GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.
I'm Geoff Bennett.
Amna Nawaz is away.
On the "News Hour" tonight: The new presidential matchup takes shape, with Vice President Kamala Harris trying to rally support from key voting blocs and former President Trump sharpening his attacks.
Israel's prime minister sits down with President Biden.
How the families of hostages view Netanyahu's controversial visit to the U.S. And we continue our look at what's behind the troubling rise in suicides among young Black Americans.
JANELLE GOODWILL, University of Chicago: One of the main questions I'm asked is, how do I find a therapist?
How do I find a clinician?
How do I find a Black clinician in this area?
There's a great need to ensure that there's enough providers available to service all those who are in need.
(BREAK) GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "News Hour."
Vice President Kamala Harris was in Houston today, honing her campaign message one day after President Biden explained why he exited the presidential race.
Harris' likely nomination has former President Donald Trump and his team racing to shift their strategy following Mr. Biden's withdrawal.
Our Laura Barron-Lopez has more.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: This morning, Harris in Houston addressing the first labor union to formally endorse her candidacy for the White House.
Harris only mentioned her opponent's name once.
KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: Donald Trump and his extreme allies want to take our nation back to failed trickle-down economic policies.
(BOOING) KAMALA HARRIS: Back to union busting.
(BOOING) KAMALA HARRIS: Back to tax breaks for billionaires.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: But drew a sharp contrast to Trump throughout, boiling the election down to one question.
KAMALA HARRIS: What kind of country do we want to live in, a country of freedom, compassion and rule of law or a country of chaos, fear and hate?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: That question answered in her first campaign video.
KAMALA HARRIS: We choose freedom.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Released early today, it also lays out the future Harris sees for the country, once again referencing Trump.
KAMALA HARRIS: We choose a future where no child lives in poverty, where we can all afford health care, where no one is above the law.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: It all comes a day after President Biden's Oval Office address justifying his seismic decision to drop out of the race.
JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: I have decided the best way forward is to pass the torch to a new generation.
That's the best way to unite our nation.
There's also a time and a place for new voices, fresh voices, yes, younger voices.
And that time and place is now.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Meanwhile, the former president scrambles to pivot his attacks from Biden to Harris.
QUESTION: Mr. President, welcome back.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: In a phone interview on "FOX & Friends" this morning, Trump responded to Harris' messaging against him.
DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: I get a kick out of one thing.
They say, sir, be nice.
He just got hit with a bullet.
Maybe he's changed.
Be nice.
And I'd love to be nice, but I'm dealing against real garbage when you hear that.
Lying Kamala Harris.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: That played off of remarks last night from the former president's first rally since Biden dropped out.
Trump portrayed Harris as a liberal extremist.
DONALD TRUMP: So, if you want socialist health care, nation-wrecking inflation, the death of American energy, and a lying radical left liberal San Francisco extremist as your commander in chief, then Kamala Harris is your candidate.
She's the one for you.
(BOOING) LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: And incorrectly labeled her as Biden's border czar, while using demonizing rhetoric toward migrants.
DONALD TRUMP: If border czar Harris stays in charge, every week will bring a never-ending stream of illegal alien rapists, bloodthirsty killers, and child predators to go after our sons and our daughters.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: In reality, migrant crossings are down 55 percent since new asylum restrictions took effect seven weeks ago,the Homeland Security Department said Thursday.
This afternoon, the vice president was back in Washington for a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
She did not attend his speech to Congress yesterday, her campaign citing a scheduling conflict.
As she campaigns, Harris will have to continue navigating one of the toughest foreign relationships for President Biden, one that's cost him some support within the Democratic Party and in key battleground states.
It will now fall on Harris to bridge the gap ahead of November.
And just four days into her campaign for president, Vice President Harris is starting to see a surge of support and new openness from key voting blocs that could ultimately determine the election.
GEOFF BENNETT: Well, let's talk more about that Laura because President Biden, as you well know, won women voters by roughly 57 percent in 2020.
How is the Harris campaign trying to capitalize on that success and reach out to that voting bloc?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Just in the few short days since she launched her campaign, Geoff, they have held nonstop calls with women, be it Black women, Latinas.
Tonight, they're going to hold a call with white women organizers and grassroots organizations across the country.
One on Sunday with Black women organizers, 44,000 Black women joined that call that had campaign officials on it.
And within the few hours of that call, they raised $1.5 million while people were on that call.
And then they had a one with Latinas just last night that roughly 4,000 Latinas joined, and they raised $118,000 on that call.
So the campaign is really hitting the ground running trying to mobilize women across the board.
GEOFF BENNETT: I know you spoke - - speaking with key organizers in multiple states today.
What did they tell you?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: I spoke with LaTosha Brown.
She's the co-founder of Black Voters Matter in Georgia.
She helped lead that call with 44,000 Black women and.
She said she's never seen this level of excitement.
She compared it to when Barack Obama ran in 2008, saying that it's just seismic.
And she said that Harris has a history of engaging with a number of key constituencies from Black women to Asian American voters and women across the board.
LATOSHA BROWN, Co-Founder, Black Voters Matter: As a vice president has been leading on two issues that I think Black women care deeply about.
That's reproductive rights and voting rights.
She has a particular kind of guilty young people, because there were some young people that, if there was a concern about the campaign, there were young people who are deeply, deeply upset with this current administration about Gaza.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: LaTosha Brown said that one of the young people she's been talking to was her niece, who had started to say she was actually on board, when previously her niece was not necessarily happy about President Biden running.
