August 6, 2024 - PBS News Hour full episode

AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

On the "News Hour" tonight: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz joins the Democratic ticket as Kamala Harris' vice presidential pick.

How he could bolster support in the Midwest.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tropical Storm Debby stalls over the Southeast, dumping torrential rains on Georgia and the Carolinas.

GEOFF BENNETT: And 140 stars over 50 years, the wall that memorializes CIA members who are rarely recognized publicly.

WILLIAM BURNS, CIA Director: The wall is not an abstraction.

Each of those stars has a profound human story behind them.

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

The contenders for this November's presidential race are officially set.

GEOFF BENNETT: Minnesota Governor Tim Walz is joining Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris as her running mate this November.

And he's joining her on stage tonight at a rally in Philadelphia.

AMNA NAWAZ: Walz is a familiar face in Minnesota and the halls of power in Washington, D.C., but a relative newcomer to the national stage.

Along a white picket fence in St. Paul, Minnesota today, a crowd gathers to send off Governor Tim Walz after getting the call from presidential nominee Kamala Harris to join the Democratic ticket.

KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: Listen, I want you to do this with me.

GOV.

TIM WALZ (D-MN), Vice Presidential Candidate: I would be honored, Madam Vice President.

AMNA NAWAZ: The duo is up against the Republican ticket of former President Donald Trump and Ohio Senator J.D.

Vance, who went after his newly named counterpart at a Philadelphia rally today.

SEN. J.D.

VANCE (R-OH), Vice Presidential Candidate: Tim Walz's record is a joke.

He's been one of the most far left radicals in the entire United States government at any level.

(CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) SEN. J.D.

VANCE: The reason I didn't say a whole lot about Tim Walz is because the Democrats have showed a willingness to pull a little switcheroo on us.

So I don't even know if we're actually going to get Tim Walz out of this campaign.

AMNA NAWAZ: Walz, a 60-year-old father of two, is currently in his second term as Minnesota governor, with a 54 percent state approval rating in a July Morning Consult survey and a reputation for a relatable, some say, folksy approach.

HOPE WALZ, Daughter of Tim Walz: I think we're going to go do the slingshot.

GOV.

TIM WALZ: Which I don't know what it is, and they're keeping it from me.

AMNA NAWAZ: And though he's racked up a substantial political record over nearly two decades in public office, Walz hasn't been very well-known outside his home state.

HOPE WALZ: Good job, dad.

GOV.

TIM WALZ: Oh, thanks, Hope.

AMNA NAWAZ: In 2020, that began to change.

GOV.

TIM WALZ: Generations of pain is manifesting itself in front of the world.

And the world is watching.

AMNA NAWAZ: After a police officer murdered George Floyd in Minneapolis, Walz condemned the killing, and, days later, after some protests turned violent, called in the National Guard to respond to rioters.

GOV.

TIM WALZ: Everything that we believe in, these people are trying to destroy.

So, if you are on the streets tonight, it is very clear, you are not with us.

You do not share our values.

And we will use the full strength of goodness and righteousness to make sure that this ends.

AMNA NAWAZ: The right criticized his response as slow, and Walz himself later acknowledged the -- quote -- "abject failure" of that response.

In 2023, after his party won control of the Minnesota House and Senate, Walz signed into law a laundry list of Democratic priorities, providing free meals to K-12 students, the largest child tax credit in the country, enshrining abortion rights into state law, increasing LGBTQ protections, legalizing marijuana, and granting voting rights to ex-offenders.

His selection by Harris is seen by some as a nod to the party's progressive wing.

JAKE TAPPER, CNN Host: Do you think your record is an asset to the ticket, or would it risk fueling Trump's attacks as you being a big government liberal?

GOV.

TIM WALZ: What a monster.

Kids are eating -- eating and having full bellies so they can go learn.

And women are making their own health care decisions.

And we're a top five business state and we also rank in the top three of happiness.

AMNA NAWAZ: But earlier in his career on Capitol Hill, he was known as a moderate.

GOV.

TIM WALZ: I intend to come here to Washington to provide authentic leadership.

AMNA NAWAZ: In 2006, he flipped his Minnesota U.S. House seat from red to blue, becoming the highest-ranking enlisted veteran ever in Congress.

Over six terms and a dozen years, he ranked among the most bipartisan lawmakers, supported ongoing operations in Iraq, while opposing more boots on the ground, pushed for a minimum wage hike and prescription drug cost negotiations, voted against President Obama's 2009 Wall Street bailout plan, but backed the Affordable Care Act.

Before entering politics, Walz served 24 years with the Army National Guard, enlisting at the age of 17, alongside his day job teaching high school social studies and coaching football.

In recent weeks leading up to his selection, Walz made a name for himself as a willing warrior for Harris.

Are you what this ticket needs to be able to beat the Trump/Vance ticket?

GOV.

TIM WALZ: Well, I don't know about that, Amna.

What I can tell you is, is that we will beat that ticket.

This chaos that Donald Trump brings, this dystopian view of America, Kamala Harris' joy, you can feel it.

AMNA NAWAZ: Going viral by branding the opposing ticket in this way.

GOV.

TIM WALZ: Well, it's true.

These guys are just weird.

AMNA NAWAZ: The Harris/Walz campaign will spend the next week touring swing states, with stops in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Arizona, and Nevada, as it introduces the country to a new national political player and potential future vice president.

One of the biggest challenges for the Harris/Walz campaign will be introducing Governor Walz to the American people.

Our new PBS/NPR/Marist poll out today shows that 71 percent of Americans don't know who he is.

For more on the Minnesota governor, I'm joined now by Twin Cities PBS reporter Mary Lahammer.

She's been following Walz's career for some 20 years.

