you so much.

Great to see you both.

ELIANA JOHNSON: Thank you.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: You too, Amna.

GEOFF BENNETT: It's been 10 years since 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

His death at the hands of police sparked massive protests and put the city in the national spotlight.

Our communities correspondent, Gabrielle Hays, returned to Ferguson to see what's changed a decade later.

PRECIOUS BARRY, Resident of Ferguson, Missouri: I was in my grandmother's room, and we saw it on the local news.

And I saw the tragedy of just the police brutality going on.

I saw the protesters outside.

I saw the rioters.

And I remember asking myself the question, what could I do at such an early age to make sure that we can rectify those injustices?

Hello, everybody.

My name is Precious Barry.

I have lived in Ferguson my whole life.

MICHAEL HOLLIS, Resident of Ferguson, Missouri: My name is Michael Hollis, and I have lived in Ferguson over 20 years.

Yes, I just remember kind of being angry, kind of talking about it.

We were young, man.

We had no mature thoughts about it, I think.

It just sucked.

DARRIUS TURNER, Resident of Ferguson, Missouri: What I did notice is the way that my family and the people around me and the adults in my life started responding and reacting to me and the other little Black boys in my family and like in my friends, a lot of stuff like that.

They sheltered us a little more and they kept us a little, for fear of something like what happened to him happening to us.

My name is Darrius Turner.

I have lived in Ferguson for about five to six years.

JAMIE DENNIS, Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis: My name is Jamie Dennis, and I have worked in the city of Ferguson since 2014.

This was a pivotal moment in our country.

It kind of opened up the lid on implicit bias, the racism that has affected our community.

AARON HARRIS, Ferguson Youth Initiative: The murder of Michael Brown was the fire starter for a lot of the communities to begin to progress.

I'm Aaron Harris.

I have been employed by the Ferguson Youth Initiative since December of 2016.

MICHAEL HOLLIS: I think it was really just, we're done.

You know what I mean?

Like, this is it.

Like, you all done been pressing us all this time, and you took an innocent life.

Yes, it's just -- people were just sick of it.

MELANIE MARIE RANDELS, Chosen for Change: My name is Melanie Marie Randels, and I have lived in Ferguson for 10 years.

I moved to Ferguson three months before Mike Brown, when he was killed.

I feel like that kind of catapulted me into community organizing.

Ferguson 10 years later is full of community, still full of a lot of questions.

I think it's still promising for change that we hope to see.

Not quite there yet.

MICHAEL HOLLIS: I will say things potentially are getting in a better place, but not necessarily off of natural progression.

AARON HARRIS: There are signs of progress in Ferguson that I have noticed within City Council, within the city.

We're getting new shops in, new shop owners.

But as far as we have progressed, there's always going to be those people trying to stunt the growth or stunt the progression.

But I do believe that Ferguson is progressing and will continue to progress.

JAMIE DENNIS: I feel like there's more that needs to be done, because it's simply not enough.

The disparity continues to grow.

The attitude of the police department, it needs to shift as well,and also the attitude of the people in the community and kind of instill the pride that was once here maybe 15 or 20 years ago.

MELANIE MARIE RANDELS: Overall, systemic change seems to be where we are in need of.

There's definitely not enough of that.

PRECIOUS BARRY: I do think about what happened 10 years ago.

And what I would love to see more is more businesses in that community, more economic development that is going into that community, and just more people filled with love, filled with laughter, filled with joy all around, just being unified all at once.

MELANIE MARIE RANDELS: I just want Michael Brown Jr.'s legacy to be known as a young man who had a family, who had friends, who had a future.

I think, oftentimes, he was dehumanized.

His character was assassinated a lot.

And I just want people to remember him for who he was through those who love him.

JAMIE DENNIS: And I think Michael Brown should always go down in history and not infamy, but remembered as a person that did get chosen for change because what happened could have been prevented.

But since it didn't, we have to pick up our pieces and learn how we can prevent another Mike Brown from happening.

DARRIUS TURNER: We need to build the world and set up the world and change the world in a way where we can exist just like everybody else and not have to monitor and watch ourselves so much.

But until we get to that day, keep care - - take care of us and keep track of us.

GEOFF BENNETT: The Paris Olympics will come to a close on Sunday, and Team USA is eying a strong finish to these already golden Games.

AMNA NAWAZ: Earlier tonight -- and there are some spoilers here -- rain poured down at the Stade de France, but a slick track didn't slow down Sha'Carri Richardson, who anchored the U.S. women in the 4x100 meter relay and earned her first gold.

GEOFF BENNETT: Later, Rai Benjamin leapt to gold in the 400-meter hurdles, making it an American sweep after Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone's win in the same event yesterday.

And weight lifter Olivia Reeves made history,taking home the first weight lifting gold for the U.S. since Sydney back in 2000.

AMNA NAWAZ: The 14th day ended with the U.S. once again leading the field with 111 overall medals.

