September 6, 2024 - PBS News Hour full episode

AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

On the "News Hour" tonight: Former President Trump's sentencing in his hush money case is delayed until after the election.

How that could affect the presidential race.

AMNA NAWAZ: The United States adds a modest number of jobs in August, but the unemployment rate falls, painting a mixed picture of the overall economy.

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE, President, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago: The issue that we have been grappling with for a little bit now is the job market is cooling, but it was started from a level that was probably too hot.

GEOFF BENNETT: And with many schools and ruins, teachers in Gaza struggle to educate children in tents and makeshift classrooms.

(BREAK) GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "News Hour."

The 2024 presidential campaign is entering the final weekend before the critical first debate between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

AMNA NAWAZ: While the vice president huddles with her team for debate prep, the Republican nominee was in federal court, fighting to overturn a guilty verdict, while another case saw a big delay.

John Yang begins our coverage.

JOHN YANG: The former president began his day with a familiar legal battle.

PROTESTERS: No one is above the law!

JOHN YANG: In New York City, Trump and his lawyers asked a federal appeals court to overturn a $5 million verdict that found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation of the columnist E. Jean Carroll.

She accused him of raping her nearly three decades ago.

Today, Trump lashed out against the accusations and once again claimed, without evidence, that the lawsuit was politically motivated.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: I'm running for president and I have all of these cases all of a sudden come out.

And they are fake cases.

And they report back to DOJ.

JOHN YANG: In another courtroom, a legal win in another case.

For now, a Manhattan judge delayed Trump's sentencing in his hush money case until after the November election.

It had been scheduled for later this month.

By afternoon, Trump was back in a battleground state, North Carolina, making his case to the Fraternal Order of Police.

DONALD TRUMP: With your help, we will restore public safety to our streets.

We will bring back law and order to our nation.

JOHN YANG: His Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, spent her day in Pittsburgh out of the public eye, but gearing up for next week's presidential debate.

Today, the Harris/Walz campaign announced that, in August, it had raised a staggering $361 million.

That's nearly triple what Trump took from donors in the same month, $130 million.

Harris begins the home stretch to Election Day with $404 million hand to spend.

Days after announcing her support for Harris, former Representative Liz Cheney said Harris had the vote of another prominent Republican, her dad.

QUESTION: Would you care to share with us who he might be voting for?

FMR.

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): Dick Cheney will be voting for Kamala Harris.

(CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) JOHN YANG: As the campaign enters the final two-month sprint, voting can officially begin, as the first absentee ballots hit mailboxes in North Carolina today.

For the PBS "News Hour," I'm John Yang.

GEOFF BENNETT: And we start the day's other headlines inside a Georgia courtroom.

The teenager charged in Wednesday's shooting at Apalachee High School that killed four people made his first court appearance today, and so did his father.

The two were arranged separately in back-to-back hearings, while families of the victims were seated in the front row.

The suspect's father, Colin Gray, faces charges of involuntary manslaughter and second-degree murder for providing a firearm to his son while knowing he was a threat to himself and others.

The 14-year-old suspect will be tried as an adult.

Both will remain in custody after their lawyers decided not to seek bail.

Southern California is sweltering in the peak of a late summer heat wave today, with some places expected to soar above 110 degrees.

Excessive heat warnings are in effect until Monday with triple-digit temperatures on deck all weekend.

That fits with a global pattern of hot weather, with data out today showing it's been the hottest summer ever recorded worldwide.

The European climate service Copernicus says that puts 2024 on track to be the warmest year observed in human history.

Scientists mostly attribute the heat to human-caused climate change.

The White House is calling on Israel to investigate the death of an American citizen in the occupied West Bank today.

Witnesses say the 26-year-old woman was shot by Israeli troops during an anti-settlement protest.

Doctors say she was struck in the head and later died in a hospital.

In a statement, the IDF wrote that its forces -- quote -- "responded with fire toward a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks" and that it's looking into reports that a foreign national was killed.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said U.S. officials are gathering more information on what happened.

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. Secretary of State: We deplore this tragic loss.

I have no higher priority than the safety and protection of American citizens around the world, wherever they are, something I take with the utmost seriousness.

So, if we have more info, we will share it, make it available, and, as necessary, we will act on.

GEOFF BENNETT: That comes as Israel appears to have withdrawn from several West Bank refugee camps after a military operation that lasted more than a week and left dozens dead.

Residents of the Jenin camp describe the destruction as the worst they have ever seen.

Israel says it was targeting militants to curb attacks against its civilians.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the U.S. will provide $250 million in additional weapons to Ukraine.

Austin made the announcement in Germany today, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy once again pushed for permission to use long-range weapons to strike targets deeper inside Russia.

U.S. officials fear such attacks could escalate the war.

Speaking to reporters today, Secretary Austin defended the administration's position.

LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. Secretary of Defense: We have said all along, U.S. there's no one capability that will in and of itself be decisive in this campaign.

Each time, we point out that it's not just one thing.

It's a combination of capabilities and how you integrate those capabilities to achieve objectives.

GEOFF BENNETT: The meeting comes after a series of Russian airstrikes this week, including today's missile attack on the city of Pavlohrad in the eastern part of the country.

