July 26, 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: An arson attack disrupts train lines in Paris on the opening day of the Olympics, despite unprecedented security at this year's Games.

JAVED ALI, Former Homeland Security Department Official: You're never going to have 100 percent security.

There is always going to be, unfortunately, a vulnerability.

Then it's a question of intent and capability for some malign actor to exploit that.

GEOFF BENNETT: The head of the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel and the son of the notorious El Chapo are arrested after flying to the U.S. AMNA NAWAZ: And another brutal wildfire season brings devastation to the Western U.S. and Canada.

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

Just hours before the Olympics Opening Ceremony, saboteurs launched a coordinated arson attack on French train lines.

GEOFF BENNETT: It stranded nearly a million travelers and sparked even more concerns about potential threats to the Games, which are being protected by unprecedented security.

Nick Schifrin starts our coverage.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In Paris train stations this morning, crowds in confusion after coordinated attacks on France's high-speed rail lines.

The overnight sabotage severed signaling cables that controlled the northbound, westbound and eastbound lines.

A fourth attack on the southbound line was foiled.

Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said the perpetrators knew what they were doing.

GABRIEL ATTAL, Prime Minister of France (through translator): This operation has been prepared, coordinated and key points have been targeted, which shows a certain knowledge of the network in order to know where to hit.

NICK SCHIFRIN: French officials haven't specified a suspect, but acknowledge the Games face threats; 45,000 police, 18,000 soldiers and 18,000 security contractors have created a huge security perimeter and closed Paris' airspace within 90 miles.

In April, French President Emmanuel Macron inaugurated the aquatic center and warned of one possible perpetrator, Russia.

EMMANUEL MACRON, French President (through translator): I have no doubt, yes, I have no doubt, including in informational terms.

Every, day it fuels rumors about the fact that we could not do this or that, so it would be a risk.

NICK SCHIFRIN: This week, France arrested a Russian national for planning to -- quote -- "destabilize the Olympics," identified as a Le Cordon Bleu trained Russian intelligence officer by an investigation of The Insider, Le Monde, and Der Spiegel.

AI-GENERATED MAN: Hi, everyone.

It's me, Tom Cruise, the actor.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Russia's also launched a campaign of disinformation.

MAN: I will shed some light on the venal executives of the International Olympic Committee.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Microsoft accused a Russian influence actor of using artificial intelligence to create a fake movie to disparage the IOC.

Microsoft also found a Russian-created fake CIA video warning of a high terror risk and a fake Hamas video that Microsoft also said Russia created.

But Russia's efforts expand beyond France because of European support for Ukraine, said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

JENS STOLTENBERG, NATO Secretary-General: We have seen a pattern, a Russian campaign organized by the security services, to conduct hostile actions against NATO allies across the alliance.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In Germany, that included a plot to assassinate the CEO of its largest weapons manufacturer and the arrest of two German Russians on suspicion of plotting sabotage attacks against U.S. bases.

Last weekend, Spanish police arrested what they called pro-Russian hackers for cyberattacks on members of NATO.

French intelligence reportedly believe Russia's behind coffins left at the base of the Eiffel Tower labeled French soldiers in Ukraine, as well as graffiti that defaced Paris' Holocaust memorial.

And in March, British authorities expelled the Russian defense attache and restricted Russian diplomatic visas after a suspected arson attack on a Ukraine-linked business that then-Home Secretary James Cleverly called part of a pattern.

JAMES CLEVERLY, Former Shadow Home Secretary, United Kingdom: These activities bear all the hallmarks of a deliberate campaign by Russia designed to bring the war home across Europe and to undermine our collective resolve to support Ukraine in its fight.

It will not work.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But the terrorism threat is real.

In 2015, before Paris won the Games, Islamic State stormed sites across the city and killed more than 130.

And since this year's ISIS-K attack that burned down a Moscow concert hall and killed more than 130, U.S. officials have warned that ISIS wants to attack Europe, a desire increased by the war in Gaza, said recently retired National Counterterrorism Center director Christine Abizaid.

CHRISTINE ABIZAID, Former Director, National Counterterrorism Center: And so the energy in the system created by Gaza, the ability of an organization like ISIS to exploit that energy because of more sophisticated propaganda, because they have evolved their model to tap into that energy in a way that we haven't seen in years, really raises a significant concern for us.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The U.S. security coordination for the Olympics is led by the State Department's Diplomatic Security Service, whose deputy director of major events coordination, Tim Ayers, told me today that while he couldn't provide any details of today's attacks -- quote - - "Working 2.5 years with the French, we have been with them since the get-go, and we have full confidence in their security plan."

To discuss this more, I'm joined by Javed Ali, associate professor of public policy at the University of Michigan and a former official in the FBI and DHS and former senior director for counterterrorism on the National Security Council under President Trump.

Javed Ali, thanks very much.

Welcome to the "News Hour."

What do you make of this particular attack not on the Olympics, but certainly around the Olympics right before it starts?

JAVED ALI, Former Homeland Security Department Official: Well, Nick, great to be with you.

And the attack from early today has some interesting features, obviously, deliberate sequence for multiple trains to be hit almost at the same time, but on the flip side, not designed apparently to kill people, and there's no claim or responsibility either.

So it's hard to know definitively who did this.

And my speculation right now, this has caused more for a mass disruption than mass casualty terrorism.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Clearly, a disruption, trying to send the message that, hey, we know where these train signals or these particular spots are in order to disrupt the system.

As our story laid out, the French authorities are being careful.