And I also spoke to an Arizona organizer, a Latina there, who said that the shift has already happened when they have been knocking on doors, that they used to hear questions about whether or not President Biden was going to stay in the race.
And now they're more energized and some undecided Latinos in that state are saying that they're curious about Harris and that they want to learn more about her.
GEOFF BENNETT: Well, let's return to this issue of young voters, how they view the Harris campaign.
What's your reporting suggest about that?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So we spent some time in Michigan, my producer, Shrai Popat, and I.
And in April, we held a roundtable with young voters under the age of 30, including two young women of color.
And one of them, Saba Said (ph), we checked in on, she's an uncommitted voter, those voters that are not happy about President Biden's response to Israel-Gaza.
And she said that she's unsure if she will vote for Harris, but that she's much more open to her than she was to President Biden.
And then we also checked in with a young Black woman, Melinda Billingsley (ph), who said that Biden was too moderate for her, but that she - - If the election were held today, she would vote for Harris.
And so she hopes that she hears more from Harris about criminal justice reform.
GEOFF BENNETT: Well, that's interesting because Republicans are trying to paint Kamala Harris, the vice president, as being far more progressive than President Biden.
This line that she's a San Francisco liberal, I keep hearing over and over again.
Unpack that strategy for us, the Trump campaign strategy, and trying to define the vice president.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Well, they have been really rushing to try to define her after -- and some of it is repeated attacks that they used on President Biden.
But one thing that they have been doing a lot, Geoff, is they have been calling Vice President Harris a DEI higher, diversity, equity, inclusion, higher, including, including -- and that's included some Republican lawmakers, allies of Trump.
And Trump has also himself called Harris - - quote -- "dumb as a rock."
He did that this week on TRUTH Social, really questioning her qualifications for the job.
And a lot of the Black Democratic organizers that I spoke to said that calling Harris a DEI hire is just another dog whistle.
And then Donald Trump again recently on the campaign trail repeatedly mispronounced Kamala Harris' name.
DONALD TRUMP: So now we have a new victim to defeat, lying Kamala Harris, lying, L-Y-I-N apostrophe.
(BOOING) DONALD TRUMP: For three-and-a-half years, lion Kamala Harris has been the ultra-liberal driving force behind every single Biden catastrophe.
I used to call it Biden migrant crime, but now I will probably change it to Harris or Kamala.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Her name is Kamala.
And this is something that Donald Trump did in 2020 as well.
He and his surrogates repeatedly mispronounced her name.
And a lot of Democrats have said that it's just another dog whistle.
GEOFF BENNETT: Well, what's the campaign strategy for dealing with these attacks?
Because I have spoken with Democratic strategists who say, yes, this is offensive, but Kamala Harris, the vice president, should not take the bait.
She should rise above this.
What is the campaign saying?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Well, so far, she hasn't been taking the bait.
They haven't really been responding to this at all, Geoff.
And in some cases, they're preempting it.
So in the case of past comments made by Trump's vice presidential pick, J.D.
Vance, Democrats are trying to get ahead of that, highlighting some disparaging comments he made in 2021.
SEN. J.D.
VANCE (R-OH), Vice Presidential Candidate: We're effectively run in this country via the Democrats, via -- via our corporate oligarchs, by a bunch of childless cat ladies, who are miserable at their own lives and the choices that they have made.
And so they want to make the rest of the country miserable too.
And it's just a basic fact.
You look at Kamala Harris, Pete Buttigieg, AOC, the entire future of the Democrats is controlled by people without children.
And how does it make any sense that we have turned our country over to people who don't really have a direct stake in it?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Kamala Harris is the stepmother to her husband's two children.
And her family has come out defending her, as well as Doug Emhoff's ex-wife.
And Democrats have highlighted those comments, Geoff, preempting a lot of those attacks, and essentially trying to make the argument that Republicans are out of step with voters when it comes to reproductive rights and when it comes to privacy around family planning.
GEOFF BENNETT: Laura Barron-Lopez, thanks, as always, for that great reporting.
We appreciate it.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.
GEOFF BENNETT: Let's shift our focus now to President Biden's decision to end his presidential bid.
I spoke this afternoon with the Senate Democrat who knows him best.
That's Senator Chris Coons of Delaware.
Senator Chris Coons, welcome back to the "News Hour."
SEN. CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Thank you.
Great to be on with you, Geoff.
GEOFF BENNETT: You are President Biden's closest ally in Congress.
You were his campaign co-chair.
The president's speech last night explaining why he's not seeking reelection, he didn't really concede any of the points made by those Democrats who sought to push him out of the race, that he's too old, that he's unable to effectively press the case against Donald Trump.
Has he explained his reasoning to you?
Was it the polling?
Was it the fracture in the party?
What was the specific issue or argument that convinced him to exit the race?
SEN. CHRIS COONS: Look, Geoff, I think what really matters here is that we take a moment and reflect on Joe Biden's incredible record, one of the most consequential presidents of my lifetime, maybe of our entire history.
And he heard from and took seriously input from a very wide range of people, from senators and governors and mayors, but also just average people, friends, neighbors, people who worked for him, people he'd known for a long time.
And he weighed his gut instinct, which is to get back up and fight.
He is a person of grit and determination, and the input he was getting from pollsters, from average folks, from elected officials suggesting that the path to the presidency to reelection was increasingly narrow.