Regional officials there say at least 50 people were injured.

The Chinese government says it will no longer allow international adoptions of its children, except in the case of blood relatives adopting a child or stepchild.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson gave few details, except to say the decision is in line with the spirit of relevant international conventions.

More than 160,000 Chinese children have been adopted by overseas families since 1992.

About half of those were by Americans.

The U.S. State Department says it's seeking clarification how the decision will affect hundreds of American families with pending applications.

And on Wall Street, stocks tumbled after the latest jobs report sparked new worries about the U.S. economy.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than 400 points, or about 1 percent.

The Nasdaq fell more than 400 points and is now more than 10 percent off its record highs.

The S&P 500 closed out its worst week since March of 2023.

And it's the sprint to the finish for the Paralympic Games in Paris.

The Closing Ceremony is on Sunday.

Today saw some impressive performances.

British cycling star Sarah Storey added a 19th gold medal to her, got to say it, storied career.

The 46-year-old actually won her first Paralympic gold as a swimmer at the Barcelona Games back in 1992.

China set a new world record in the qualifying heat in the 4x100-meter universal relay.

They went on to win gold in the event, which features two men and two women, each with different disabilities.

And Team USA's Hunter Woodhall took home gold in the men's 400 meter.

His wife, Tara Davis-Woodhall, herself a gold medalist in the Paris Games, was there to cheer him on.

And a passing of note.

Celebrated Brazilian musician Sergio Mendes has died.

The Grammy-winning pianist, songwriter and arranger was one of the country's biggest stars, bringing bossa nova to a global audience.

His biggest hit was a cover of the song "Mas Que Nada" with his group Brasil '66.

Mendes was still performing in 2023, but spent months dealing with the effects of long COVID before his death.

Sergio Mendes was 83 years old.

Still to come on the "News Hour": David Brooks and Kimberly Atkins Stohr weigh in on the week's political headlines; the U.S. special envoy for Sudan on global efforts to aid millions of people displaced by the country's civil war; and several deaths at the start of the school football season raise more questions about the sport's risks.

The latest jobs report shows the labor market is definitely cooling off.

The U.S. added 142,000 new jobs last month and the unemployment rate dipped slightly to 4.2 percent.

Overall, the report was better than July, but with revisions and other data coming out this week, it shows a job market that is notably cooler than this past winter.

All of this is being closely watched as the Fed prepares to cut rates later this month.

Austan Goolsbee is the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Welcome back to the "News Hour."

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE, President, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago: Thank you so much for having me.

GEOFF BENNETT: So what's clear from the data is that the job market is slowing down.

What's your overall read of this report and what it says about the strength of the U.S. economy?

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: The issue that we have been grappling with for a little bit now is the job market is cooling, but it was started from a level that was probably too hot.

So what we need is to get it stabilized at a steady state full employment kind of a level.

And there's a couple of warning signs here that as the job markets keep cooling and if we get more months that are below what we expected like this month or they revised what were already disappointing months in the previous two months downward, the more we see that, the more nervous we might want to be on what's happening in the -- on the state of the economy.

GEOFF BENNETT: So how aggressive should the Fed be when it comes to cutting rates at this meeting that's scheduled for later this month?

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: You know the rules.

I'm not allowed to speak for anybody else on the committee, only for myself.

I think we set a high interest rate more than a year ago and we have been sitting there with this high rate this whole time, and the conditions more than a year ago when we set it were very different than they are today.

The inflation rate is something like half what it was back then, and we set it that high to try to get rid of inflation.

And the job market has cooled significantly.

My expectation is, what's appropriate is multiple rate cuts over the next several meetings, and that, if you look out over the year, you only want to be this tight as a Central Bank if you're afraid that the economy is overheating.

And this isn't what overheating looks like.

If anything, it's overcooling.

GEOFF BENNETT: There are some economists, some of whom we have spoken to on this program, who say that the Fed is behind the curve, that rate cuts at this point won't help the economy in time and that any rate cuts need to be significantly larger.

Where are you on that?

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: I think the hardest thing for a Central Bank ever is to figure out exactly the timing.

So what we're trying to determine is, are we behind the curve?

Are we on the curve?

What is to come?

It's not just a backward-looking thing.

And we don't -- we don't ChatGPT-style say, well, if the job market number is X, then that means Y at the next meeting.

But I think we have got to take seriously the idea that if you look at the long arc of the data, it's pretty clear what's happened.

Inflation has come way down.

The job market has cooled.

And if we do not start moving with -- if we start moving apace at getting the getting the rates back to something like normal, we're going to increasingly have problems on the real side of the economy.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, a question about one aspect of that long arc of the data, to use your phrase.

If you look at the job revisions downward, over the last three months, we have been creating an average of about 115,000 jobs a month.

And that's down quite a bit from last winter.

Are you confident that we're not sliding too much and heading into a possible recession?

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: That's the fear.

I would express -- I don't express confidence about predictions.

The job of central banker is to worry about everything, but that's the primary worry, is that with the slowing of the job creation and the rise of the unemployment rate, that it won't stabilize at something like where it is now.

If everything stopped and the unemployment rate was 4.2 percent and we had 150,000 jobs a month, and that just continued, that would be fine.