They're not pointing their finger at anyone, but we have had an accusation by Prime Minister Macron that Russia could attack the Games.

And you have this environment in which Russia has launched multiple attacks in Europe.

So, therefore, could it be some kind of Russian intelligence, even cutout?

JAVED ALI: So the Russian angle is definitely a strong one.

And depending on how far back you stretch the timeline, Russia has been very aggressive on European soil both in the physical world and the virtual world for almost a decade.

Now, does this one attack sort of fit into that larger track record of these Russian-directed or - sponsored operations?

Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't.

But in going back to what Russia has done previously, they tend to be very aggressive and sometimes lethal in terms of actually trying to kill people.

Now, this doesn't seem to have been designed to do that, but maybe this is a shot across the bow from the Russians to the West and Europe.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And as our story points out, most of what we have seen from Russia in the last few months have been connected to Ukraine, whether it's European officials who are helping create weapons for Ukraine or Ukrainians themselves across Europe.

JAVED ALI: Those attacks, I think you can put in a different category because they do seem to have been designed to undercut support for the Ukrainian war effort or actually sort of limit the flow of weapons or arms to Ukraine.

But this doesn't seem to track what that, seems to have sort of a different political calculus if it is the Russians.

And, again, I'm not convinced that it is.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And, finally, we saw an accusation by Israel's foreign minister, Israel Katz, blaming Iran.

Just to make sure, we don't have any evidence of that yet.

JAVED ALI: Not right now.

And, again, what would be the incentive for the Iranians to do something like this in France, right at the lead-up to the Olympics?

It would seem counterproductive and work against their broader interests.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Let's zoom out.

As we heard from Christine Abizaid, the former National Counterterrorism Center director, talking about the larger threat from ISIS being higher today.

We have seen ISIS attacks, of course, in Paris.

We have seen more recent attacks in Moscow and Iran, fueled in part by the war in Gaza.

From your perspective, how high is the risk of ISIS terrorism today across the world?

JAVED ALI: Well, the ISIS Khorasan threat within the broader ISIS sort of phenomenon is probably the most acute.

And, as you mentioned, Nick, we have seen these attacks in 2024 that have been highly lethal, highly destructive.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Moscow and Iran are the biggest ones.

JAVED ALI: Right.

But I believe -- one of the reasons why I think the French security presence is so aggressive now is to prevent and/or deter any kind of ISIS-K-mask casualty attack.

And for ISIS Khorasan to try to launch an attack like they pulled off earlier this year in Moscow and Iran would be very, very difficult.

It doesn't mean they won't try, but you would also -- you need the human capital and the people to pull that off.

But the French, I think, have taken that threat seriously, and that's why we have seen so much security already arrayed, not only in Paris, but the surrounding area.

NICK SCHIFRIN: This is an unprecedented level of security that the French have thrown at the Games, even more than previous Games, which every time we have an Olympics Games, it feels like we talk about unprecedented security.

How do you rate the French security apparatus?

JAVED ALI: Well, having worked with the French during my career, I mean, a very professional, have tremendous capabilities on their own through their intelligence services, the law enforcement, the military side.

And we're seeing that play out in the Olympics right now.

But even to sort of compare it to past Olympics or what we try to do here in the U.S. when we have these large special events, you're never going to have 100 percent security.

There is always going to be, unfortunately, a vulnerability.

Then it's a question of intent and capability for some malign actor to exploit that.

Now, hopefully, nothing does happen.

And, again, the French have been working on this for a couple of years hand in glove with other partners, including the United States, but there are probably still small gaps in that very, very significant security posture.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And, finally, that U.S.-French cooperation.

Obviously, the intelligence services share information.

You have got a lot of State Department and diplomatic coordination.

How much does a French apparatus rely on U.S. intelligence, U.S. assistance when it comes to this kind of event?

JAVED ALI: Well, the French are very capable on their own from their own intelligence capabilities.

They have an excellent domestic service and a foreign service as well.

But if the U.S., let's say, in the run-up to the Olympics had very specific threat information about threats to the Games, that would be passed automatically to the French, if they weren't able to discern that on their own.

And I would have to imagine that's going on in real time and will continue to go on throughout the course of the Olympics.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Javed Ali, thank you very much.

JAVED ALI: All right, thank you, Nick.

AMNA NAWAZ: A reunion of sorts tops our other headlines.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held their first in-person talks in four years today.

The two had fallen out after Netanyahu congratulated Joe Biden on his 2020 election victory over Mr. Trump.

But it was all smiles and handshakes as Trump welcomed Netanyahu to his Mar-a-Lago residence.

That comes on the fifth day of Netanyahu's visit to the U.S. aimed at bolstering support for Israel's war against Hamas.

Seated with Trump, Netanyahu said that Israel will send a negotiating team to Rome early next week for cease-fire talks, and he expressed optimism about the deal.

QUESTION: Do you feel like, after this trip, Mr. Prime Minister, we're any closer to a cease-fire deal?

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Israeli Prime Minister: I hope so, but I think time will tell.

We're certainly eager to have one, and we're working on it.

I think there's been some movement because of our -- the military pressure that we exerted.

I hope that there will be sufficient movement to get the deal completed.

AMNA NAWAZ: Further building pressure to reach a cease-fire in Gaza, three nations, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, called on Israel today to immediately end the war.

And the U.K. today said it would no longer interfere with the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant against Netanyahu for alleged crimes against humanity.

It puts the U.K. at direct odds with the U.S., which remains steadfast in its support for Israel and doesn't recognize the court's jurisdiction.