Mary, good to see you.

Thanks for joining us.

MARY LAHAMMER, Twin Cities PBS: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: So you were outside his home earlier today as the news broke.

Tell me a little bit about what you heard from people out there.

MARY LAHAMMER: Yes, it was an interesting environment.

An organic crowd developed.

There were folks walking their dogs out on a morning run, a walk, and decided to stay, and they actually got to see him depart in the motorcade, and just started cheering for him out of the blue.

And then talking to them afterwards, they're excited.

Minnesotans like to play an outsized role in national politics.

They're kind of proud of it.

I think people are learning the statistic that if Walz wins three out of the last six Democratic vice presidents will be from Minnesota.

But as your poll shows, he's got to introduce himself to the nation.

AMNA NAWAZ: He does have an uphill battle there.

The vast majority of Americans don't know who he is or don't know what to think of him.

So the campaign, as we know, is already working to set that narrative with videos like this they released today.

GOV.

TIM WALZ: I coached football and taught social studies for 20 years.

And I tried to teach my students what small-town Nebraska taught me, respect, compromise, service to country.

And so when I went into government, that's what I carried with me.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, Mary, you have covered him for some 20 years.

What's the headline here for what people need to know about who is Tim Walz?

MARY LAHAMMER: Yes, I will go back to his very first run for office.

And I remember some trusted sources saying you got to get down to this rural Republican district where this football coach is actually making a race of it and eventually flipped the seat.

I went back and studied that debate and tried to kind of ascertain how much he has changed.

And it was interesting to me to see that he is still kind of -- was the fearless, self-effacing, but aggressive, quick kind of his feet.

So he's been able to debate and really pivot for a long time, but introducing himself to a national audience will be new.

He's used to the Minnesota press corps.

He's done a lot of national news, and was even surprised.

In our recent interview, we discussed how that Republicans are weird phrase, how we kind of coined that phrase.

And he was almost embarrassed, saying, oh, gosh, shucks.

I wasn't trying to be mean about it.

So we will see how those Midwestern tendencies go on the national stage.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, Mary, some folks are hailing his selection here as a nod to progressives of the Democratic Party.

But I had a Dem source tell me earlier today that he's actually much more moderate than many in the media make him out to be.

What do you make of that?

MARY LAHAMMER: It depends which office you're talking about.

When he was a member of Congress from a rural previously Republican district, he was much more of a moderate.

Then, when he became governor for the state and his lieutenant governor, Peggy Flanagan, definitely took him in more of a progressive stance.

And then he got an all-Democratic legislature, so ended up passing just a very large list of highly progressive items.

So, some folks say, was it a bait-and-switch?

He originally ran on this concept of one Minnesota.

We are still probably rather divided here.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, he is relatively popular at the state level, right?

He has a 54 percent approval rating in Minnesota.

What do his critics there say about him?

And could any of those become vulnerabilities on the national stage?

MARY LAHAMMER: Yes, a good portion of his time in office as governor has been in front of a divided legislature.

He recently had the all-Democratic trifecta.

But before that, he had a lot of critics, and he had a hard road in divided government.

Minnesota is a state, four Democrats, four Republicans in Congress.

We're slightly purple.

And folks here are very critical of his time during the pandemic in particular.

We had a lot of lockdowns.

Of course, we had the riots following George Floyd's murder and were very critical of him being slow to send the National Guard out.

Also, during the pandemic, we had the largest fraud in the Feeding Our Future fraud case.

I think the governor will probably be talking about the fact that those cases have been brought to justice, and there have been convictions in both of those instances.

AMNA NAWAZ: Big week for Minnesota.

We know you will be covering his career moving forward as well.

That is Mary Lahammer of Twin Cities PBS joining us tonight.

Mary, thank you.

Good to see you.

MARY LAHAMMER: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar has known Governor Walz and worked with him for years, and she joins us now.

Welcome back to the "News Hour."

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): Well, thanks, Geoff.

It's wonderful to be back on.

GEOFF BENNETT: Most voters are only now getting to know about Governor Walz and his background.

You know him well.

You were with him last night, in fact, at a private fund-raiser for the Harris campaign.

In your view, what are his strengths?

How does he boost the technology?

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR: He's someone that is heartland all the way.

He grew up in Nebraska and a farm, came out to Minnesota, signed up for the National Guard at age 17.

And then he became a teacher, taught geography, always good to know in Washington, and then a high school football coach, and then went on to serve in the Guard and in 2006 ran for Congress.

And I think some of this gets lost in all the stories.

But he was actually in one Congress in the top 10 bipartisan members of Congress, served on the Vets Committee, the Ag Committee, did a lot on veteran suicides and a lot on veterans issues in general and was very well-liked in Congress, and from there ran for governor.

So I think it's really important people see this as someone who comes from humble roots, is someone who loves his country and has led students, has led soldiers, and, of course, has led our state in a very good way as governor, and always a unifying, optimistic force.

And I think that you see that joy in how he campaigns and what he will bring to the ticket.

GEOFF BENNETT: The Trump campaign is already pouncing, calling him dangerously liberal and saying that the Harris/Walz ticket is the most left-wing ticket in American history.

He has championed progressive causes.

How do you expect that he will defend his record?

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR: Well, I went through how bipartisan he was and what he's done and how he won in a district, a rural district, one of only two Democrats in 100 years that ran and won in that district, and did it over and over and over again.

And then the other thing I would say is, I think he's probably the first vice president that has stood in a deer stand in 10-degree Minnesota weather for hours and hours at a time.

So I'm actually looking forward to that debate with J.D.

Vance, because Tim Walz is himself.

He's loved and he's blunt.

Last night, there we are before he's going to be picked as vice president.