That would be kind of a steady state full employment type rate that people have expected.

The great fear is that it just keeps cooling and it gets worse.

And that's what we got to try to guard against.

GEOFF BENNETT: I want to also ask you about the commercial real estate sector, because there are questions about whether the problems in that sector might spread.

There are some analysts who believe that office buildings are never going to recover to their pre-pandemic levels and that you will have banks and investors eating the losses, hundreds of billions of dollars potentially.

How do you see that?

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: Look, the office sector has been troubled.

It is no question.

You go to the downtowns of a lot of big cities and the vacancy rates are higher than what they were pre-pandemic, for sure.

Part of that's got to be sorted out.

How much are people going to work from home, work from hybrid?

What are going to be the demands for space?

The important thing over '23 -- after Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, there was a fear that that -- the office real estate issue was going to come to a head and be a real credit crunch on the banking sector.

That largely didn't happen.

I think it's a safe - - safety and soundness supervision is a core function of the Fed.

And the bank examiners are on top of these issues.

And the -- that's not separate from what happens to the rates.

If the rates are coming down, it makes it easier to refinance buildings to incur whatever losses have to be incurred and to get on with it.

So we will just have to see how those play out in the context of the rates.

GEOFF BENNETT: Austan Goolsbee is president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

Thanks for being with us.

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, it's back-to-school season.

And, last night, we brought you a report on Israeli children displaced from their homes and schools by the war and violence.

But, in Gaza, 625,000 children have no school to return to at all.

Most of Gaza's 560 schools have been damaged or destroyed.

More than half have been directly hit by Israeli forces, who say schools have been used as shelter by Hamas militants.

As Nick Schifrin reports with producer Shams Odeh, in Gaza, the few remaining schools are now shelters for the displaced.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In Deir al Balah in Central Gaza, the classroom is a tent and the students displaced children of war, proud to contribute, eager to learn in a class, rather than from the conflict they have been forced to endure.

TAHA IBRAHIM, Volunteer Teacher (through translator): We're trying to provide relief for children through education and play so they feel better mentally.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Taha Ibrahim is an elementary school teacher, himself displaced, and a volunteer with a French-sponsored program for kids.

TAHA IBRAHIM (through translator): As educators, we're trying to help students remember what they have learned and at the same time try and cheer them up and relieve them from the pressure they're under, despite ongoing bombing and displacement.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In a neighboring tent, 8-year-old triplets Lana, Batul and Line Abu Asee, with their younger sister, Bisan, have a message for the kids around the world starting school this week.

BATUL ABU ASEE, 8 Years Old (through translator): We're supposed to go to school.

Everyone is going back to school, except us in Gaza.

You're so lucky.

NICK SCHIFRIN: They have lost their home and been displaced multiple times, but have held on to their dreams.

LANA ABU ASEE, 8 Years Old (through translator): I wanted to be a doctor because I want to help people who aren't feeling well.

BATUL ABU ASEE (through translator): When I grow up, I want to be a teacher so I can teach kids and they can learn.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And so the triplets leave their canvas home in the Al-Zawayda camp, which has been their refuge for months, and cross just a few steps over the sand to arrive at their canvas school.

Tent classrooms like these are all that Gaza's children have in a war where the U.N. says more than 9,500 children enrolled in schools have been killed.

Gazans say the entire educational infrastructure has been eviscerated.

The U.N. says at least 85 percent of Gaza's schools have been directly hit or damaged.

And in this war and in every war in Gaza, U.N. schools transformed shelters for nearly two million displaced, like the Abu Himasa (ph) School in al-Bureij camp, classrooms once filled with students now home to families with nowhere else to go, clothes, rather than chalk, dishes, rather than drawings, a kitchen and a bedroom all piled up in a corner.

ONANA ABU AL-KHAIR, University Student (through translator): When we used to go to school, they would teach us that school is our second home, but now it is, in fact, our only home.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Onana Abu Al-Khair was studying to be a dentist at one of Gaza's top schools, Al-Azhar University, seen here before the war and today.

The U.N. says all of Gaza's 12 universities have been damaged or destroyed.

Israel blames Hamas for living in and fighting from residential buildings and using schools turned shelters as cover.

Despite it all, Onana Abu Al-Khair tries not to forget what she's learned or what she's lost.

ONANA ABU AL-KHAIR (through translator): Gaza was beautiful, with its people, busy streets and food.

We want to go back to that because we cannot get used to the situation we're in right now.

We are not resilient.

We are forced and obliged to live this way.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Her mother, Suhair: SUHAIR ABU AL-KHAIR, Mother of Onana (through translator): It's as if we're dying slowly while still alive.

We want these young kids and students whose life was taken away from them to be able to live again, so they can get up, get dressed, wear their uniforms, eat breakfast and go to school, see their teachers and their friends, study and excel.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But those are dreams deferred.

UNICEF estimates all of Gaza's children, one million people, need mental health and psychosocial support.

They have seen too much and had to grow up too fast.

Maryam Al Nabahin is 4.

MARYAM AL NABAHIN, 4 Years Old (through translator): Our home was bombed and there were injured people everywhere.

There were rocks, little tiny rocks.