For more on the U.S. -- ups and downs, rather, of the Olympic Games, I'm joined now by Christine Brennan of USA Today, who joins us from Paris.

and these Games.

Christine, always great to see you.

Let's start with Noah Lyles, please.

He earlier won gold, of course, in that incredible 100-meter race, had to be wheeled off the track, though, after getting bronze in the 200-meter, later revealing he had a COVID diagnosis.

Let's just start with, what do we know about how he's doing?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, USA Today: Amna, we believe he's doing OK.

I mean, he's going to be fine.

But who would have ever thought that, after two straight COVID Olympics, Tokyo Summer Games three years ago, Beijing 2.5 years ago, the Winter Olympics, that we would be talking about COVID here in Paris, something that people did not expect?

But he did come to the stadium with a mask on.

He then, of course, took it off and raced and he won the bronze medal, and then, of course, collapsed.

And we all found out very quickly what had happened and what was transpiring with him and his medical condition.

He did not then run in the U.S. men's 4x100 relay.

You mentioned Sha'Carri Richardson leading the U.S. women to gold.

The U.S. men once again made a huge mistake.

This seems to be a problem with the United States.

The best sprinters in the world, the best men's sprinters in the world, and the U.S. has not won a medal in the 4x100 relay since the 2004 Athens Games, so 20 years now of mistakes, dropping the baton, not passing it within the time frame that they have to, just a comedy of errors.

So, without Noah Lyles, the U.S. men failed to win a medal in that relay, and Noah Lyles' Olympics is finished in obviously a very strange situation with the gold in the 100, as you said, but with that COVID diagnosis and certainly not performing as he had hoped in the 200.

AMNA NAWAZ: Big hopes, meanwhile, for the U.S. women's basketball team, which beat Australia in the semifinals, will now play France in a gold medal game.

What are their chances of winning an eighth straight gold medal?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN: I think they're really good.

I was there.

I was at that game earlier today on the Australia-U.S. Game.

I will say this.

The French, they know how to cheer, and they're loud and they have a great time doing it.

I was at the swimming venue with Leon Marchand winning his four gold medals and I don't think I have ever heard an arena so loud.

So I think the U.S. has got -- the women of their hands full in terms of the French crowd and having to fight that.

But the U.S. women should win this game on Sunday, but I do think it's going to be tough with that incredible home crowd of the French.

AMNA NAWAZ: When you look, Christine, sort of more broadly, there have been some really outstanding female athletes for Team USA these Games, Katie Ledecky, the swimmer, Simone Biles, of course, the greatest gymnast of all time, Sha'Carri Richardson, you mentioned,.

What do we know about their futures?

Are we going to see them compete again?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Katie Ledecky, yes.

Simone Biles, maybe, Sha'Carri Richardson, I would think so, although she kind of just stared off at the journalists when we asked about that tonight at the stadium.

Richardson is 24.

Ledecky and Biles are 27.

So Katie Ledecky would be 31 in L.A. Guaranteed, if she's healthy, she's competing at the L.A. Olympics.

Simone Biles, she said, "We will see."

I think everyone, the allure of competing on home soil in Los Angeles is going to drive a lot of these athletes to stick around.

And, of course, the U.S. women, as we are talking about here, have won 58 percent of U.S. medals.

So, once again, for the fourth straight Olympics, the U.S. women will win more medals than the U.S. men, which is, of course, a total result of Title IX.

AMNA NAWAZ: Women leading the way there.

Christine, indulge me if you can for just a moment in my sport of choice, field hockey, which we don't get to talk about a lot here.

But not only did the Dutch men's team take gold in an incredible, dramatic game that came down to a penalty shoot-out.

The Dutch women's team today also took gold in another penalty shoot-out.

I just want to ask, you must be seeing a sea of orange-clad supporters cheering for them.

Is that what you're saying in Paris?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Along the Champs Elysees, I have seen a lot of orange.

And I was wondering why until I realized what the Dutch were doing.

They're great.

I mean, they celebrate, obviously, as any nation does, a smaller nation, right?

And field hockey, a sport I played in high school as well, different sport now, but absolutely.

For a nation to do that and win both, that's extraordinary.

And when those countries, as you know -- U.S. wins a lot of medals.

China wins a lot of medals.

But for some of these nations, there's one or two, three golds is their entire Olympics, which makes it all the more fun.

And I bet you, if I opened my window, I'd hear them screaming out there right now in Paris in late evening after midnight.

AMNA NAWAZ: Christine, in the minute or so we have left, are there any big surprises, things that have stood out to you from these Games?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN: You know, I think beach volleyball, which I think most Americans associate with the women's team especially as winning the gold, both of our U.S. teams did not make it to the medals.

And so that surprised me.

I was there watching that, especially a sport that is now an NCAA sport.

And then Americans have come to realize and know that the U.S. women are terrific in it.

So, shut out there, I think that's a surprise.

And Simone Biles, as great as she was, with all of her wonderful performances, not being able to medal, falling off the balance beam, and then not winning the gold in the floor exercise.