Joe Biden is clear-eyed about just how big a threat to our democracy Donald Trump poses.
And so, ultimately, because he loves our nation more than he loves his own personal ambition, he was willing to step aside.
I think it was one of the most significant and most selfless acts by a senior elected official I have ever seen in American history.
GEOFF BENNETT: Hmm.
I have spoken with Democrats, and I'm sure you have too, who are unsettled, disappointed about the way the president was treated.
There are Democrats who were angry about what they see as a betrayal by his Democratic allies, his friends in Congress, who pushed for his ouster.
How does President Biden see it?
SEN. CHRIS COONS: Well, I shouldn't speak for him on that point, other than to say, I know he's grateful to have had the opportunity to serve in the presidency, to be one of the most senior and respected leaders in the history of the Democratic Party.
And I think we will see in the next couple of weeks and months, as this all unfolds, a convention in Chicago where President Biden will be celebrated and recognized for his incredible accomplishments and leadership, a campaign that unfolds over the next few months, where he will be a critical part of the campaign for Vice President Harris to be the next president, and the remaining six months of the Biden presidency, where he will continue to roll up his sleeves and dig in and make a difference.
Joe Biden is one of the most skilled and capable foreign policy leaders we have ever had as president, and there remains a lot to do in the six months ahead and in the years after he leaves the presidency.
GEOFF BENNETT: Let's talk more about Vice President Harris.
How will she distinguish herself from President Biden?
How does she forge her own message without effectively running away from an administration that she's been part of for years?
SEN. CHRIS COONS: Well, Geoff, I can't imagine why she'd want to run away from the most consequential and accomplished administration in decades.
The legislative record of the Biden/Harris administration is unmatched.
So, Geoff, I would expect that Vice President Harris, as our presidential candidate, will say that she's running to finish the job, to build on the success of the Biden/Harris administration.
But, of course, she's a different person.
She will also bring some different areas of priority and focus.
Today, she's speaking at a conference for, I believe, the American Federation of Teachers in Houston.
And when you have seen her in front of crowds and audiences, she excites folks.
She gets them engaged.
She delivers a sharper, tougher message against Trump as a former prosecutor, something that does distinguish her from President Biden, who, although a lawyer, never served as a prosecutor.
So, she's got some ways to differentiate herself, but I, frankly, think she will build on the very strong record that President Biden and Vice President Harris have had over this first administration.
GEOFF BENNETT: Both President Biden and Vice President Harris met separately today with the Israeli prime minister.
Is there any daylight between the two of them, Harris and Biden, on their view of how the Israel-Hamas war should be resolved or what the future should entail for the Palestinian people?
SEN. CHRIS COONS: Well, I don't know the specifics of exactly how that meeting today that each of them had separately with Prime Minister Netanyahu may have unfolded.
But there is long, strong, and deep bipartisan support for the U.S.-Israel relationship.
Few Americans have been stronger in their support for Israel than Joe Biden.
I do know that there's broad concerns in my caucus, so I would expect that Vice President Harris would continue the long and deep support for Israel from the United States, while also raising concerns about just how long this war has gone on in Gaza, whether it's really sustainable, and what we can do to improve the delivery of humanitarian relief and secure a cease-fire and the release of hostages.
GEOFF BENNETT: The next big question for Democrats is who replaces Kamala Harris as the vice presidential nominee on the ticket.
Of the reported short list, who do you think expands and improves Democrats' standing in this presidential contest?
SEN. CHRIS COONS: Well, I know them all, and I don't think I should choose between them, but I can speak more knowledgeably about two.
Mark Kelly, the senator from Arizona, has literally been my neighbor here in Washington in recent years.
I have gotten to know Mark and his wife, Gabby, very well.
I knew Gabby Giffords when she was a congresswoman before her tragic shooting injury in an attack now several years ago.
Mark is both a Navy pilot, a decorated combat veteran, and an astronaut, and his service to our nation is admirable.
But it's his work with Gabby as an advocate to reduce gun violence, to promote gun safety in the United States that really brought his voice to the fore.
And as someone who has represented a border state that has all the challenges and opportunities that come with being a border state like Arizona, I think he would contribute a lot to the role of running mate for Kamala Harris.
Josh Shapiro, the governor of my adjoining state of Pennsylvania, my wife's home state, is someone I have known for years, since he was Montgomery County Council president.
He's got a wonderful family.
He's got a great record as a legislative leader, as attorney general, now as governor, knowing how to address and fix and solve problems in a big state, a state that has areas that are red, that are purple, that are blue, and having won statewide several times in the key swing state of Pennsylvania.
Being an ethical, hardworking, capable person, and a good public speaker would recommend him as well.
So there's a number of good choices, but there's two off the top of my head where I just happen to know them both well.
GEOFF BENNETT: All right, Democratic Senator Chris Coons of Delaware, thanks for your time this evening.
We appreciate it.
SEN. CHRIS COONS: Thank you, Geoff.
GEOFF BENNETT: And we start the day's other headlines in the Western U.S. and Canada, where emergency crews are racing to tame hundreds of wildfires.
Two of the hardest-hit areas are California and Alberta, Canada, while the largest act of fire in the U.S. late Wednesday was in Oregon.
But a thunderstorm today brought some relief.
In the Canadian Rockies, 25,000 people fled the town of Jasper before a nearby fire tore through the area.
Officials are still assessing the damage, but estimate that up to half of the popular tourist destination has been destroyed.