I wish I could go to kindergarten, for the war to end and have a new home.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But, for so many, there's no going back, back home, back to school, back to what childhood is supposed to be.

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

GEOFF BENNETT: Donald Trump is granted a political reprieve after the judge overseeing his New York criminal case delays his sentencing, as Kamala Harris picks up some new Republican support.

On that and more, we turn tonight to the analysis of Brooks and Atkins Stohr.

That's New York Times columnist David Brooks, and Boston Globe columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr.

Jonathan Capehart is away this evening.

Great to see you both.

KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR, The Boston Globe: Good to see you.

DAVID BROOKS: Good to see you.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, as I just said, former President Donald Trump will not be sentenced in his New York criminal case until after Election Day.

The judge in that case, Juan Merchan, explained that his decision to delay the sentencing was in part to avoid any appearance of affecting the outcome of the presidential race.

Kimberly, I will come to you on this one first, because, in addition to being a political analyst and an opinion writer, you're also a former trial attorney.

Did Judge Merchan get this right?

KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR: I think that he did.

Look, he could have gone either way.

I think there are arguments in either direction, just to keep the sentencing where it was or to push it off.

But one thing a judge wants to do is to make sure the rulings that he makes stick.

And I think the fewer -- the less obfuscation or appeals or kerfuffle that can happen before the election, the better.

It doesn't really do that much difference to put it off after the election.

Remember, we're not talking about a likely prison sentence here.

We are talking about something that's going to be below that, maybe at best probation, some fines.

So I think it was the right decision just to keep it out of the political sphere entirely.

GEOFF BENNETT: David, you could argue, though, that this does affect the election in the sense that Donald Trump's criminal convictions likely won't be at the forefront of the campaign in the final weeks to Election Day.

And delay has been a feature of each of his criminal cases.

DAVID BROOKS: Yes, I'd have to believe it will affect the election if I had any evidence that any of these trials has affected the polling.

And I just haven't seen that during the indictment phase, even during the investigation phase, when the FBI went to Mar-a-Lago in that case, and then when the conviction in New York, potentially with a sentencing.

Just haven't seen that much movement.

People have their views of Donald Trump's morality pretty much locked down.

And the people who are going to decide the election are not high-engagement voters.

And sometimes for those of us in this business, it's worth reminding ourselves that sometimes it could be misleading to follow the campaign day to day, because we think, oh, things are happening.

But for most voters, nothing's happening.

They're not paying attention to any of it.

They're looking at the fundamentals.

Who's going to be better on the economy?

Who's better on foreign policy?

Who's better for me?

And so a lot of these events, they just come and go.

GEOFF BENNETT: Yes.

Well, Donald Trump is drawing attention for the way that he answered a question about his childcare plan yesterday.

He was asked at the Economic Club of New York how he would handle childcare legislation if elected president.

Here is part of his nearly-two-minute long answer.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: I think, when you talk about the kind of numbers that I'm talking about, that -- because childcare is childcare.

It couldn't -- there's something -- you have to have it.

In this country, you have to have it.

But when you talk about those numbers compared to the kind of numbers that I'm talking about by taxing foreign nations at levels that they're not used to, but they will get used to it very quickly.

And it's not going to stop them from doing business with us, but they will have a very substantial tax when they send product into our country.

Those numbers are so much bigger than any numbers that we're talking about, including childcare, that it's going to take care of it.

GEOFF BENNETT: Kimberly, your reaction to what you heard there?

KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR: To paraphrase the former president from his debate, I don't know what he said and I don't think he understands what he said either.

Listen, childcare is a gimme question on the campaign trail for a presidential candidate.

It's something that everyone cares about.

Access to affordable childcare is one of the key points to our economy.

And the fact that he starts wandering off in thoughts about tariffs and China that have absolutely nothing to do with it shows he either has no plan or he hasn't given this any thought, or both.

I also think, if the Democratic Party had a family talk about the cognitive abilities of Joe Biden, then it's a long past time that the Republican Party confront the same thing about Donald Trump, because something's going on there.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, David, there's the way that he said what he said, but there's also the substance of what he was saying, this notion that tariffs will take care of childcare costs, to use his phrasing.

So we should say Donald Trump is floating a 10 percent across-the-board tariff on everything that's imported into the U.S. And economists across the political spectrum have basically said that is a tax on consumers that will raise costs across the board.

But what's your take on what he said and how he said it?

DAVID BROOKS: Yes, I mean, this is -- we can't blame this on cognitive decline, because he's been not understanding tariffs for about 10 years now.

And so he thinks somehow you put a tariff on, we're -- the Chinese are going to pay for it.

But, as you just said, the American consumer is going to pay.

And Kamala Harris has said this will raise American costs $3,600 a year for each family.

And so he just doesn't understand what a tariff is, because -- and he doesn't understand his basic fundamental policy.

There have been a lot of bad policy ideas thrown around, as there always are in a general election campaign.

I'm not a fan of some of the way Kamala Harris wants to realize -- wants to tax unrealized capital gains, which strikes me as economic mystery.

But the single worst policy idea on the table before us is the Trump tariffs.

That will definitely raise costs, raise inflation, really be a tremendous setback to the economy.