Typhoon Gaemi was downgraded to a tropical storm today as it barrels toward inland China.

The storm had already left a trail of destruction in the region, with five reported fatalities in Taiwan and at least 34 dead in the Philippines.

Gaemi made landfall in China's coastal Fujian province overnight as the most powerful storm to hit the country this year.

State TV showed downpours that sent hillsides tumbling onto roads.

The rain also submerged city streets, leaving cars underwater.

Separately, record rainfall in Northern Japan has caused severe flooding and landslides.

Authorities say at least three people are missing.

U.S. health officials are recalling some Boar's Head brand liverwurst and other deli products amid an ongoing probe into a listeria outbreak.

The recall affects more than 200,000 pounds of meat's sliced at deli counters, so not prepackaged meats.

It comes after a sample of Boar's Head liverwurst from a Maryland store tested positive for the bacteria.

Officials want to know if that's related to an ongoing listeria outbreak which has sickened nearly three dozen people and caused two deaths since late May.

On Wall Street today, a reassuring report on inflation helped send stock soaring.

The Dow Jones industrial average jumped more than 650 points to close back above that 40000-point level.

The Nasdaq added 176 points of its own, and the broader S&P 500 also rallied to end the week.

At the Olympics, the Canadian women's soccer coach has been suspended amid a spying scandal involving drones.

Earlier this week, two team staffers were sent home after New Zealand complained of drones flying over their practices.

Canada's soccer chief says Bev Priestman's future with the team will depend on the outcome of a review of the matter, and he's investigating a potential -- quote -- "systemic ethical shortcoming."

FIFA and the International Olympic Committee are also investigating the incident.

No players are believed to be involved.

And, of course, it's not all controversy and security concerns at the Games.

There was also the Opening Ceremony today.

It was part floating parade, part visual spectacular, and oh so French.

More than 6,000 athletes floated down a 3.7-mile stretch of the Seine, but that was only part of the show.

There were dancers and acrobats and musical performances with Lady Gaga leading the way, and Celine Dion delivering an emotional performance to close out the night.

And there was rain, a lot of it.

The Parisian skies soaked competitors and spectators alike, but did little to dampen their spirits.

Still to come on the "News Hour": a look at the growing number of states restricting medical care for transgender youth; David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart break down the latest political headlines; and an art exhibit in Miami documents a community's battle with gentrification and climate change.

The world's most powerful drug kingpin pled not guilty this morning to weapons, money laundering and drug trafficking charges.

Those drugs included cocaine, heroin and fentanyl, the synthetic opioid that killed 100,000 Americans last year alone.

Ismael Zambada Garcia, also known as El Mayo, founded the Sinaloa cartel with his imprisoned partner in crime, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, and has been wanted by U.S. authorities for years.

Garcia was arrested with one of El Chapo's sons, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, at an airstrip in the United States.

For more on what their arrests will mean for the fentanyl crisis, we turn to Keegan Hamilton, criminal justice editor at The Los Angeles Times.

Keegan, welcome back.

So, before we dive into how this happened and what it all means, just tell us a little bit about these two men.

Ismael Zambada and Joaquin Guzman Lopez.

Who are they and what were their roles in the Sinaloa cartel?

KEEGAN HAMILTON, Criminal Justice Editor, The Los Angeles Times: El Mayo Zambada is one of the highest-profile drug traffickers in Mexico, sort of a legend in the drug trade in Mexico.

While other high-profile kingpins have been killed or captured over the years, El Mayo has somehow remained free and atop the Sinaloa cartel.

He's known for being a long time partner of El Chapo, and the son who was arrested alongside with him is a son who was known as a leader of another Sinaloa cartel faction known as Los Chapitos.

So these are both incredibly high-ranking, important individuals in the Sinaloa cartel, and their arrests could be pretty significant in Mexico moving forward.

AMNA NAWAZ: So as you noted there, Guzman Lopez is the son of the notorious El Chapo, helped founded the Sinaloa cartel with Zambada, or El Mayo, as he's known.

And we should note El Chapo is now serving a life sentence in a U.S. federal prison after two daring escapes from Mexican prisons.

So now he is in prison.

These two men are in custody.

How could all of these arrests - - and what would they actually mean for how much fentanyl in particular and how many drugs are making their way into the U.S.?

KEEGAN HAMILTON: I mean, the U.S. government has identified El Mayo and Los Chapitos as two of the primary suppliers of fentanyl and other drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin, to the United States.

So the hope is that by taking out these top leaders that the organization will sort of crumble.

However, we have seen over the years that the Sinaloa cartel is remarkably resilient.

El Chapo was captured, as you said, now serving life in prison.

The Sinaloa cartel lives on through his sons.

One of those sons now in custody, but there are several others who remained free and are still believed to be leading that faction of the cartel.

One of El Mayo's sons remains free in Mexico and is wanted by the U.S. government.

So it's not as if taking these guys out has ended the drug war overnight.

In fact, I think the business is going to continue as usual.

Their concern is, however, that when you take out a top kingpin like this, that it creates a power vacuum and that there's fighting to sort of fill that and fill their shoes.

We saw that after Chapo's capture.

And what I'm hearing so far from the state of Sinaloa is a lot of concern and fear that this is going to result in violence there.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, tell us what we know about how they came to be in custody in the first place.

We know both men were detained at a private airport in El Paso.

A lawyer for Zambada, in particular, said his client did not voluntarily fly across the border.

So how did they end up in El Paso and how did they end up in U.S. federal custody?

KEEGAN HAMILTON: Yes, we're still figuring out the exact details of what transpired.