He's walking around, no notes, giving a speech, always happy.

And I just think that kind of joy has been missing in our politics.

And he's able to respond to attacks, whether they're about he's too progressive or he's too this or he's too conservative, whatever it is.

He does it with humor and facts.

And that's a pretty good combination in politics today.

GEOFF BENNETT: I'm told by sources familiar that what solidified V.P.

Harris' pick of Walz was their chemistry, that, when they met Sunday at her residence, that she viewed him as a peer, someone that she could trust and someone with whom she could govern.

That said, though, there are Democrats who wonder if the Pennsylvania governor, Josh Shapiro, who has like a 61 percent approval rating in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania being a state that Democrats need to win with its 19 electoral votes in order to win the White House, if picking Walz was the right strategic choice.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR: You know, I have so much respect for Governor Shapiro.

I really, really like him.

And I also love Mark Kelly, who's a close friend of mine.

And many of the other people, Pete Buttigieg, were just incredible choices for this job.

And in the end, it was the vice president's decision.

And I think that chemistry matters.

The fact that he's from the Midwest, when you have got states like Wisconsin and Michigan at stake, the fact that Pennsylvania, as Bob Casey has told me over and over again, you have got a whole half of that state that looks a lot more like the Midwest.

And that would be the Western half of Pennsylvania.

I know.

I campaigned there for president.

That feels very Midwest and associates with the Midwest.

So I think you're going to see a ticket.

And Kamala Harris, she decided to bring someone in that was different than herself.

And I think that's a really big strength, has a way different background as a high school teacher and as someone who has served our -- in our military.

I think those are real virtues and will it be especially good pairing with J.D.

Vance when it comes to a debate.

They doubled down on the Hulk Hogan factor, and Kamala Harris decided to go to someone that was different than herself.

GEOFF BENNETT: Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar, thanks so much for joining us this evening.

We appreciate it.

(CROSSTALK) SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR: It was great to be on.

Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: With Tim Walz on the Democratic ticket, it's still shaping up to be another razor-thin election.

GEOFF BENNETT: A new poll from PBS News, NPR and Marist shows Kamala Harris with a three-point lead over Donald Trump nationally.

That's within the poll's margin of error.

For more details on where the race stands, we're joined now by Domenico Montanaro, senior political editor and correspondent for NPR.

It's great to have you back.

DOMENICO MONTANARO, Political Editor, NPR: Good to be with you.

GEOFF BENNETT: So there's been a shift in the way that people view this election, who people think will win.

A month ago, before President Biden dropped out, a clear majority thought that Donald Trump would win.

Now voters see a toss-up.

What's driving this change in the numbers, Domenico?

DOMENICO MONTANARO: Look at that, right?

It's a huge shift going from almost 20 points down where people thought that Donald Trump was going to win.

Kamala Harris has just brought a lot of energy to the ticket.

Our poll was taken over the weekend before, obviously, Harris made this selection of Tim Walz.

But when we look at our polling overall, she's now up 51-48 over Donald Trump.

That's a huge change from just two weeks ago, when she got into the race.

And really fueling that are Black voters, white college-educated women and independent women.

We have seen a 20-point jump among Black voters, 25-point jump among white college-educated women, and 28-point jump among independent women.

And what I find really interesting about women who identify as independents is that, in our last survey, 28 percent of them said that they were undecided.

So a lot of people -- I say a lot of people talk about how this is a honeymoon for Kamala Harris.

I don't know.

I think this is more like the liquid Jell-O phase.

You put it in the fridge and see if it solidifies and we're starting to see things - - starting to see things gel.

AMNA NAWAZ: Jell-O metaphor is always so relatable.

Let's look at the bigger picture here, though, right?

You have a new battleground map that NPR is out with just today.

There are just three states that you consider to be true toss-ups right now, the so-called blue Walz states, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

So, Domenico, walk us through here.

What are the potential paths to victory for the campaign?

DOMENICO MONTANARO: Well, the national poll is great, right?

But when we talk about what wins in the election, it is these key battleground states.

And really it's split into two categories.

You have got the three states that are pure toss-ups in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, which are -- which make up the blue wall, right?

If Kamala Harris wins each of those three states, then she's most likely going to be president of the United States.

Now, she also has a path with the Sun Belt states, where Arizona, Nevada, out West, Georgia, North Carolina, in the East.

If she were to maybe add one of those, she could do a little bit worse in the Sun Belt or in the blue wall and still be able to pull it off.

For Donald Trump, though, he really needs to win those Sun Belt states, all four of them.

Even with all four of those, he's only at 268 electoral votes.

You need 270.

He's just shy of that right now.

That's why, for them, for their campaign, they think about two places, Pennsylvania and Georgia.

They're spending 77 percent of all of their ad money right now in just those two states.

Why?

Because he could lose everything else that we have been talking about.

If he wins Pennsylvania and Georgia, he's right at 270.

GEOFF BENNETT: And that brings us back to our lead story, vice President Kamala Harris' pick of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate.

As we have been saying, the vast majority of Americans, based on our polls, don't know much or really anything about him.

Of course, that's what campaigns are for, to help define the candidate.

What does this pick do to change the race?

DOMENICO MONTANARO: Well, the geography teacher is going to love our map, I'm sure.

But 71 percent of people are saying that they don't know who he is or don't have an opinion about him.

So, this next two weeks between now and the Democratic Convention are going to be huge when it comes to what people think about the Harris/Walz ticket and whether or not they want that versus what we saw at the Republican National Convention, which was Donald Trump and J.D.

Vance, his running mate, who has not had a good rollout whatsoever.

When you look inside our poll, when we asked the favorability ratings of J.D.

Vance, 55 percent of independents say that they have an unfavorable opinion of J.D.