And he just says it because it sounds good because he's being tough on China.

So a lot of policies that are floating out there, they're not about the policy.

They're about sending some sort of emotional image.

And that's what Donald Trump manipulates.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, Kimberly, back to your point about the asymmetry in this race, the double standard, where President Biden can mistakenly refer to the president of Egypt as he meant to say the president of Mexico, and that adds to this narrative that ultimately drove him from the race.

Donald Trump can rant at a rally or ramble through a statement like that, and it's largely ignored.

What do you see as the practical effect of that?

KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR: Well, I think if -- as people see it more and more, especially juxtapose Kamala Harris, which, whether you like her policies or not, she is laying out policies.

She is speaking in complete sentences and paragraphs about her vision for the American future.

And you see Donald Trump asked a question, again, about childcare, something that impacts all of us, and he cannot seem to stay on track about that, thinking about leading a nation at a time, at this current time when we do want to keep the economy on track, when there are threats, both domestically and foreign I think seeing this again -- people sort of forgot about Trump for a while.

I think seeing this again is a stark reminder that there is a clear, clear division, a clear difference in this area.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, former Congresswoman Liz Cheney this week said that she's voting for Kamala Harris, that, in her words, there's never been an individual in our country who is as grave a threat to our democracy as Donald Trump is.

And then, today, speaking at the Texas Tribune Festival, she said that her father, the former Vice President Dick Cheney, is voting for Kamala Harris too.

Take a listen.

QUESTION: Dick Cheney, your father, a beloved figure among Democrats for many, many years... (LAUGHTER) QUESTION: ... do you, if you know who he will be supporting or who he will be voting for, do you care to share with us who he might be voting for?

FMR.

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): Dick Cheney will be voting for Kamala Harris.

(CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) GEOFF BENNETT: So, Dick Cheney, stalwart conservative, no one can accuse him of being a RINO Republican in name only.

He served, I think, four Republican presidents, if memory serves me correctly.

What do you see as the significance of their dual support for Kamala Harris?

DAVID BROOKS: Who knows.

Maybe he's swinging left.

He's going to move to Park Slope.

He's going to come in hippie.

(LAUGHTER) DAVID BROOKS: No.

GEOFF BENNETT: That, I'd like to see.

(LAUGHTER) DAVID BROOKS: For a lot of Republicans, character comes before policy.

And I think the Cheneys are among those Republicans and there were a lot of Bush Republicans for whom that was just an article of faith.

The other interesting thing is about how interesting a decade the 2010s was, when the Republicans had a total hostile takeover from outsiders, Trump and MAGA.

And so it left all the Bush people I know, like, we can't support this, not all, but 80 percent of the Bush people.

And President Bush and Dick Cheney are among them.

The Democrats had an attempted hostile takeover from Bernie Sanders, but it didn't take.

And so they're a party that's still unified, and the MAGA is a party that's left behind a lot of people like Dick Cheney, and a lot -- not only Dick Cheneys, but suburban Republicans who voted for Bush and Cheney.

GEOFF BENNETT: Do you think an endorsement -- or maybe it's not officially an endorsement.

KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR: Right.

GEOFF BENNETT: Do you think the show of support will make a difference?

KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR: I think that it can, as David said, in a certain segment.

Zillennials probably don't even know who Dick Cheney is.

But if you're talking to people, disaffected Republicans who might -- are considering either holding their nose and voting for Trump or maybe staying home, it's showing them that there is another way.

If they don't like what Trump stands for and what he wants, there's a way in this election to do something different and try to eliminate him from the political arena entirely.

GEOFF BENNETT: Does the support from the Cheneys make it harder for a George W. Bush to stay on the sidelines, or does it make it harder for a Chris Christie, a Chris Sununu, or a Bill Barr, for that matter, to say that Kamala Harris is worse?

DAVID BROOKS: No.

Bush doesn't -- he loves it on the sidelines.

Bush seems to be the happiest guy on Earth on the sidelines.

I think I'd just emphasize something Kimberly said, which is a lot of people are like, I can't vote for these people.

I can't vote for either of these people.

Cheney gives a little permission structure to people, OK, I'm not just going to sit it out.

I'm going to vote for Kamala Harris.

I need to step up and save our republic from this.

And so I think it will help with a certain segment on that point.

GEOFF BENNETT: We have got about a minute left.

Just quickly, what are you watching for in the debates next Tuesday?

KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR: I really hope that they talk about the Supreme Court.

I was disappointed that we did not see that last time.

But I think, overall, so long as Kamala Harris keeps her prosecutor stance and -- that she will be able to handle Donald Trump.

DAVID BROOKS: I think so, but I'm not sure.

She hasn't done it, so you don't know.

For Donald Trump, everything's an alpha male dominance contest.

And so he's going to try to do body language, screaming.

He's going to try to do everything just to look bigger.

He is physically a lot bigger than she is.

And he's going to use that.

Whether it comes across as obnoxious or aggressive and manly, well, I probably already have my opinion on that one.

GEOFF BENNETT: All right, we will have special coverage on Tuesday night.

David Brooks and Kimberly Atkins Stohr, thanks so much.

Have a great weekend.