DANIELLE SMITH, Premier of Alberta, Canada: Right now, the wildfire is still out of control, and crews are working in dangerous conditions to try and protect critical infrastructure in the town.
And to those in Alberta and around the world who have experienced the magic of Jasper, the magic is not lost and it never will be.
GEOFF BENNETT: Meantime, prosecutors in Northern California have arrested a man for allegedly starting the state's largest wildfire of the year by pushing a burning car into a gully.
The Park Fire has burned more than 70 square miles near the city of Chico.
The death toll from Hurricane Beryl has risen to at least 36 in the state of Texas.
Fort Bend County officials announced nine new fatalities today, saying power outages and heat-related causes were at least partially to blame for some of the deaths.
At the peak of the outages, nearly three million Texans were without electricity.
A typhoon slammed into China's southeastern coast today.
Earlier in the week, it hit the Philippines, killing at least 22 people.
The storm brewed up rough seas, sinking an oil tanker in Manila Bay and sparking concerns of a potential oil spill.
The typhoon then moved on to Taiwan.
Three people have died there so far, and at least 380 were injured.
One restaurant owner said the storm had taken everything from her.
LI LI-CHUAN, Restaurant Owner (through translator): I don't know how.
It's bad.
We have to tear it all down.
My mood, I can't talk about it anymore, because I have a bad heart.
I'm going to faint if I go on.
GEOFF BENNETT: More than 240,000 residents were evacuated from China's Fujian province ahead of the storm.
It's expected to weaken as it moves inland, but will bring heavy rain over the next few days.
A former Uvalde school police officer has pleaded not guilty to charges that he failed to take action while 19 children and two teachers were killed in a mass shooting back in 2022.
Adrian Gonzales made his first court appearance today to face 29 counts of abandoning and endangering children.
Each charge could carry up to two years in prison.
Gonzales was among the first of nearly 400 officers to arrive on the scene at Robb Elementary School, but then waited for more than 70 minutes to confront the shooter.
California Governor Gavin Newsom today directed state officials to start dismantling thousands of homeless encampments.
His executive order is meant to address the tents and makeshift shelters that line California's streets, freeways and parks.
But the measure leaves the actual enforcement of such removals to local officials.
The order is the nation's most sweeping response to a Supreme Court decision in June that allows cities to enforce bans on sleeping in public.
The U.S. economy grew at a healthy clip last quarter.
Commerce Department data out today showed that GDP rose 2.8 percent during the April-to-June period compared to last year.
That was better than expected and double the growth we saw in the quarter before.
Separately, weekly jobless claims fell last week by 10,000, which was more than expected.
Overall, layoffs remain low by historical standards.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who is abroad in Brazil meeting with her G20 counterparts, also noted that inflation keeps inching in the right direction.
JANET YELLEN, U.S. Treasury Secretary: Inflation is down significantly from its peak, trending towards the Federal Reserve's target.
Our administration recognizes that prices are still too high for Americans.
GEOFF BENNETT: Fed officials have signaled that they are prepared to start cutting interest rates as soon as September if inflation keeps trending down.
On Wall Street today, stocks failed to shake off their recent troubles.
The Dow Jones industrial average managed a slight gain, adding about 80 points, but the Nasdaq dropped more than 160 points as tech shares continued to struggle.
The S&P 500 also ended lower on the day.
And a passing of note.
Martin Indyk, the renowned diplomat who spent decades trying to bring peace to the Middle East, has died from complications due to cancer.
Indyk served as U.S. ambassador to Israel twice during the Clinton years and later as a special envoy under President Barack Obama.
He pushed for a two-state solution to resolve the longstanding conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
It was a dilemma he described on the "News Hour" a decade ago as existential.
MARTIN INDYK, Former U.S.
Ambassador to Israel: The demographic dynamic is such that Israel will sooner, rather than later, have to choose between being a Jewish state because it'll be a minority of Jews in the area that Israel controls, and being a democratic state.
And that's a choice that Israel should never want to have to make.
GEOFF BENNETT: Diplomat, author and friend of this program Martin Indyk was 73 years old.
Still to come on the "News Hour": how a lack of mental health care is contributing to a troubling trend among young Black Americans; a look at recent turbulence in the airline industry; and an art exhibit explores how South Korean culture is changing the world.
Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the White House for the first time since 2020 for separate meetings with President Biden and Vice President Harris.
He and President Biden also met with the families of Americans who have been held by Hamas in Gaza for the last 293 days.
That's as the administration pushes for a deal that would stop the war and release at least some of the hostages.
Nick Schifrin joins us now with the story -- Nick.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Geoff, Netanyahu had the rare opportunity of meeting within a few hours today the commander in chief and the person running to replace him.
First, he met President Biden in the Oval Office.
Biden laughed after Netanyahu called him a proud Irish American Zionist.
That's Biden laughing right there.
And, later, he met with Vice President Harris.
After that meeting, she said that she defended or she believed in the Israel's right to defend itself, but also was concerned about how Israel was conducting the war.
And she said that there were too many Palestinian civilians being killed.
Now, separately, there was a meeting between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu with the families of Americans who were held hostage.
You see that meeting right there.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said today a cease-fire hostage deal was closer than before, but was still not done.
JOHN KIRBY, NSC Coordinator For Strategic Communications: There are gaps that remain.
And our team continues to work with our counterparts in the region to see if we can't close those gaps.