Vance.

It's why even Donald Trump himself is saying, look, nobody cares about who the vice president is.

AMNA NAWAZ: Domenico, we also know elections are about issues, right?

So what does this new poll tell us about how people view the issues when it comes to this new Democratic ticket?

DOMENICO MONTANARO: Well, I think it's really interesting because, for a while, Joe Biden was really tied to the economy, right?

And Donald Trump had a nine-point advantage in our June survey over Donald Trump on -- on Joe Biden on, who do you trust most to handle the economy?

Kamala Harris doesn't seem to have that sort of sticking to her as much, because she is only down three points on the economy to Donald Trump.

That's a pretty big deal, especially when the economy, as we know, is really so determinative in so many places for so many undecided voters.

On immigration, she's actually gained a few points there as well.

So it seems like voters right now are kind of hitting the pause button a little bit and they're going to judge for themselves what they think about Kamala Harris and her policies, along with Tim Walz, compared to what they already felt really cemented in these views about Joe Biden.

GEOFF BENNETT: In the minute we have left, what other top lines stood out to you in this poll?

DOMENICO MONTANARO: Well, the survey really just tells us how much momentum we have seen Kamala Harris really have.

I'm really curious, though, with younger voters.

When you look inside the numbers, she's not doing quite as well as I think she would like to with younger voters.

It's really almost a split at this point for voters who are under 45.

So she's going to need to be able to use that.

Walz is a big -- has a big online following.

A lot of people really like him who are younger progressives.

We will see if that winds up helping some of the enthusiasm along the lines.

And we have also seen some of those people who are saying that they definitely are going to be voting, key groups now saying, by big margins, now saying that they're more likely to vote.

GEOFF BENNETT: Domenico Montanaro, always great to see you.

Thanks so much.

DOMENICO MONTANARO: You too.

Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: We start today's other headlines in Bangladesh, where Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been selected to lead that country's new interim government until new elections can take place.

The 84-year-old microfinance pioneer is widely respected in Bangladesh.

His appointment comes a day after a longtime Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country following weeks of protests that left nearly 300 people dead.

On the streets of the capital today, a sense of calm returned to the once-violent streets.

Students stepped into direct traffic, while police went on strike to protest violence against officers during the unrest.

An Israeli military raid today in the occupied West Bank killed 10 Palestinians amid increasing fears of a larger war in the region; 10 others were wounded.

Meantime, to the north, sirens blared and smoked billowed near Israel's northern border with Lebanon, as Hezbollah launched a barrage of drones for a second day.

Israel fired rockets in response.

At least 19 people were hurt.

In a televised address, Hezbollah's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, vowed more violence against Israel for its recent strike in Beirut that killed a top commander there.

HASSAN NASRALLAH, Hezbollah Leader (through translator): After the assassination of the martyr leader Said Fuad, Hezbollah also sees itself obligated to respond.

And Iran will respond.

And Hezbollah will respond.

Our response, God willing, will be strong, influential, and effective.

GEOFF BENNETT: Separately, Hamas has named its leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, as its new political chief.

Sinwar is widely considered the architect of the October 7 attack on Israel.

He's been in hiding ever since and is at the top of Israel's kill list.

He replaces Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated in Tehran last week.

A Pakistani man has been charged with allegedly plotting to carry out political assassinations here in the U.S..

According to a criminal complaint unsealed today, Asif Merchant spent time in Iran before flying to New York in April to recruit hit men for the job.

The 46-year-old was arrested last month and charged with murder for hire.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said the Justice Department "will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to target American public officials and endanger America's national security."

The National Transportation Safety Board released some 4,000 pages related to its ongoing investigation into a door panel blowout on a Boeing 737 MAX jet back in January.

The co-pilot of the Alaska Airlines flight is quoted as saying: "It was chaos."

At a rare investigative hearing today, witnesses for Boeing and its supplier, Spirit AeroSystems, outlined design changes that should prevent future blowouts.

But the NTSB chair emphasized the past shortcomings, including four missing bolts in the Alaska Airlines door plug.

JENNIFER HOMENDY, Chair, National Transportation Safety Board: This isn't a P.R.

campaign for Boeing.

You can talk all about where you are today.

There's going to be plenty of time for that.

We want to know these safety improvements.

But what is very confusing for a lot of people who are watching, who are listening, is, what was going on then?

This is an investigation what happened on January 5.

GEOFF BENNETT: The NTSB chair also said that Boeing has a long way to go to improve its safety culture.

The hearing continues tomorrow.

In California, firefighters are battling blazes both old and new.

WOMAN: Hey, get out of there.

Go.

Go, go, go, go.

GEOFF BENNETT: The Edgehill Fire in San Bernardino east of Los Angeles erupted on Monday afternoon.

Some residents had just minutes to evacuate before flames ignited hillsides and completely engulfed homes.

As of earlier today, that fire was 75 percent contained.

Hundreds of miles to the north, the Park Fire has been wreaking havoc since late July and is still only 34 percent contained.

It's the fourth largest fire in California's history and has burned more land in the state than all of last year's fires combined.

Bloomberg Philanthropies is donating $600 million to the endowments of four historically Black medical schools.

Founder Michael Bloomberg announced the funds at the annual convention of the National Medical Association, a group that advocates for African American physicians.

Almost half of Black physicians graduate from the four historically Black medical schools, and the donations will more than double the size of three of the schools' endowments.

On Wall Street today, stocks recovered some after Monday's sell-off.

The Dow Jones industrial average added nearly 300 points, but closed off its highs of the day.

The Nasdaq rose 166 points, or about 1 percent.

The S&P 500 also added 1 percent on the day.

And we have the day's Olympic headlines now, which includes some gold medals and some spoiler alerts.