KIMBERLY ATKINS STOHR: You too.

DAVID BROOKS: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Today, U.N.-backed human rights investigators accused both sides in the Sudanese civil war of war crimes and advocated for an independent and impartial force to protect civilians.

As a series of reports that we have presented here on the "News Hour" in recent weeks have shown, the area is devastated, with more than 10 million people displaced, millions hungry, and tens of thousands killed.

Nick Schifrin speaks with a U.S. diplomat working to address what's become the world's largest humanitarian crisis.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Amna, the civil war erupted more than 500 days ago between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

Today's call from those U.N.-backed investigators reflects the desperation to help civilians caught in the middle, especially after U.S.-backed peace talks in Geneva failed to end the fighting.

I'm joined now by Tom Perriello, U.S. special envoy for Sudan.

Tom Perriello, thanks very much.

Welcome back to the "News Hour."

As I have just mentioned, the Geneva talks did not create a pathway to peace.

So what's next?

TOM PERRIELLO, U.S. Special Envoy for Sudan: Well, first of all, we were able to have a great deal of success opening up several of the humanitarian supply routes, where over a million people are facing starvation.

Over 20 million are facing acute hunger.

Over eight million pounds of food have moved, 3,000 tons last week into areas that have not seen emergency food distribution for four months.

So, on the issues of humanitarian access, we were able to make significant progress, thanks to President Biden and Secretary Blinken giving the go-ahead to go forward with the talks.

On protection of civilians, where we have seen horrific atrocities from both sides, we were able to get the first code of conduct commitment from the Rapid Support Forces.

We have much more to be done on both humanitarian access and civilian protection.

And, ultimately, of course, the goal is a cessation of hostilities.

NICK SCHIFRIN: So how do you end this war next?

Do you try the same approach that you have had already, try and get the Sudanese Armed Forces, which did not show up in Geneva, and the Rapid Support Forces together again, as you have been doing for many months, if not longer than that?

TOM PERRIELLO: We built a team of partners from the region, along with the African Union and United Nations, that were able to be working with both the RSF and the army on really, really important, lifesaving steps to try to address this famine and civilian protection.

That's why I think we're able to build this larger diplomatic coalition to try to push for peace.

NICK SCHIFRIN: You're describing, basically, taking the same steps you already have, but, with all due respect, they have not worked.

As we have said, the Sudanese Armed Forces did not show up in Geneva.

You have had previous talks in Jeddah.

Can you focus on some of the external actors that are fueling this conflict?

Can you get the UAE to stop sending weapons to the RSF?

Can you get Egypt to stop supporting the Sudanese Armed Forces?

Can you get the actors that have been trying to put their thumbs on the scale to stop doing so?

TOM PERRIELLO: We're pushing hard to extend the arms embargo for all of Darfur.

We believe that not only needs to be extended, but we need to see greater enforcement.

The United States continues to raise the costs on those individuals that are committing atrocities on both sides, as well as some of the businesses that are aiding and abetting in that effort.

We're trying to build more partners coming in who can be part of doing that.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Do you have any leverage at all over external actors, who I mentioned before many of whom are U.S. partners, when many of those capitals are hedging two months before the election?

TOM PERRIELLO: Yes, we have been very clear that we call on all the external actors to stop fueling this war, stop sending in more arms, start to be partners in the humanitarian relief, the civilian protection and the peace efforts.

We will continue to lead on those efforts.

NICK SCHIFRIN: You have described a lot of actions the U.S. has taken, but have you threatened sanctions on the leadership of the two sides, General Burhan, the head of the Sudanese Armed Forces, General Hemedti the head of the Rapid Support Forces, as many experts have asked you to do?

TOM PERRIELLO: Yes, we have continued to increase the sanctions on both SAF and RSF leaders.

We have in some cases made those explicitly related to issues, for example, atrocity prevention.

We will continue to have that be a central part of this strategy as we look to raise the costs of those that are imposing the suffering on the Sudanese people.

NICK SCHIFRIN: You mentioned the crossing, Adre, between Chad and Darfur.

The agreement to get aid across that crossing only lasts for three months.

How are you going to extend it?

TOM PERRIELLO: Well, we absolutely want to continue to show that this is a lifesaving effort, that it is something the Sudanese people want and are appreciative of those leaders inside and outside the country that are helping to get food and medicine into these famine-stricken areas.

We believe if we can continue to show those results, we will be able to extend these efforts going forward.

But we have a lot of people to reach that have not yet been reached since these reopenings.

NICK SCHIFRIN: As I said at the top of the segment, U.N. backed human rights investigators called today for a -- quote -- "independent impartial force" to protect civilians, of course, force being the operative word there.

That could include boots on the ground.

Is that an idea you endorse?

TOM PERRIELLO: I think there's an understanding that, as you said before, we can't just keep doing the same things and expecting a different result.

The scale of this crisis, first and foremost, is being imposed on the people of Sudan, but also increasingly on the region.

And I think the recommendations coming out of the U.N. report are extremely important and timely as we head into the U.N. General Assembly and should absolutely consider them and build support for a wide range of approaches to civilian protection and other things that can help end the war.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Let me read you a statement by the deputy chairman of the Sudanese Sovereign Council, Malik Agar, to my colleague Leila Molana-Allen during her recent trip to Sudan.