I did speak to El Mayo's lawyer this morning and he was adamant that his client was -- did not surrender, did not come voluntarily.

And we have heard a lot of rumors swirling right now that there was a setup, that he did surrender, and that this denial is a ruse.

What we can say for sure is that the Mexican government has released some information about it that they were able to glean, that his private airplane left the city of Hermosillo, Mexico, around 8:00 this morning and landed - - or -- excuse me -- yesterday morning, Thursday, and landed in El Paso a couple hours later.

Both of these suspects were processed.

We have seen photos of them.

They took their photo -- their fingerprints to confirm that it is in fact the people that they say they are.

So we will get more details in the coming days about how exactly they were lured here or tricked here.

But the fact that this -- El Mayo, in particular, who has been a fugitive for over four decades, is captured is a really stunning turn of events.

AMNA NAWAZ: Keegan, it's also worth noting in the minute or so I have left here that these men and this cartel have fueled mass violence in Mexico as well.

What does it say to you that these arrests were brought by U.S. authorities and not Mexican?

KEEGAN HAMILTON: Yes, it's interesting.

It appears that Mexican authorities had no role in any of this operation.

They have said so publicly and seem to be scrambling for information about what happened, just like everyone else.

The U.S. has worked hand to hand over the years with Mexico, but that relationship has become more difficult over the years.

And the fact that the U.S. is bringing these people to justice is pretty remarkable.

We will see what happens with El Mayo's case, whether he takes to trial, whether he pleads out.

We have seen other instances where these folks have pleaded guilty and cooperated and received relatively short sentences.

So we don't know what's going to play out in this case and what his punishment is going to be.

AMNA NAWAZ: That's Keegan Hamilton, criminal justice editor for The Los Angeles Times, joining us tonight.

Keegan, great to see you.

Thanks for joining us.

KEEGAN HAMILTON: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: Raging wildfires are burning in parts of the Western us and Canada, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes and forcing Canada to call up the military to help.

In addition to the physical devastation the flames are causing, researchers are getting a clearer picture of just how dangerous all that toxic smoke is to human health.

Here's William Brangham.

MAN: Hey, watch your back.

We're getting flanked again!

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: It's an apocalyptic scene in Northern California, as the massive Park Fire outside the city of Chico exploded in size overnight, burning 4,000 acres an hour.

MAN: I'm going to end up getting caught.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Firefighters faced triple-digit temperatures as neighborhoods went up in flames and gas tanks detonated in the heat.

Yesterday, wildfire cameras caught the formation of a so-called firenado, a massive vortex of flame and smoke.

The Park Fire was only 3 percent contained by this morning, forcing thousands of people to flee.

PAUL MALLORY, Fire Evacuee: We set a prayer over our house, and we just prayed to God.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Paul and Janet Mallory (ph) were forced to evacuate, but their home was spared.

PAUL MALLORY: We're happy that we were out and we just prayed over it, and I believe that our house is standing today because of a miracle.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: There are now more than 60 wildfires burning across Oregon and Washington.

The country's largest, Oregon's Durkee Fire, has consumed nearly 300,000 acres and is less than a quarter contained.

MAN: There's mom and dad's house.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In Canada, this is what's left of Jasper, Alberta.

Alberta's premier, Danielle Smith, echoed the feelings of so many.

DANIELLE SMITH, Premier of Alberta, Canada: We share the sense of loss with all of those who live in the town, who care for it, and who have helped build it.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The devastation is all too familiar this fire season, as extreme heat and dry conditions, supercharged by climate change, fuel catastrophic fires across the American and Canadian West.

Already this year, seven million acres have burned in North America.

These fires also generate massive plumes of smoke, which carry tiny dangerous particles.

And that smoke spreads across a much larger region, covering huge swathes of North America all the way to the East Coast.

LOREN WOLD, Ohio State College of Medicine: We think that living in a smaller city, or living particularly in farm country, where I grew up, that you're protected from the effects of high particle levels.

But, unfortunately, with the wildfires, everyone is affected, either large city or small city.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Loren Wold runs a lab at The Ohio State University that studies how those tiny airborne particles, they're known as PM2.5, when breathed in, can harm human health.

LOREN WOLD: They can actually pass through the lining, get into your bloodstream, and then affect your heart, your lungs, your brain, any organ system.

On days when PM levels are high, particularly during the wildfires, for example, that there is a significant increase in the amount of patients who are going to emergency rooms for things like sudden cardiac events.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Wold's research indicates that not only do these negative health impacts last long after the air is cleared, but in studies with pregnant mice exposed to contaminated air, their offspring were also seriously harmed by the smoky air.

So mice that are in utero, that they themselves are not breathing contaminated air, their mothers are, that passes to them and then lasts for those baby mice for a good chunk of their own lifetime?

LOREN WOLD: Yes, correct.

Once it's in the bloodstream, it can get into the maternal and fetal circulation and have effects on the offspring.

And not only does it have cardiac effects, but it also has - - we have shown that it predisposes animals to development of a neurocognitive phenotype similar to an Alzheimer's disease animal.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: One recent study showed that exposure to smoke filled air can also shorten a person's life.

It estimated that between 2008 and 2018, wildfire smoke in California was responsible for over 50,000 premature deaths, equating to an economic impact of over $400 billion.

Anthony Wexler directs the air quality research center at the University of California, Davis.

He wasn't involved in this study, but says this is further evidence of how climate change is impacting human health.

ANTHONY WEXLER, Air Quality Research Center Director, University of California, Davis: Climate change is changing everything about the weather patterns that we're used to.