We believe that they are of a nature where they can be closed and that we can achieve a deal.
But it's going to require, as it always does, some leadership, some compromise and an effort to get there.
NICK SCHIFRIN: And to talk about that part of the story, we turn to Jonathan Dekel-Chen, who met with President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu today at the White House and is the father of Sagui, an Israeli-American who was kidnapped from the Kibbutz Nir Oz trying to defend his family from Hamas terrorists.
Jonathan, thanks so much.
Welcome back to the "News Hour."
(CROSSTALK) NICK SCHIFRIN: You said today, this afternoon, that you are feeling more optimistic about a possible deal than in the past.
Why?
JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN, Father of Hamas Hostage: Well, it seems to me that there's been an alignment and a variety of pressures that have come to bear both on Hamas and Hamas leadership in Gaza, as well as on Israeli leadership.
It's clear that, in terms of Israel, that our military and intelligence communities have determined that it is time to complete this deal.
There are some adjustments, some details that need to get hammered out.
But it is time.
The incremental security improvement that may come from continued fighting is not worth risking the lives of the hostages or the prices that are to be paid by the civilians in Gaza.
On the other hand, Hamas is under immense pressure, both because of Israel's continued military campaign, the conquest of Rafah, as well as international pressure that's come to bear, mostly as a result, I think, of President Biden's announcement in late may of this three-stage deal.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Laying out the deal, basically, yes.
JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN: He -- it's a -- it was a masterful piece of statesmanship by President Biden that made it clear that there is -- to the world, that there is a deal on the table that has at least tentative approval from Israel and that it is up to Hamas to decide whether it is a terrorist organization or -- that has no concern, granted, obviously, for Israeli civilians and hostages, but also for the people of Gaza.
NICK SCHIFRIN: The details, of course, are still being negotiated.
And you said today that the ball is in Hamas' hands.
And Ronen Neutra, the father of American and Israeli hostage Omer Neutra, said that there is an update going to Hamas soon.
So what can you tell us about what details the negotiators are going to be presenting to Hamas in the coming days?
JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN: Well, I -- there's nothing I can really share with you about the details, but the process, I can certainly sort of elaborate on that a little bit.
We heard in the course of the meeting today with the president and the prime minister that their teams are working as we speak to create not a new proposal, but a kind of refinement of the existing three-stage proposal that they will be sending to Hamas by way of the intermediaries within the coming days.
And during that discussion is, we really emphasized as hostage families the importance of the urgency here.
Hostages are dying.
And we know this.
So it would seem that that message has been received by Israel.
The United States is emphatic about the need to complete this deal quickly.
NICK SCHIFRIN: The regional officials who I talk to, and you have heard this publicly, are a little bit concerned about Netanyahu himself.
You talked about how the defense establishment, the intelligence establishment are behind this deal.
There have been some questions about whether the political leadership, Netanyahu himself.
And some officials in the region are worried that he is changing the goalposts on some of this related to the Gaza-Egypt border, related to some of the movement of Gazans from the south to the north, and perhaps about the prisoners.
Do you believe that Netanyahu is behind this deal?
JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN: Well, he committed in front of the president of the United States and the national security adviser today that he absolutely is.
And he also committed, because we asked for it, that there will be no additional terms tacked on by Israel.
Of course, there may need to be refinement of certain conditions.
And I think that's a part of a negotiated process, no matter what.
So I think, more than ever before, certainly, our prime minister understands the gravity of the moment.
And in a private conversation afterwards that I can share with you, as a historian, my day job, and also as an Israeli, I really impressed upon him the need for leadership right now.
And even if there is something of a political price that he must pay to enter into this agreement, that the people of Israel will simply applaud and support him.
And I hope he takes me up on that.
NICK SCHIFRIN: His private reassurances have been made to you now, to U.S. officials for many weeks.
In public, most recently his speech to Congress, a joint session of Congress yesterday, he said this: BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Israeli Prime Minister: We're actively engaged in intensive efforts to secure their release.
And I'm confident that these efforts can succeed.
Some of them are taking place right now.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Is he saying enough in public like he's saying to you in private?
JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN: And, look, in full transparency, I have been extremely critical, both in Israel and in the U.S. media, about his seriousness in terms of really completing this deal and rescuing as many hostages that are still alive as possible and returning all the murdered victims' bodies.
It seems to me today, by virtue of the meeting with the president and with senior U.S. leadership, that he now understands that the buck has to stop.
There is no legitimate reason to continue to delay.
And the world is watching.
The world is watching both sides, both the Israelis and Hamas.
And I believe that Hamas is also feeling that pressure.
The madness has to stop.
NICK SCHIFRIN: I have had you do this on this program multiple times, but let me do it again.
What do you want the world to know about your son Sagui?
JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN: Well, my son Sagui is the father of three gorgeous, wonderful little girls, one of whom he's never met.
He is a builder and a creator.
And maybe one day -- there will be one day -- where we, I and he, will be able to introduce you to the extraordinary projects, all for the betterment of Israeli society, Jewish and non-Jewish.
The world, our region, would be so much better served by him being here and a free man than being in a Hamas terror tunnel.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Jonathan Dekel-Chen, always a pleasure.
Thanks very much.
JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN: Thank you.
GEOFF BENNETT: Last night, we have reported on the troubling rise in suicide deaths among young Black Americans.
Tonight, we explore one of the drivers of that crisis, a shortage of mental health providers.