Quote: "The U.S. administration, they have never come here.

We have an envoy who's never put a leg in Sudan.

If you're serious to solve a problem somewhere, why don't you come and meet the president in this country?

Why don't you meet us in our country?

But this is not happening."

TOM PERRIELLO: Well, I have traveled to Sudan before, and I traveled to Adre earlier, tried to come to Port Sudan, but was blocked by the government in the early parts of my tenure.

More recently, we put a trip together that our diplomatic security team said would require me to just be at the airport.

We communicated that.

They rejected that offer, and we completely respected them rejecting that offer.

But every week, I'm meeting with Sudanese people from all 18 states, hundreds and hundreds of Sudanese that I meet with virtually each week, as well as thousands from the refugee and diaspora community.

So we will continue to meet every day, every week with the Sudanese people.

And, hopefully, that will involve a trip to Port Sudan sometime soon.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Tom Perriello, thank you very much.

TOM PERRIELLO: Thank you, Nick.

AMNA NAWAZ: Fans and families will pack the bleachers tonight in high school stadiums across the country as football season kicks off in earnest.

But after at least seven deaths tied to the sport since August, including three teenagers who sustained fatal brain injuries, questions are being raised again about the safety of the game played under those Friday night lights.

William Brangham has more.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: One of those deaths was a boy named Cohen Craddock, a 13-year-old from West Virginia who suffered a head injury after making a tackle in practice.

His father is now advocating for the use of padded helmet coverings known as guardian caps, and he wants his son's teammates to stick with the game.

RYAN CRADDOCK, Father: I told them that this is about that this was a bad accident, to move forward.

I didn't want them to have the weight of my son on their shoulders.

But I wanted them to play for him.

I wanted them to play Cohen-strong.

I don't think we need to take away football.

I just think we need to maybe put more safety measures out there to protect our kids.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: For more on the risks and rewards of youth tackle football, we're joined by Chris Nowinski.

He's the co-founder of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, a neuroscientist and a former college football player himself.

Chris Nowinski, welcome to the "News Hour."

We just heard from that father, Ryan Craddock, who tragically lost his son to a traumatic brain injury in football.

Help us understand these numbers in perspective.

Why is it that it seems that tackle football exerts such a heavy toll?

CHRIS NOWINSKI, Co-Founder and CEO, Concussion Legacy Foundation: Well, I'm going to focus on the traumatic brain injuries.

And I don't think, unfortunately, we can be that surprised that a few kids die every year playing football.

There will be a billion head impacts created by the game of football this fall.

So it's almost a miracle that there's only a few deaths.

And that's because helmets have actually done a good job of preventing deaths, but they don't prevent every possible brain injury.

The other thing to talk about is, what are those billion head impacts going to do over time?

And so we will lose a couple now, every year, and then -- but more will suffer long-term effects down the road.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So is that just the science indicates that repeated percussion, if it's not a traumatic event in the moment that results in these tragedies we're talking about, but that repeated percussion to the brain over time has real problems as well?

CHRIS NOWINSKI: Right.

And that's the area of research that I have focused on for the last 20 years, is that having played -- I took 10,000 head impacts.

I survived, like most people do.

But I didn't realize until after I stopped playing that had laid the groundwork for the potential for me to have a disease called chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

And I think that's where we really should be focused on.

These unfortunate deaths give us a window with the fact that our brains are very vulnerable.

And those hits add up over time.

And what we're finding is that, if you have a long football career, and you take hundreds or thousands of head impacts, the longer you play, the greater your odds you will develop a degenerative brain disease that will change who you are.

And to be honest with you, like, I started this so long ago, but I have recently lost friends.

I lost one of my teammates at Harvard to this.

So it's just -- it's a serious issue.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And what do you say to the many parents who say, I hear about those risks, those are isolated, perhaps tragedies, but there is so much upside to this?

There's sportsmanship.

There's camaraderie.

There's great exercise, the spirit that this brings to young athletes.

How do you help parents weigh the benefits with these risks?

CHRIS NOWINSKI: Children, unfortunately, will die in these activities.

Some have died randomly from heart disorders and other things.

So the deaths don't really tell us what to do.

The way I advise parents on youth sports is, we absolutely want our kids playing sports and team sports.

They do wonderful things for their physical and neurological and mental development.

But what we don't need and what we have, what we should get rid of is our children getting hit and head hundreds of times a year.

Not every sport has that.

Only a few have that.

And those that do introduce a risk of concussions that can change kids and this risk of CTE.

So, yes to sports, but say no to the head impacts.

If your kids take in more than 100 head impacts every fall in this sport, maybe try another sport, at least until their brain has had time to develop and grow.

I would consider maybe 14 to be a good guideline.

No head impacts repetitively before 14.

Let their brain grow, and then you can take greater risks, when the kids might understand what they're getting into.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: What else practically can parents do?

We heard from that father, Ryan Craddock, saying that he wants kids to wear these pads on their helmets.

Is there any evidence that any type of additional protection can protect the head during tackle football?

CHRIS NOWINSKI: Better helmets are a little better protecting against concussions and brain injury.