Wildfire smoke emits a lot of PM2.5.

And so just extending those correlations, the higher the concentration, the more people will die from heart attack.

And the wildfire smoke makes a lot of this PM2.5.

And so we're going to see excess deaths.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So how do you know if the air you're breathing today is risky?

Researchers measure that using what's called the AQI, or Air Quality Index.

The higher the number, the more dangerous the air.

LOREN WOLD: Fifty percent or so of the U.S. is under unsafe levels.

And the scary part is that those with sensitive conditions, as well as the elderly or the very young, the levels are actually different.

So 100 is not considered safe for those individuals.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: That's a huge number of Americans today breathing this dangerous air.

LOREN WOLD: It is.

It's very scary.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Researchers say limiting the time spent outdoors, wearing a mask when you can't, and making sure air conditioning and heating systems have high-quality filters can all help.

But until these massive fires are brought under control, the air that many Americans are currently breathing will continue to be a threat.

For the PBS "News Hour," I'm William Brangham.

AMNA NAWAZ: Today, the Nebraska Supreme Court upheld a law restricting medical care for transgender youth.

That comes after New Hampshire's governor signed a law last week banning gender transition-related surgeries for minors.

Laura Barron-Lopez looks at the wider political battle over transgender rights as the 2024 election nears.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: New Hampshire is now the 26th state to restrict or ban gender-affirming care, as Republicans seek to galvanize their base around the issue nationally.

For more on these legislative moves and what they mean for the rights of transgender people in the U.S., I'm joined by Leigh Finke.

She became the first trans person elected to the Minnesota legislature in 2022 and is the executive director of the nonprofit Queer Equity Institute.

Leigh, thank you so much for joining the "News Hour."

STATE REP. LEIGH FINKE (D-MN): Thank you for having me.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Laws restricting gender-affirming care have now been passed in some form in more than half the states across the United States.

You started the Trans Refuge Project, so people know how safe it is for trans people in any given state.

Can you give us the lay of the land right now?

STATE REP. LEIGH FINKE: The lay of the land is very bad.

Things are very, very hard for trans people in the United States right now.

And the Trans Refuge Project is an attempt for us to not just understand what's happening, but for us to understand how we can help people where they are, without necessarily having to move.

Everybody can't relocate their family.

So Queer Equity Institute is trying to build network and coalition to help people where they are, because half of the country is living under these bans and it is getting worse.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: And how has this situation changed since you entered the Minnesota legislature?

STATE REP. LEIGH FINKE: When I entered, it was about six or seven states.

Obviously, two years later, we're at 26, so things have gotten dramatically worse.

We're also seeing states push more cruel policies, right?

They're running out of states that are going to be able to ban gender-affirming care, so they're moving on to even more anti-trans, cruel, hateful policies that are being pushed in the states that have already done so.

So it continues to get significantly hard.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The Supreme Court recently said that it would hear arguments about Tennessee's ban on gender-affirming care for minors, and that case could be hugely consequential for all the states that have bans.

How concerned are you about the legal path forward?

STATE REP. LEIGH FINKE: I'm very concerned about the potential outcomes of that case.

We have seen what this court is capable of and what it does to our bodily autonomy and our rights as vulnerable citizens in this country, and I think, if they were to uphold the ban on gender-affirming care in Tennessee, and that were to be the policy of the entire United States, we would once again be facing a very uncertain decade or two, as we settled into what would be a dramatically darker America for trans people.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: I want to ask you about a specific kind of gender-affirming care, and that is surgeries for minors.

According to an e-mail obtained by the LGBTQ news site The Advocate, Neera Tanden, the domestic policy adviser for the Biden White House, said -- quote -- "Gender-affirming surgeries are typically reserved for adults, and we believe they should be."

We should note that the Biden administration continues to fight gender-affirming care bans, including bans on surgeries across states, in the courts, but that language sparked criticism from LGBTQ rights groups and advocates.

What's your response to that?

STATE REP. LEIGH FINKE: I share the concerns that were raised when we heard that, right?

I think that Tanden could have stopped at gender-affirming surgeries are typically reserved for adults that is true.

There are very few surgeries that are conducted on minors in the United States.

Those decisions are very difficult.

They are best made by families and doctors in very specialized circumstances.

And making those autonomous decisions should be up to the families and their physicians and not any politicians of any party.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Do you think that that kind of language from the White House does more harm, even though they are continuing to fight these bans in court?

STATE REP. LEIGH FINKE: Yes, I mean, the Biden administration has been the most pro-trans presidential administration that we have ever seen in the history of this country by far.

But, yes, it does -- it is something that we need to be cautious about.

I do not want to have the -- any language that is showing that the trans rights movement that we are a part of, that we are fighting on the lines, on the front lines of saying bodily autonomy and family autonomy is what matters, and it's best if we do not interfere with that on-the-ground work that we're doing.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Speaking of the 2024 presidential election, that's front and center right now for a lot of Americans.

How are you viewing this election from the perspective of transgender rights and rights for LGBTQ people?

STATE REP. LEIGH FINKE: Yes, I mean, in terms of trans rights, the work that I do on the ground as a trans activist, there is no question about the outcome of this election that we need, which is to elect now a President Harris.

We know that the alternative is untenable across the board.

There is no denying what the second Trump administration would do.

We have a very clear statement of values from the contemporary American Republican movement, which is that trans people should not have legal recognition, we should not have health care.

There is no question about what we need to do in the future in terms of presidential politics.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: If Donald Trump were to be elected for a second term, what kind of impact do you think that would have on trans rights?