The track and field finals in Paris today quickly turned into a golden hour for Team USA.

In the men's 1,500 meters, Cole Hocker pulled off a stunning upset, beating a competitive field and topping his own personal best by three seconds.

Just a short time later in the women's 200, Gabby Thomas sprinted her way to gold after a third-place finish at the last Olympics.

Meantime, on the soccer field, Sophia Smith sent the U.S. women's soccer team to the finals after scoring the winning goal against Germany in extra time.

They will face Brazil for gold on Saturday.

So, as of this evening, the U.S. has racked up 86 medals overall, well ahead of the next best, which is China.

Still to come on the "News Hour": a new initiative strives to improve health by bringing care to patients; a rare look at the personal stories behind the stars on the CIA memorial wall; and a well-known chef takes his taste buds global in a new TV series.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tropical Storm Debby is dumping historic amounts of rain as it stalls over South Carolina.

That's one day after it lashed Florida with hurricane strength.

At least five deaths have been reported so far.

Communities are now submerged across several states, while some of the largest impacts are on travel.

Stephanie Sy has our report.

STEPHANIE SY: Today, flash flooding in South Carolina as Debby deluges the state.

MAN: That is completely underwater.

STEPHANIE SY: The slow-moving storm is unleashing downpours on cities like Charleston, where the mayor has ordered pumps be brought in to remove excess water.

South Carolina's governor said heavy precipitation is expected to last until Thursday.

GOV.

HENRY MCMASTER (R-SC): We will see a lot of rain, not that much wind, but a lot of rain.

And this storm is creeping across our state, creeping across.

STEPHANIE SY: Similar scenes are playing out in Southern Georgia.

Authorities say Savannah's airport got a month's worth of rain in just one day.

Debby caused at least one death in the state when a tree fell on a house, killing the 19-year-old man inside.

Debby blasted ashore in Florida's Big Bend yesterday as a Category 1 hurricane.

Rain-soaked soil and hurricane-force winds combined to topple trees, including on Bill Franco's house in Jacksonville.

BILL FRANCO, Jacksonville Resident: Yes, we have been lucky.

We have had some bad storms and just a couple branches on the ground maybe.

That was it, until now.

STEPHANIE SY: Some of the most intense rainfall hit Southwestern Florida, where one resident found a catfish swimming in his driveway.

MAN: Behind me, it's flooded.

In front of me, it's flooded.

STEPHANIE SY: As Debby passed Florida, it left some neighborhoods completely inundated.

First responders in Sarasota patrolled low-lying areas by boat on roads that had become rivers.

GOV.

RON DESANTIS (R-FL), Presidential Candidate: We are going to see more flooding in Northern Florida.

STEPHANIE SY: Today, Governor Ron DeSantis warned that the waters will continue to rise.

GOV.

RON DESANTIS: When it dumps in Southern Georgia, it makes its way down to us.

STEPHANIE SY: The storm has also stifled air travel, causing thousands of flight cancellations and delays nationwide.

AL GREMMEL, Traveler: There's no answers, and sitting around waiting.

STEPHANIE SY: Al Gremmel says he's been trying to travel south for days.

AL GREMMEL: So it's just frustrating, all in general.

I get the weather is the cause, but, hey, give me some better information, so I can plan.

STEPHANIE SY: Among the most affected is American Airlines with hubs in Miami and Charlotte.

New forecasts say the storm could hover over the Atlantic Ocean for a few days, then return inland with even more moisture.

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

GEOFF BENNETT: In the city of Baltimore, 94 percent of residents there have some form of health insurance, yet many face alarming disparities, including higher rates of chronic diseases and shorter life spans.

As special correspondent Christopher Booker reports, one program is trying to overcome barriers by providing health care straight to people's doorsteps.

WOMAN: Hey, sweetie.

You want your blood pressure checked today?

CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Tuesday mornings are busy in Johnston Square Apartments in East Baltimore.

Set up in the lobby, nurses offer free basic checkups for anyone who may be passing through;71-year-old Lavern Clark has lived here for six years, and these weekly nurse visits have become part of her routine.

LAVERN CLARK, Resident, Johnston Square: Make sure my heart rate is good.

It really helped me a lot with all my medications.

CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Nurses say many in this predominantly Black neighborhood face barriers to health care.

There is a shortage of primary health care doctors and transportation to providers can be difficult.

TIFFANY RISER, Neighborhood Nursing: This community is insured.

But if you ask them when's the last time you have seen your provider or do you have the medications that you need, that's where things fall apart.

CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Tiffany Riser is a nurse practitioner and part of this pilot project that organizers call Neighborhood Nursing.

Launched in January, the aim is to bring health care to communities block by block.

TIFFANY RISER: If you remember, back in the good old days, doctors used to make house calls quite regularly, and now that's quite a rare thing.

And that disconnect, I think, is what led to our health care system forgetting that this is where people spend most of their time.

When you see them in their home, you really get an in-depth understanding of the challenges that they're facing.

MAN: Because he break it down by needs, then broke it down by insurance.

CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: The team consists of nurses and a community health care worker who helps residents work through any problems they have accessing health care.

ANDREW HAMPTON, Resident, Johnston Square: I lost a wallet, really.

CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Oh.

What was in your wallet?

ANDREW HAMPTON: All of my identification, all of my important papers.

CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Seventy-nine-year-old Andrew Hampton hadn't seen a primary care physician in years, partly because he didn't have any identification.

The team helped him replace his I.D.

and recently scheduled an appointment with a doctor.

TIFFANY RISER: We're hoping that with this recent visit we're able to get him plugged into the care that he already is covered for and has paid into.

CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Right.