Again, a terrific Olympics for Simone Biles, but a little bit of disappointment on that final day.

AMNA NAWAZ: Christine Brennan of USA Today joining us once again from Paris covering these Olympic Games.

Christine, always great to speak with you.

Thank you so much.

CHRISTINE BRENNAN: Amna, my pleasure.

Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, the last two weeks of Olympic competition have brought us record-breaking athleticism on a global stage like no other.

GEOFF BENNETT: Now we take a look back at the iconic images that defined this year's Olympic Games and talk to the photographers at Getty Images about what it was like to capture them.

NAOMI BAKER, Getty Images: I'm Naomi Baker, a photographer at Getty Images.

I'm covering the gymnastics here in Paris.

They're such incredible athletes, and the power that they have.

I mean, you take Simone, for example.

Like, the height she gets, it's just unbelievable.

So what you can show in your photos from what they do is just amazing opportunities to have.

CHARLES MCQUILLAN, Getty Images: I'm Charles McQuillan, photographer based in Ireland, here in France working at the Paris Olympics.

It's actually the first time I have ever shot the Olympics.

So, in some respects, I was going into it with fresh eyes, which is quite a good thing sometimes.

ADAM PRETTY, Getty Images: My name's Adam Pretty.

I'm a sports photographer with Getty Images.

And I'm currently at my 12th Olympic Games.

The reason I was so attracted to filming underwater or aquatic sports was just the beauty of light mixed with water and the unpredictability.

You can shoot swimming for 20 years - - and I have done -- and you still don't know exactly which way the water is going to fall, what's going to happen.

And it's that unexpected element, which I think is what makes, like, a beautiful sports picture.

MICHAEL HEIMAN, Vice President of Global Sport, Getty Images: My name is Michael Heiman.

I'm the vice president of global sport for Getty Images.

So the Summer Olympics are by far the biggest sporting event that we cover in the four-year cycle.

We cover every single day of competition, but it's over 10,000 athletes.

You have 35 venues.

We will shoot over five million images during these Games.

It's important because everyone has a camera nowadays in their pocket, right?

I think what's important for us as photojournalists is to capture those moments in a way that other people can't to really show the power of sport through a still image.

NAOMI BAKER: There are so many athletes.

And, in gymnastics, everything can happen.

For me, Simone is like the first big athlete I have photographed.

I want to say the number of photographers one day I think Simone was on the beam, it was 160 in one position.

And you think you're like, you're one in that.

So what are you going to do that's different than everyone else next to you?

She has all that pressure around her, but when she just does something, it's almost like it just comes so natural.

It's kind of amazing to watch.

And I feel like, in that photo, she almost just looks so poised, and she makes it look easy, basically.

CHARLES MCQUILLAN: Some people may be familiar with my photographs of Korean shooter Kim Ye-ji, which went viral during the Olympics.

It's quite a methodical, a very slow process for the athletes to shoot, so it's not an action-packed sport, per se.

So I kind of ended up reverting back to what I normally do, which is trying to capture faces maybe more than the actual shooting at times.

And I think that's what happened with Kim, because, straight away, to me, anyway, she was instantly striking.

She had a nonchalance, a kind of coolness that you could see straight away.

I actually said to one of my colleagues that she kind of looks like a movie assassin.

ADAM PRETTY: I mean, photographing swimming underwater is a big challenge.

I mean, there's so many little things that can go wrong.

In Paris, we have a new underwater robotic camera and it basically gives you full control over that camera as if you were underwater.

At the Olympics, I want to record history.

Like, if it's a big moment, like a world record, I want to get the best possible picture I can of that.

So you really need to be pretty knowledgeable about the sport and about the athlete.

I mean, once the athletes finish the race, especially in the spring races, it's often maybe a 10th of a second between first and last.

So you really have to pay attention to see who's won, and then it's tough to read the reactions.

Sometimes, you're on someone and they're not reacting and you're like, oh, they mustn't have won and you go off them, and they go crazy.

So you have really got to try and pay attention to who is actually winning the race.

And I think that's where you get some of those great pictures as well, when they just explode with emotion.

MICHAEL HEIMAN: You see emotion at the Olympics you don't always see in other sports.

And I think it's because, for certain disciplines, this is the top, top, top place you could ever be.

If you're a badminton player or a table tennis player or a speed climber, these athletes have trained their lives for these moments.

And I think they deserve to be seen.

AMNA NAWAZ: It's a whole story, every single one of those images.

Well, be sure to tune into "Washington Week With The Atlantic" tonight.

With the Democratic and Republican presidential tickets set, Jeffrey Goldberg and his panel look at the state of play in the 2024 matchup.

GEOFF BENNETT: And watch "PBS News Weekend" tomorrow for a look at an intervention program that's helping young people quit smoking e-cigarettes.

And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On behalf of the entire "News Hour" team, thank for joining us and have a great weekend.