STATE REP. LEIGH FINKE: I think it would be catastrophic.

We have a -- we already live in a country with state attacks that are going largely undefended, just given the system that we have.

If we were to add the federal government on top of that backing these states, trying to export the harm and the hate and the cruelty of these red states that are attacking trans people in just the most vicious ways possible, to export that to the federal government and to see the damage that could be done, I mean, it's very difficult to overstate how hard that would be and what lengths we would have to go to survive.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Leigh Finke of Minnesota, thank you for your time.

STATE REP. LEIGH FINKE: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: It has been a whirlwind week in politics that has completely changed the race for the White House.

We turn now to the analysis of Brooks and Capehart.

That's New York Times columnist David Brooks, and Jonathan Capehart, associate editor for The Washington Post.

Great to see you both.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Hey, Geoff.

GEOFF BENNETT: Lots to discuss, because, in just the last five days, President Biden announced that he would end his reelection campaign.

He quickly endorses Kamala Harris.

She quickly amasses the delegates that she needs to clinch the nomination.

That's accompanied by a historic fund-raising haul, lots of enthusiasm and energy on the Democratic side.

And then today, former President Barack Obama officially endorsed her to be the Democratic nominee.

BARACK OBAMA, Former President of the United States: We called to say Michelle and I couldn't be prouder to endorse you and to do everything we can to get you through this election and into the Oval Office.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, David, how has her ascension to the top of the ticket, how has this changed the fundamentals of the race?

DAVID BROOKS: Well, first, when Biden was the candidate, 37 percent of Democrats were excited by the ticket.

Now 81 percent of Democrats are excited.

So that's a big change.

Basically, I think what she's done, they're now tied, more or less.

And so they're not where they were -- well, let's start -- in 2020, Joe Biden won 70 percent of non-white voters.

That was in 2020.

By 2024, he was down to 51 percent of non-white voters.

She's now up already to 63 percent.

So the bottom line is, she's not where Biden was in 2020, but she's a lot better than where Biden was in 2024.

And this is a pattern you see replicated in state -- in pattern after pattern.

In Michigan, in Minnesota, in all these swing states.

She's not quite where Biden was in 2020, but she's way above where he was before.

And so the race is basically even right now.

GEOFF BENNETT: That's interesting, because Jen O'Malley Dillon, who was the Biden campaign chair, now the Harris campaign chair, she put out a memo and basically said what David said, that Harris' ability to reach Black voters, Latino voters, voters under 30, it opens up different pathways to 270 electoral votes.

Do you agree with that?

And then how do Democrats sustain this energy for the next 101 days to the election?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: To your -- the answer to your first question, yes, I agree with that.

I'm not worried about Democratic enthusiasm waning.

I have not seen anything like this since then-Senator Barack Obama won Iowa.

Remember, up until Iowa, Black people around the country were like, no, I'm going to -- he can't win, he's not going to win, including my own mother, who was, like, down for Hillary Clinton.

And I called her when Barack Obama won Iowa.

She answers the phone and I said: "So what do you think?"

And she says: "Obama, Obama."

(LAUGHTER) JONATHAN CAPEHART: Oh, night and day.

This is what we're seeing now with Vice President Harris.

There's another poll.

I forgot to cite where it's from, but her lead among young voters has skyrocketed to 20 points.

The memes that we're seeing all over social media, I don't know about coconuts and trees and brat summer and all of this stuff, but young people are talking about her.

And elections -- as David always says, elections are about addition, not subtraction.

And the fact that she's now at 63 percent of non-white voters means there's room for her to add.

She can add more people.

GEOFF BENNETT: Yes.

Well, and what's interesting to me is that, David, her message hasn't really changed from the message that President Biden was promoting.

She's talking about defending women's reproductive rights, rejecting trickle-down economic policies, standing up for democratic norms and values.

She's putting her own spin on it, but it's effectively the same argument.

DAVID BROOKS: Right.

I mean, she's a pretty standard -- her message has always been a pretty standard Democratic message.

I think she has two dangers.

The first one is what - - all the stuff she said in 2020.

When the party was moving leftward, she said a lot of stuff which is just killer in swing states.

I want to ban fracking.

I'm going to decriminalize immigration.

I'm going to get rid of the filibuster to pass the Green New Deal.

It was just policy after policy that is unacceptable to swing voters.

And Republicans are already hanging that on her, and they're showing videos of her saying all this stuff.

And so she has to move away from all that stuff she said in 2020 if she wants to do win.

The second thing I think that is a danger for her is focusing on the issue of democracy and the threat to democracy.

That's an issue that really resonates with Democratic voters.

It is not an issue that resonates with swing voters.

The inflation is the number one issue.

She somehow has to find a way to talk about inflation that is compelling.

And I think that's possible.

There is some evidence and some polling evidence, even though it's so early, that she's not really blamed for inflation the way Biden is.

And so she might be able to step out from that, but she really needs to develop an economic message and not think that the things that play in California are going to play in Michigan and Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.

GEOFF BENNETT: What about that, Jonathan?

Does she have to create -- establish a vision that is somehow distinct from what President Biden has been talking about?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: I don't think so, because her -- the campaign speeches we have seen over the last three or four days have been really terrific, because she does talk about democracy and she does talk about having people be able to vote and have a say in their elections.

But she also does it through the framing of freedom.

She doesn't talk about autocracy.

She doesn't talk about authoritarianism.

Freedom.

Freedom over your reproductive health.

Freedom to vote.