TIFFANY RISER: Just a matter of getting it to his front door.

CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: America spends more per capita on health care than any other high-income country.

Yet we have the lowest life expectancy at birth, the highest rates of death for treatable or avoidable conditions, and the highest rates of infant and maternal mortality.

Experts say making preventative primary care more accessible through programs like this one in Baltimore could make a difference.

SARAH SZANTON, Dean, Johns Hopkins School of Nursing: If we can do it universally, where everyone gets it, where it's like a right, like a utility, then we will be able to reach the promise of preventive care that is not just reactive and that we're preventing things for everyone and everyone could be at their greatest health.

CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Sarah Szanton is the dean of the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and leads the philanthropy-funded program.

A collaboration with the University of Maryland, Morgan State, and Coppin State schools of nursing, she says by next year they plan to bring primary health care to more than 4,000 Baltimore residents, regardless of their insurance coverage.

SARAH SZANTON: The vision is that we will go door to door and be in the laundromat, in the libraries, in the schools, sort of blanket it, so that everyone has access to a nurse and community health worker.

CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: The approach was inspired by a public health program developed more than 1,000 miles away in Costa Rica, where health care workers aim to visit every resident nationwide in their home at least once a year.

DR. ASAF BITTON, Harvard T.H.

Chan School of Public Health: They might come back to visit them if they have high needs.

They might connect them with other parts of the public health or nutrition system.

And all the time, they connect them with the acute and chronic care that that person might need.

CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Harvard School of Public Health's Dr. Asaf Bitton has studied the impact of Costa Rica's model.

DR. ASAF BITTON: Costa Rica has significantly improved the health of its population across both what we call communicable diseases -- those are infectious diseases that can often be prevented with vaccines and other antibiotics - - as well as noncommunicable diseases.

CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Costa Rica has achieved those better health outcomes while spending less than a 10th of what the U.S. spends per person health care.

MELINDA ABRAMS, The Commonwealth Fund: We tend to focus on people who are sick, as opposed to focusing on keeping people well or identifying problems early to help avoid more serious problems later on.

CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Melinda Abrams is the executive vice president for programs at The Commonwealth Fund, a health care research organization.

She says the complicated nature of health care in the United States would make it difficult to expand a program like Neighborhood Nursing beyond Baltimore.

MELINDA ABRAMS: The major barrier right now, in my opinion, is the financing.

We tend to focus on hospitalizations and specialty.

We're really focused on individual services, which incentivizes more volume, as opposed to having clinicians be accountable for both the quality and outcomes for patient and patient care.

CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Back at Johnston Square Apartments, this new approach has started to see small wins.

Calls to 911 from the building are down.

And organizers say the community has started to take the effort beyond the weekly checkups.

REGINA HAMMOND, Resident, Johnston Square: I went to a meeting where it was shared with me that people in my zip code, this area, our life expectancy is not as long as in other areas.

And that bothered me.

CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Longtime resident Regina Hammond suggested the nurses help create a neighborhood exercise group.

They now take weekly walks.

And on days when it's too hot, they work out indoors.

Why was there a need for a walking group?

REGINA HAMMOND: Because a lot of people don't venture too far because they don't want to walk alone.

Some people don't feel safe.

It's about getting out.

It's about learning who's in your neighborhood.

It's about looking at beautiful flowers, being able to talk with a nurse walking beside you, talking to them about things that nobody took the time to listen to you about.

So it's serving a lot of purposes.

CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: She hopes to see this initiative grow beyond her neighborhood.

That, Abrams says, is possible, but will require collaboration.

MELINDA ABRAMS: What it would take is federal policymakers, state policymakers, the hospitals, the doctors, and the insurance companies to come together to agree to pivot and invest more on prevention and primary care.

No mistake, that is very hard to do.

But I'm optimistic, because there are a number of communities that are experimenting with this right now.

WOMAN: It was 115 over 70.

CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: But, for now, in this community, these nurses will keep showing up week after week.

For the PBS "News Hour," I'm Christopher Booker in Baltimore.

AMNA NAWAZ: Fifty years ago, the Central Intelligence Agency unveiled a memorial to CIA members killed in service to the country.

It was first established with typical institutional quiet in the original headquarters' lobby.

Today, the Memorial Wall has become hallowed ground.

Nick Schifrin has this rare look from Langley, Virginia.

NICK SCHIFRIN: It is the intelligence community's most solemn site, 140 stars carved into Alabama marble, a permanent memorial, each star one life lost, but also a nameless, collective commemoration of sacrifice.

Killed CIA members get the same star, no matter seniority, and each star born from this Virginia studio.

Tim Johnston carves a replica destined for the fallen's family, using the same decades-old stencil, leading with perfect symmetry to a single, central point.

Johnston has been carving the Memorial Wall stars for 35 years.

TIM JOHNSTON, CIA Memorial Wall Carver: I don't get but one shot, and I can't mess up, you know, carved in stone, as the old saying goes.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Johnston took over from his mentor and the man who built the wall and its initial stars, Harold Vogel.

That was five decades ago, when the wall had 33 stars.

By 2003, there were 80.

Today, there are 140.

TIM JOHNSTON: The meaning behind the people and the work that they have done and the sacrifice they made, I mean, every star is a life.

NICK SCHIFRIN: When you walk into CIA and you see that Memorial Wall and the stars, what do you think?

CALISTA ANDERSON, Daughter of Jennifer Matthews: Each one of those stars represents a familial sacrifice that I understand way too well.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Calista Anderson and her father have tried to visit the Memorial Wall every year since her mother, his wife, Jennifer Matthews, was killed in 2009 in Afghanistan by a suicide bomber whom Matthews, CIA's counterterrorism personnel, and CIA leadership thought was an al-Qaida mole.