Special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro has this report from Chicago, part of our Race Matters coverage.
And a warning: This story discusses topics of suicide that some may find disturbing.
NOAH BOYNTON, Chicago Resident: Feeling like you're not the regular type of person, it could shift your mind into a really dark place.
And I was, what, 9, 10, just like, I don't even want to be here anymore, because I just didn't.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: You thought about ending your life?
NOAH BOYNTON: Yes.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: When Noah Boynton was growing up on Chicago's South Side, he had trouble brushing off the teasing he faced at school.
He had a condition that affected how he ran and the appearance of his leg.
Sharon Morgan, Boynton's single mother and a teacher herself, initially thought the taunts were mostly harmless.
But, later, she received a call from the mother of her son's best friend.
NOAH BOYNTON: He went home and was like: "Mom, Noah's having these thoughts."
And I just remember the night.
Me and my mom were sitting crying together, because I just -- it was time that I actually told her how I was feeling.
I didn't want to be gone, but I just couldn't take it anymore.
And it gets to that point.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: He started therapy, but, in 2022, Boynton's grandfather, Morgan's dad, died at the age of 87.
SHARON MORGAN, Mother of Noah Boynton: He was so good with my son.
It was the things -- he gave the things that I couldn't.
NOAH BOYNTON: A lot of people don't have - - don't grow up with that father figure in their life to show them just how to become a man.
He was that guy for me in the end.
Losing him was -- in a sense, we both lost the father in that way.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Morgan started to see more troubling signs in her son, including increased isolation.
She decided to seek help specifically from a Black male therapist.
SHARON MORGAN: Black men handle emotions differently.
And I wanted someone who could understand how Noah was feeling and help him navigate through that.
DWAYNE SMITH, Licensed Counselor: A kid or a client, right, they don't care what until they know that you care.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: They found Dwayne Smith, a licensed counselor.
When he first met Noah Boynton, the two talked only about basketball, before slowly getting into conversations about feeling and emotions.
NOAH BOYNTON: He understands.
He gets it.
His story is similar to anyone I know.
It's just things like that make it easier to... FRED DE SAM LAZARO: There are things you don't have to explain.
NOAH BOYNTON: Exactly.
It's a lot of things that you don't have to say, because they already get it.
DWAYNE SMITH: It's definitely a big, big deal.
It does matter.
I think it brings a level of comfort, because one of the things that we all have in common, particularly of the African American community, is, we know some of the struggles, we know some of the biases.
We all have had these encounters, being misunderstood, being labeled.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Smith works in schools, runs a summer program, and provides therapy largely to clients who live on Chicago's South and West sides, where many of the city's Black residents live.
DWAYNE SMITH: There's a lot of work, there's a lot of need, and there's not enough people.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Experts say there is a lack of Black mental health professionals across the country, despite a growing demand for such services.
In 2012, the city of Chicago closed half its public mental health clinics, mostly ones located on the South Side.
By 2020, according to one analysis, the provider-to-population ratio in some areas was about a 10th of the national rate.
Officials have announced plans to reopen at least one clinic and expand services elsewhere, but: JANELLE GOODWILL, University of Chicago: There's still a great deal of work to do in order to ensure that those who are in need and at risk are receiving the support that could ultimately save their life.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: University of Chicago Professor Janelle Goodwill has studied the rise in suicide deaths among the city's Black residents, including youth.
JANELLE GOODWILL: When I speak with families who have already lost their child or families who are currently living with other reality that their child is at risk for suicide, one of the main questions I'm asked is, how do I find a therapist?
How do I find a clinician?
How do I find a Black clinician in this area?
And so I know that that's something that is really impacting so many families.
And so there's a great need to ensure that there's enough providers available to service all those who are in need.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: In 2020, licensed clinical social worker Camesha Jones started Sista Afya Community Care.
It provides free therapy specifically for Black women and girls, a population that's seen one of the biggest increases in suicide, both nationally and in Chicago.
Jones, who's dealt with her own mental health issues, says her clients rarely face just one kind of stressor.
CAMESHA JONES, Sista Afya Community Care: If a Black woman were to come to me and she's like, I'm taking care of my children, I'm also taking care of my parents, and I just feel really stressed and stretched really thin because of all these things that I'm juggling, I would automatically get that.
Everything that we have been through in this country and we're still here is powerful, but all the things that we're growing through to still exist in this society is really, really difficult.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: That, Jones says, is partly why it's so important to get more Black providers into the field.
One barrier is licensure requirements.
A 2022 report found that 84 percent of white people who took the licensed clinical social worker exam passed on their first try.
For Black applicants, that rate was just 45 percent, and only 57 percent of Black applicants ever passed the test.
So, last year, the Illinois legislature passed a law allowing an alternative for obtaining a license, completing an additional 3,000 hours of supervised practice.
CAMESHA JONES: With where things are at right now with mental health in our communities and in this country, the more that we can open it up for people who really want to do this work, I think is a huge asset.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The effects of the change won't be seen for a while, but there are already calls to expand alternatives to other mental health professions.
On the South Side, Noah Boynton, who followed his late grandfather, an Olympic boxer, into the ring, believes therapy after his death prevented him from taking the same path as some of his peers.
NOAH BOYNTON: At first when he passed, it was like nothing matters anymore.
It's like I don't know what to do.
It's just you feel lost a lot.
And when you feel lost like that, a lot of times, demons find you.