Freedom to live the American dream, which you could fold in economics into that.

And to what David was saying about what she said during her run in 2020, there's a big difference between what you say when you are a candidate for a party nomination and what you have done as a sitting vice president, part of an administration.

And so I'm -- the two dangers you talk about, I'm not worried about those at all.

DAVID BROOKS: I just think the huge question for me is, how much has she grown?

How much has she learned?

How much is she more comfortable?

Because the Kamala Harris of 2020 was a terrible, terrible candidate.

and, frankly, if you go back to the Democratic conventional wisdom about Kamala Harris 18 months ago, it was failed vice president.

How do we get her off the ticket?

And so the Democratic Party has shifted.

And I don't know whether this is mass hypnosis or they think, oh, she really has grown.

She's a -- when she gets to be her own candidate, she's much better than she was in 2020, much better than she was in '22.

That's, to me, the big question.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: I -- and I read your column today, David.

(LAUGHTER) DAVID BROOKS: Good.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Look, Vice President Harris in -- since the revelation of the Dobbs draft has been a completely different person.

There are a couple of things that David doesn't mention in his column that have to be taken into account.

When they came into office, we were in the middle of a global pandemic.

No one could go anywhere or do anything or be around -- be around people.

That could only have a detrimental effect for anyone coming into a brand-new job unlike anything they have ever been in before.

The second thing that you can't discount is the fact that there was a 50/50 Senate.

She couldn't -- so let's say the pandemic wasn't there.

She still wouldn't be able to get out and go around the country.

She had to be within two hours of Washington to cast tie votes.

Once the midterm elections happened and the Democrats gained a seat in the Senate, she was literally liberated to run -- race around the country to hammer away at what was happening, what the Supreme Court was going to do, and then eventually did in overturning Roe v. Wade.

She's been traveling around the country.

And she said to me in an interview in '23 that when the Dobbs decision, the draft came out, she said to her staff -- quote -- "I'm getting the 'blank' out of Washington."

And she wanted to get out and talk -- go around the country and talk to people about what was happening.

And that is where you see the transformation and the change.

She is -- the Kamala Harris, the vice president of Harris I'm watching in these campaign rallies and in these tarmac conversations, that is the Kamala Harris I have known and covered since 2012.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, let's shift our focus to the Trump campaign, because we have talked about how previously the Trump campaign had a strategy that was focused entirely on defeating Joe Biden.

Now that Kamala Harris is atop the ticket, Republicans have launched a range of attacks.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: So now we have a new victim to defeat, lying Kamala Harris.

REP. HARRIET HAGEMAN (R-WY): Well, I think she's one of the weakest candidates I have ever seen in the history of our country, I mean, intellectually, just really kind of the bottom of the barrel.

I think she was a DEI higher.

SEN. TOM COTTON (R-AR): She is a failed San Francisco liberal.

GEOFF BENNETT: So what is the Republican strategy here now that the Democratic ticket has changed?

DAVID BROOKS: Well, they're throwing everything at her for right now, because they don't quite know what to do.

I think their strongest argument is the Tom Cotton argument that she's a San Francisco liberal.

It happens to be true.

They have got all this video of her saying things.

It should be said she's not liberal by San Francisco standards, but she's liberal by most of America's standards.

And it's just a fact that she's the son of academics.

Nothing wrong with that.

I'm the children -- child of academics, but she's from San Francisco.

It's very easy to tell that story, she's not quite -- she doesn't really understand your life.

She wants to decriminalize the border.

We know that would be terrible for your life.

She wants to ban fracking Pennsylvania.

We know that would be terrible for your economy.

And so, to me, that's their simplest and best argument, and they should drop all the other stuff.

GEOFF BENNETT: Jonathan, when you hear that, what do you hear?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Which part?

Oh, you mean what David said or the clips?

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, the range of attacks.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Look, any time a leader has to tell his members to cut it out with the racist and sexist comments, you have a problem.

If that's your default, you have a serious problem in your party.

And I'm sure there are lots of women, African Americans, people of color who find having the sitting vice president called a DEI hire or another member of Congress -- member of Congress who said that she is only now in the position because Democrats couldn't throw her off because of her ethnic background, that's insulting.

It's incredibly insulting for someone who has asked the people of San Francisco, asked the voters of California to make her DA and then California attorney general, not once but twice, the people who voted for her for vice president.

And to your point about -- David, about her being the child of academics, yes, her father was a professor at Stanford, her mother was a cancer researcher.

But she was also a woman of color.

And when you are a person of color in this country, it does not matter your academic credentials, your parents' academic credentials, where you live, where you went to school, what kind of job you have.

Your world view is not one that's in a bubble.

It's not one that is shrouded in elitism.

Your feet are firmly on the ground, and you know that the rest of the country is not going to view you in the way that you just described Vice President Harris.

And I think that's what gives her the power that she has.

GEOFF BENNETT: Jonathan Capehart and David Brooks, I'm sorry we're out of time.

(LAUGHTER) DAVID BROOKS: I have a response.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Your turn this week.

GEOFF BENNETT: Ten seconds?

DAVID BROOKS: I would just say, why did she take those crazy positions in 2020?

GEOFF BENNETT: OK, to be continued next week.

(LAUGHTER) GEOFF BENNETT: Thank you both.

AMNA NAWAZ: A vibrant immigrant neighborhood is facing change and disruption amid a phenomenon known as climate gentrification.

Now a Miami exhibition seeks to document that community's resilience.