What do you see in her face when you look at that photo?

CALISTA ANDERSON: I almost see my own face, to be honest with you.

I just remember her as such a great mom.

She was just such a, I mean, effervescent person and really bubbly, just really caring and made a lot of effort to know us as kids and, like, know our personalities and talk with us.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Matthews worked for CIA's Alec Station, responsible for tracking al-Qaida and hunting Osama bin Laden.

At CIA, she knew al-Qaida as well as anyone.

CALISTA ANDERSON: One of her co-workers even told me one time: "I think she forgot more about al-Qaida than I ever knew about it."

So it's sometimes really nice to hear.

And then sometimes I'm almost in awe of my own mom.

NICK SCHIFRIN: That knowledge came later.

Anderson and her younger brothers didn't even know where their mom worked.

When Matthews died, her daughter was 12.

CALISTA ANDERSON: I never got to pick out a prom dress with her.

I'll never pick out a wedding dress with her.

So, things like that can be really difficult.

But I'm extremely grateful for the grief, because, as people say, it's an echo of lost love.

So, for me, I will have the grief for the rest of my life.

I don't think it'll ever go away.

But I'm really grateful that I'm able to feel that because I felt so much love.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Anderson has avoided dramatic depictions of her mother, including the film "Zero Dark Thirty," as well as a CIA after-action report acknowledging lapses across the agency that contributed to the death of Matthews and six other CIA officers.

CALISTA ANDERSON: I understand from an institutional point of view that that question is very important, but, from the point of view of myself, my mom was already gone.

I miss my mom.

Like, that's -- that's not a organizational figure to me.

That's not a worker or a job position.

She's a real person and a real family member who I no longer have in my life.

WILLIAM BURNS, CIA Director: For my colleagues here at the agency, for me personally, the wall is not an abstraction.

You know, each of those stars as a profound human story behind them.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Bill Burns is the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

He looks at these stars and feels collective and personal loss.

WILLIAM BURNS: One of them is a very good friend of mine, Matthew Gannon, with whom I served four decades ago, my first post as a young career diplomat.

He was killed in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on his way home from a temporary assignment in Beirut to his wife and two young daughters for Christmas.

It reminds me that this is an intensely human profession.

We are a human intelligence service.

NICK SCHIFRIN: When CIA created the wall 50 years ago, the agency was under siege, accused of co-opting student groups and NGOs, training domestic police forces, and abuses in Vietnam.

And in 1973, President Nixon fired director Richard Helms for refusing to assist in the Watergate cover-up.

His replacement, James Schlesinger, forced 7 percent of the agency to retire and was described as Nixon's revenge.

Was the wall in some ways a rehabilitation?

WILLIAM BURNS: For all of those problems and mistakes and flaws that you just described, which were very real, there was also a legacy of courage and dedication and patriotism too.

And so I think, in that sense, it was a part of that renewal, I think, at the agency, but also to remember the sacrifice that marks this agency and does to this day.

NICK SCHIFRIN: What do you see in your father when you look at these photos?

TIM WELCH, Son of Richard Welch: Well, this first one is dad, really, when he still had some hair.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Tim Welch lost his father 49 years ago, Richard Welch, assassinated at 46 years old, when he was the CIA's chief of station in Athens.

TIM WELCH: This is may of 1975.

He's pinning my second lieutenant Marine Corps bars on me.

This is for merit.

This is the Intelligence Medal of Merit.

Extremely proud of my father, smartest guy in the room, great sense of humor, great empathy.

Hero worship in the sense that, yes I saw this guy sort of going -- getting on planes and going all over the world and being promoted, got to a very high -- very high rank.

NICK SCHIFRIN: At the time, Dick Welch was the CIA's highest ranking officer killed while on duty.

He received full military honors and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery, normally reserved for military.

His funeral was attended by President Ford, National Security Adviser Brent Scowcroft, and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.

Welch admits his father prioritized his career over his family.

But even decades later, grief is like a permanent hole that sometimes opens up.

TIM WELCH: The last time I saw him, I drove him to JFK, to the TWA terminal.

And we had a goodbye beer at the TWA terminal.

And, uh, that was -- that was -- I can still remember seeing him go down, you know, the Eero Saarinen TWA with those bright red carpets they had.

And so I can still remember him going down to the plane there.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Is it hard still to talk about this sometimes?

TIM WELCH: Of course.

It comes and goes.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Welch's killer wasn't caught for a quarter-century, past the statute of limitations, so no one was ever charged with the murder.

TIM WELCH: In our family, we have a very clear idea.

We do not consider ourselves victims.

We do not consider him a victim.

And we don't talk about closure.

He was doing a tough job.

He knew what he was doing.

And, as far as we're concerned, he died in the line of duty doing what he wanted to do in the service of the United States.

NICK SCHIFRIN: At the time, CIA kept a book of the fallen, some names still secret.

This photo of the original book has never before been public, its final name, Richard Welch.

Today, that book lives inside the case that holds a new book, which is double in size.

And every year, CIA holds an annual memorial ceremony for the families.

TIM WELCH: We all attended the ceremony in May.

being there with the family, with the agency family.

And, you know, now we're -- older guy.

And we go there and we see young kids who are bereaved.

CALISTA ANDERSON: Allowing us to be there and almost have a sort of catharsis grief moment among sort of your family and the people who best understand and best share it with you.

NICK SCHIFRIN: A family whose sacrifice is forever carved in stone.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Nick Schifrin in Langley, Virginia.

GEOFF BENNETT: It's a tasting menu at the highest possible level.

The Copenhagen restaurant Noma has helped transform the world of fine dining with a focus on hyperlocal foods prepared and presented with extraordinary care.