If I didn't get that help as fast as I did, I would have probably tried to jump in the streets or tried to be something that I'm not, because it helps you -- it covers that up a little bit.
It helps mask it.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Today, Noah Boynton is happy.
He just graduated from high school and is enjoying summer.
He's getting ready for his first year at Morehouse College in the fall.
He wants to become an entrepreneur, maybe build his own clothing brand.
But he says he continues to work on himself.
NOAH BOYNTON: The mental health battle is not something that's going to end.
It's just something that you have to continuously want to win.
You're not going to -- it's not going to ever really be over.
FRED DE SAM LAZARO: And as this crisis continues, he hopes sharing his story will encourage others to find the help they need.
For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Fred de Sam Lazaro in Chicago.
GEOFF BENNETT: And Fred's reporting is a partnership with the Under-Told Stories Project at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.
It has been a very, very rough week in the aviation business, and especially for passengers.
Delta Air Lines finally has most of its operations back to normal today after days of delays and thousands of flight cancellations connected to a tech outage that angered travelers and gave the airline a black eye.
Delta's response is now being investigated by the Department of Transportation.
Southwest Airlines is also being investigated by the federal government for a string of near-miss incidents involving its aircraft.
Separately, Southwest also announced today that it's finally going to move to an assigned seating system for the first time in its history.
Our aviation correspondent, Miles O'Brien, is here to catch us up on the latest.
Miles, it's always great to see you.
So let's start with this big move from Southwest.
They are ending the cattle call boarding system.
What's behind the big change?
MILES O'BRIEN: Well this is about great expectations that have fallen a little bit.
Right now, Southwest is profitable, but not as profitable as it has been over the course of many years.
And it is not meeting the expectations of Wall Street.
And so there are activist investors in the midst insisting that the management change the way it does business.
But it's interesting.
If you look at Southwest's history, this is about the most profitable airline ever, year after year of profitability, even after 9/11 or in the middle of recessions.
In the '90s, when fuel prices were high, they had a hedge fund for fuel and managed to get around that.
They have always done very well with that, having a very efficient, lean operation, flight attendants cleaning up the cabin, you name it.
And so the idea that this company is troubled may be -- they may be just caught up in the larger issue of the lingering aftereffects of the pandemic, which is affecting the airline industry systemwide.
GEOFF BENNETT: And, look, as we said, Southwest is also now being investigated by the federal government for these near-miss incidents.
Help us understand what the government wants to know more about.
MILES O'BRIEN: Well, let's -- first of all, let's be clear.
This probably has nothing to do with what we just talked about in Southwest and the business model.
But we do have something that may be related to COVID and its aftereffects.
We have got about a half-a-dozen incidents, unusual altitudes on approach, very low in Tampa and Oklahoma City, a sudden dive after departure in Hawaii, a precipitous dive toward the ocean, a mildly aerobatic move called a Dutch roll on one flight, and then a flight in Portland Maine, where they took off on a closed runway before the control tower opened.
All of these things speak to an issue of crew seasoning and perhaps training.
And the FAA is going to be looking very closely at that.
And I should point out that a lot of experienced crew members in the cockpit retired in the midst of COVID.
And the aviation industry, wherever you look, has lost -- had pretty much a brain drain.
And that could be what's at work here.
GEOFF BENNETT: Well, let's shift our focus to Delta, because they are finally getting back to normal, but there's still a lot of baggage that has to get to its right place.
And there could be a big problem for this airline's reputation now.
And what they're experiencing is actually very similar to what Southwest experienced last year.
Why are these airlines, Miles, struggling with their systems like this.
MILES O'BRIEN: Yes, it's interesting that the Southwest thing is what everybody thinks about, December of '22, a computer meltdown in the midst of bad weather and a heavy travel situation.
But if you look at what happened there, it's kind of the opposite of what happened to Delta as far as technology.
Southwest had a very antiquated system that got completely overwhelmed by events and more than 16,000 flights got canceled.
Meanwhile, I was talking to aviation analyst Mike Boyd, who studies this pretty closely.
He says Delta is by far the leader in adopting high technology I.T.
and has a very sophisticated, complex, interwoven system, which gives the airline tremendous visibility on where its planes are, where people are, where bags are, how much fuel is in the tanks, where the crews are dispatched from, and on and on.
But it's all connected.
And so what can happen, which is what we saw, is, it's kind of like pulling the plug out from the outlet.
Everything goes dark.
And so the airline now is going to have to look at this like they look in the wake of an aircraft accident and try to figure out what went wrong to make it safe for the next time.
GEOFF BENNETT: Well, in the time that remains, let's talk about the aerospace giant Boeing, because Boeing finalized this plea deal with the Department of Justice today, and they agreed to conspiracy to defraud the government on safety of the MAX 737 jets and they're going to pay a $243 million fine.
But that's not all, Miles, because the space capsule, the Starliner, which Boeing manufactured, is still docked at the International Space Station with the astronauts it's carried and their return to Earth has been delayed once again.
So what's going on there?
MILES O'BRIEN: I don't know.
It's a troubled company, to say the least, Geoff.
And what a sad statement that Boeing is in this situation on the criminal counts.
But it is a separate division.
But you have to wonder if there is some sort of way to connect these two events.
The Starliner capsule had all kinds of problems as it docked at the International Space Station in June.
Thrusters didn't fire right, leaking, on and on and on.
NASA has decided it doesn't feel completely comfortable with bringing the astronauts home as it is right now, because they don't fully understand what's going on.