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

CARL-PHILIPPE JUSTE, Co-Curator, I Am Little Haiti: I always say, Little Haiti is a gift that we give to Miami-Dade and to Florida itself or to the world.

JEFFREY BROWN: It was a celebration of a neighborhood, an exhibition of art created by those who know and love it, and also fear for its future.

Carl-Philippe Juste, an award-winning photojournalist with The Miami Herald, is co-curator of I Am Little Haiti.

CARL-PHILIPPE JUSTE: Trying to define Little Haiti from different vantage points, from those who left, those who stayed, those who were Haitian, those who migrated to the area, but all of us, all who fall in love with Little Haiti.

JEFFREY BROWN: Now at Miami's Green Space, a community art center, the exhibition organized with Florida International University offers different views into the life of Little Haiti, the neighborhood home to Haitian Americans and other Caribbean communities, paintings.

WOMAN: Little Haiti for me is my home.

JEFFREY BROWN: A documentary, everyday objects, and photographs, including several by Juste, such as this of Father Reginald Jean-Mary of the Notre Dame D'Haiti Catholic Church.

CARL-PHILIPPE JUSTE: It's the soul of the Haiti.

It's a place where you can go laugh, cry, sing, see friends.

For me, it's a place I remember.

JEFFREY BROWN: Juste and his family are part of this history.

His father, Viter, is credited with coining the name Little Haiti after moving his family from Brooklyn, New York, to Miami in 1973 and persuading other Haitians to settle here.

By 2000, nearly 100,000 Haitians lived in Miami-Dade County.

And many signs of this home away from a troubled homeland remain, murals, businesses and restaurants, the people themselves.

CARL-PHILIPPE JUSTE: My father did not coin Little Haiti because he wanted it for Haitians only.

He wanted Little Haiti because he wanted to say, we're here, thank you, and we're not going anywhere.

JEFFREY BROWN: But, today, some are having to go elsewhere, as the neighborhood sees rapid change and outside investment driving up the cost of living.

A major factor, Little Haiti's relatively higher elevation at 10 feet above sea level and away from Miami's famed coastline makes it more attractive as seas rise and increasingly threaten much of this area.

That's made Little Haiti a victim of so-called climate gentrification.

CARL-PHILIPPE JUSTE: You have developers coming in.

You have LLCs becoming homebuyers.

It changes the sound of the neighborhood.

Many could not stay because just the economic pressure renting space or even owning a home.

So I wanted to look at Little Haiti from those vantage points to place in a way of declaration, of ownership.

JEFFREY BROWN: Just 26 percent of residents in Little Haiti own their homes.

Those who have been here for decades have seen property values increase significantly.

In April 2012, the average cost of a home was around $58,000.

This year, it's over half-a-million.

That's part of the I Am Little Haiti exhibition too.

CARL-PHILIPPE JUSTE: I think it was really important that this is not a sugarcoating, a fairy tale.

This is a community that's fighting for its life.

DUDLEY ALEXIS, Visual Artist: All it is used to be Haitian businesses.

And when you're entering, you see the Haitian flag, the colors.

JEFFREY BROWN: So now I see a Mexico bar, an Italian restaurant.

I don't see anything Haitian.

DUDLEY ALEXIS: That's what happened with gentrification.

You see that fracture happening in your community.

JEFFREY BROWN: Filmmaker and visual artist Dudley Alexis, who grew up in Haiti and came to Miami as a teenager, has seen many of his favorite spots disappear.

He has dreams of renting his own art studio in the neighborhood, but knows there's little chance now.

DUDLEY ALEXIS: You come here for the food.

The ideal, you come here for at a friend's house for a great get-together.

You come here for the music.

Those are the memories I want to keep experience of Little Haiti.

And I want Little Haiti to be keep -- to be here, to be a center for the community.

No matter where a Haitian is in the diaspora, they can come in Little Haiti to feel like a -- to get a little bit of sense of home.

JEFFREY BROWN: For now, Dudley works on his art from his home in northern Miami.

It's where he designed and painted the piece hanging in the current exhibit.

DUDLEY ALEXIS: People under the tree playing dominoes is something that's constant that I have seen either in Little Haiti or here.

And that memory... JEFFREY BROWN: Is very familiar to me.

DUDLEY ALEXIS: ... is very familiar to me.

And you can see many aspects of the community there, and also the tree of the idea of, like, something that is rooted.

JEFFREY BROWN: But it's also interesting because you say something that is rooted, because a lot of you and others here were uprooted.

DUDLEY ALEXIS: You build a community, and all of a sudden they tell you're being pushed out.

They're building a new neighborhood, but you're not desired to be in that new neighborhood.

JEFFREY BROWN: As for Juste, he hopes the exhibit allows those who have experienced Little Haiti to remember what makes it so special and push us all to consider what's at stake.

CARL-PHILIPPE JUSTE: I hope that people still see themselves, see themselves in the community, which is a gift.

And I hope they see themselves and be able to value that, value it so much that they're willing to maintain it.

JEFFREY BROWN: For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Jeffrey Brown in Little Haiti, Miami.

AMNA NAWAZ: And be sure to tune into "Washington Week With The Atlantic" tonight.

Jeff Goldberg and his panel look at Kamala Harris' first week as the likely Democratic presidential nominee and the Trump campaign's changing political calculus.

GEOFF BENNETT: And on "PBS News Weekend," the debut of a new Olympic sport, breaking, also known as break dancing.

That's what the cool kids call it.

(LAUGHTER) GEOFF BENNETT: And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

For all of us here at the "PBS News Hour," thank you for joining us and have a great weekend.