Now its co-owner and chef widens his view to explore ingredients that have changed the globe.

Jeffrey Brown reports for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

RENE REDZEPI, Chef: Everybody got a pepper?

GROUP: Yes!

RENE REDZEPI: Let's have a fantastic service.

GROUP: Yes, sir!

JEFFREY BROWN: The fire in a bite of chili, the pleasure in a cup of coffee, the raw wonder of sushi.

But what's behind it all?

Food is never just food.

That's the theme that runs through "Omnivore," an eight-part series on Apple TV+ that takes us around the world to look at the production, history, culture, and sustainability of eight key ingredients that go into much of what we eat.

RENE REDZEPI: An endless flight to Australia.

JEFFREY BROWN: The guide, chef Rene Redzepi.

RENE REDZEPI: I think it's a new way of actually trying to understand a little bit about who are we through the foods that we eat.

And that's what were trying to do.

JEFFREY BROWN: Is it your sense that most of us don't know this or don't stop to think about it?

We just consume?

(LAUGHTER) RENE REDZEPI: Yes, we just consume.

I don't think I could have said it much better.

I think we are so far removed from where our food comes from and what lies behind, and we have lost touch with that.

JEFFREY BROWN: Redzepi is one of the world's best-known chefs, complete with a recent cameo on the FX on Hulu series "The Bear."

His Copenhagen restaurant Noma, earning three Michelin stars and regularly ranked world's best, became ground zero for what's been called New Nordic Cuisine, a hugely influential approach to food gathering, preparation and presentation featuring unexpected, hyperlocal and seasonal ingredients.

RENE REDZEPI: The simple idea was, we're in the Nordics.

What is available to us?

And we discovered this new treasure trove of ingredients, particularly wild foods.

And we found seagrass that tasted like coriander.

There was roots of trees that tasted like cinnamon, flavors that were exotic to the average Danes, but they were right there underneath our feet.

That whole thing fueled like a lifetime of curiosity.

JEFFREY BROWN: "Omnivore," a collaboration with food journalist Matt Goulding and filmmaker Cary Fukunaga, explores how once-local ingredients rose to global scale.

There's one ingredient per episode, chilies, tuna, salt, bananas, pork, rice, coffee, corn.

RENE REDZEPI: We're trying with the show to just give people and inspiration to want to try to understand more about he everyday things that we eat and just how mind-blowing it is, and how many wonderful stories and people lies behind the everyday stuff, like a cup of coffee or a bowl of rice.

RENE REDZEPI: Arthur Karuletwa has made it his life's mission to fight for the people who produce our coffee.

JEFFREY BROWN: Mind-blowing, too, in the geopolitical, economic, and environmental impacts these ingredients have had in the past and that continue in various forms today, as the global food network changes local cultures and lessens food variety.

What jumped out at me is that there is a sense of loss almost as much as a sense of wonder.

RENE REDZEPI: It is true that within the food system and how we produce food, that it has a huge toll on everything.

And it is true that the craftspeople, they are disappearing slowly.

And, with that, some of our culture gets lost, and I believe some of the very essence of who we are get lost, if we don't remember to celebrate them and value their work.

JEFFREY BROWN: If the appetites of all of us as humans are behind many of the food resource problems you're documenting here, can our appetites be changed?

RENE REDZEPI: Yes, I have no doubt that we can change.

I think at the heart of change in food lays deliciousness.

I think that's the change factor for us as a species adapting new ways.

If things taste amazing, we're going to be there, very quick.

And it's going to travel throughout the world when something delicious hits us.

So this also tells you that, yes, the human appetite can be ferocious, but we can quickly change things around.

So, we have that hope and that knowledge and that optimism.

JEFFREY BROWN: But that, too, cuts both ways, as the series shows with the example of bluefin tuna, which turned from trash fish into treasure, think sushi, through changes in global shipping, business and tastes, to the point of a new threat from overfishing.

The series focuses on efforts to preserve local practices, resources, and food varieties amid such pressures.

Sustainability is also a factor in Redzepi's world of fine dining.

In fact, citing grueling hours, endless workplace demands and the high costs of the labor-intensive work, he announced last year that, despite its critical success, Noma would close as a traditional restaurant by the end of 2024.

It will now become a food laboratory to develop, test, and market new flavors and foods.

I asked how he sees the role of chefs like himself in changing food awareness and habits.

RENE REDZEPI: I think, for me, I have always believed and still believe today that chefs, they are sort of ambassadors for seasonality, for flavor, for the love of a meal.

And they act as a sort of almost a community hub where flavor happens.

And they spread that into the world.

I always believe that they have that impact, that we have that impact.

JEFFREY BROWN: The eight-part series "Omnivore" is now streaming.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Jeffrey Brown.

GEOFF BENNETT: Before we go, an update to our lead story.

AMNA NAWAZ: Vice President Kamala Harris introduced her new presidential running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, tonight.

The duo made their first joint campaign appearance at a rally in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania.

KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: Since the day that I announced my candidacy, I set out to find a partner who can help build this brighter future... (CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) KAMALA HARRIS: ... a leader who will help unite our nation and move us forward.

So, Pennsylvania, I'm here today because I found such a leader.

(CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) KAMALA HARRIS: Governor Tim Walz of the great state of Minnesota.

GOV.

TIM WALZ (D-MN), Vice Presidential Candidate: I couldn't be prouder to be on this ticket and to help Vice President Harris become what we all know is very, very good for us to think about, the next president of the United States of America.

(CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) GEOFF BENNETT: The Harris/Walz campaign says it's raised more than $20 million since this morning's announcement.

AMNA NAWAZ: And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

For all of us here at the "PBS News Hour," thanks for spending part of your evening with us.