They're making progress on that.
They're testing similar thrusters on the ground, finding some issues of degradation of seals, trying to understand all of this.
The big deal from their perspective is, the hardware which is failing will burn up in the atmosphere when the astronauts come home.
So they want to figure it out before that happens.
And so, and, meanwhile, the astronauts, Butch Wilmore, Suni Williams, are getting quite an extended stay on the International Space Station.
And we can only hope that NASA will pay their hotel and meal vouchers.
(LAUGHTER) GEOFF BENNETT: Yes, absolutely.
Miles O'Brien, always a pleasure, sir.
Thanks for being with us.
MILES O'BRIEN: You're welcome.
GEOFF BENNETT: From K-pop to skin care, South Korea has been at the cutting edge of cultural development internationally.
As a new museum exhibit reveals, it didn't happen overnight.
Special correspondent Jared Bowen of GBH Boston reports for our arts and culture series, Canvas.
JARED BOWEN: Less than 50 years ago, this was a defining image of South Korea, a field of farm-friendly dirt, today, series, it's this, cosmopolitan with a cacophony of color.
It's also this.
(MUSIC) CHRISTINA YU YU, Museum of Fine Arts Boston: I think it is very hard for us to imagine people have not heard or encountered anything about a Korea wave in our daily life, whether we know it or not.
JARED BOWEN: Christina Yu Yu is chair of the art of Asia at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, where the exhibition Hallyu!
The Korean Wave has left its galleries awash in South Korean pop culture in fashion, film and fandom.
The wave, she says, began in the 1980s and is cresting still.
CHRISTINA YU YU: And at the beginning of the exhibition, we have this collage of parodies and retakes of PSY's "Gangnam Style."
There are people from Ghana.
There are people from London.
There's prisoners in Philippines dancing "Gangnam Style" together.
It is almost touching every corner of the world.
JARED BOWEN: And the world has responded, making shows like "Squid Game" the most popular non-English television series of all time.
Here, we find costumes from the show and a recreation of the bathroom from "Parasite," the 2019 South Korean film about class struggle with such universal appeal it became a surprise Oscar-winning hit.
CHRISTINA YU YU: This poor family, there was a flood and their bathroom was destroyed.
That's like a symbol of their lives.
You know, their aspiration to become an upper-class family was crushed.
JARED BOWEN: It's a plotline that mirrors South Korea's own.
Economic disparity has been an impetus for the nation's growth, especially in culture.
Case in point, in the mid-1990s, the country realized that the American film "Jurassic Park" generated as much revenue in South Korea as its own Hyundai cars did.
CHRISTINA YU YU: That was just a shock to everyone.
The government noticed that, and they were able to quickly get together and went behind the film industry, went behind the creative industries and started to subsidize them again.
MIN JIN LEE, Author: So, what you're really seeing is also capitalism affecting Korean government.
It's saying, you know what?
We're going to create intellectual property in our music, in our fashion, our designer technology, and we're going to share it.
JARED BOWEN: Min Jin Lee is part of the Korean wave.
The bestselling author of the novels "Free Food For Millionaires" and "Pachinko," she came to the U.S. with her parents as a child and remains fascinated by Korea's outsized cultural influence.
MIN JIN LEE: What really makes me drawn to the Korean story is, you have a country that's in a weird geographical position, because it's surrounded by all these superpowers, Russia, China.
And the U.S. really care about what happens to Korea as an important ally.
And you have all these people who are so desperately trying to determine themselves.
So, for me, that process of self-actualization, that is what I think makes it keep going and going and going.
JARED BOWEN: As the show reveals, it has been a steep climb.
Technology giant Samsung started as a grocery store.
LG launched as a cosmetics company making Lucky Cream face powder before becoming synonymous with appliances.
MIN JIN LEE: You can't make a person keep going unless they want to.
And I think, when I meet Koreans around the world, they want to start telling you who they are and what they want.
And I kind of think that's really -- I connect with that passion and I connect with that yearning.
JARED BOWEN: Then there is K-pop, eliciting worldwide fandemonium.
The popularity of Korean music groups, Christina Yu Yu says, stems from a very intentional pop pipeline to their audiences.
CHRISTINA YU YU: We have displays, costumes worn by different idol groups, performers, such as this one, is worn by an ensemble called Aespa.
Their style of dresses here, design actually is an interaction between the idols themselves and the fashion designers and the fandom.
So, basically, there's a callout on the Internet and they say, please submit your ideas.
JARED BOWEN: For as splashy as the Korean culture wave has been, the country has always kept its history and culture deeply embedded.
It's abundantly evident in Korean fashion.
Yu Yu points out that as avant-garde as looks may appear, they tell the nation's story.
They evoke traditional ink paintings.
They pay homage to Korea's traditional hanbok dress, and they make subtle references to the moon jar, a simple round object dating to the 18th century used to store food and liquor.
But today, says Yu Yu, it holds weighty symbolism.
CHRISTINA YU YU: In the 20th century, trying to find something to symbolize the humble origin of Korea, but at the same time the resilience of Korean people.
So they really elevated the status of the moon jar as a symbol of Korea.
JARED BOWEN: A nation that, for decades now, has found fertile ground wherever it can plant its own will.
For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Jared Bowen in Boston.
GEOFF BENNETT: And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.
I'm Geoff Bennett.
For all of us here at the "PBS News Hour," thanks for spending part of your evening with us.
Have a good night.