There's mixed evidence on the additional pardons on the outside.

What I would recommend parents do before they get into equipment is have a conversation with their child's football coach about how they practice.

The conversation that we're not having at any level outside of the NFL is, we can change practice and get rid of probably half the head impacts, half the risk if we just make a commitment to teaching kids how to play football successfully without them getting hit in the head every day.

And the NFL has almost eliminated hitting from practice, but that's because the players fought for it.

And 12-year-olds can't get together and stand up to their coach and say, hey, why aren't we practicing with our helmets and shoulder pads?

Why don't we learn this game another way?

But that is the -- by far the number one thing that we can do to make football safer, change practice.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Chris Nowinski of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, thank you so much for being here.

CHRIS NOWINSKI: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: And we will be back shortly.

But, first, take a moment to hear from your local PBS station.

AMNA NAWAZ: It's a chance to offer your support, which helps keep programs like this one on the air.

GEOFF BENNETT: For those of you staying with us, we take a second look now at a burgeoning fashion sector.

Special correspondent Megan Thompson reports for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

MEGAN THOMPSON: It was what you might expect of a high-end, standing-room-only fashion show, stunning clothing, booming music, and a decked-out crowd recording every minute on their phones.

But what made this runway show different, all the clothing was created by indigenous designers from the U.S. and Canada.

The event was put on by the Southwestern Association for Indian Arts, or SWAIA.

JAMIE SCHULZE, Executive Director, Southwestern Association for Indian Arts: SWAIA Native Fashion Week is the first indigenous fashion week held in the United States.

We have been very invisible or very minimal in some of these industries.

So we are creating a platform to highlight these voices in the world.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Over four days, designers, models, media, and more than 2,000 fashionistas and fans packed photo ops, pop-up shops and more; 17 designers presented at two different runway shows.

The original design of North America is based on indigenous art, technique, design, culture, everything.

AMBER-DAWN BEAR ROBE, Native Art Historian: We're making history here.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Ten years ago, Amber-Dawn Bear Robe produced a single runway show for SWAIA during it's annual Indigenous Art Market.

She says interest has grown so much, she had to create this much larger event.

But Bear Robe, a Native art historian, says what's happening here isn't necessarily new.

For thousands of years, indigenous people have been creating couture, fashion-speak for clothing that is custom-made.

AMBER-DAWN BEAR ROBE: You do not get more couture than hunting an animal, gutting and cleaning intestine to make this pristine, beautiful, exquisite material to make a one-of-a-kind gut skin garment.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Some designers put a modern spin on traditional materials like beads and feathers.

Canadian Helen Oro is Plains Cree from Pelican Lake First Nation.

HELEN ORO, Designer: One of the questions when I first started was, do you have to be indigenous to wear beadwork?

It's for everyone.

MEGAN THOMPSON: For creators who don't have brick-and-mortar stores, the event gave them a chance to sell directly to customers.

Orlando Dugi designs luxury women's and men's wear, all hand-made in his Santa Fe studio.

ORLANDO DUGI, Fashion Designer: The beading, I do all of that myself.

MEGAN THOMPSON: His work is inspired by the stars, which hold important spiritual and cultural meaning for the Navajo.

ORLANDO DUGI: How the stars show up in my work is through a lot of beading and embroidery, lots of sparkles.

And I chose evening wear because its usually worn at night under the stars.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Dugi's new collection, which he's planning to launch next year, is called Stargazer.

ORLANDO DUGI: It's a crew in a ship traveling the galaxy.

I want to represent my culture, my heritage, but without being very literal in translation.

One of the challenges is my work not being Native enough for non-Native people and also Native people.

PATRICIA MICHAELS, Fashion Designer: There are expectations of what a Native designer should be, and I have run away from that concept my whole life.

Beautiful.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Taos Pueblo designer Patricia Michaels has been in the business for 40 years.

And she says she's always dealt with ignorance and stereotypes, including in 2013, when she was the first Native American on the long-running hugely popular TV show "Project Runway," where she made it all the way to the final.

PATRICIA MICHAELS: Being Taos Pueblo, living matter is important to us.

So, many of the imagery that I have on my hand-painted silks and different fabrications of my textiles are ideas that come from nature.

TANTOO CARDINAL, Actress: Amazing.

(APPLAUSE) MEGAN THOMPSON: Michaels recently made a dress for actor Tantoo Cardinal, who starred in the Oscar-nominated "Killers of the Flower Moon," to wear to the Cannes Film Festival.

PATRICIA MICHAELS: I thought of an eagle headdress.

And that's the biggest honor.

So I took it from the man's head and I flipped it, and I put it at her core, and I wanted her to feel like she was in flight.

TANTOO CARDINAL: I remember when it was shameful to be wearing anything Indian.

And now to see what's happened with our industry, oh, my God.

(CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) MEGAN THOMPSON: But excitement and interest can lead to cultural appropriation, when non-Native designers profit from Native patterns and motifs without permission or acknowledgement.

Ralph Lauren came under fire in 2022 for using indigenous Mexican designs.

PESHAWN BREAD, Filmmaker and Model: And we're working on getting Native people into every department.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Filmmaker and model Peshawn Bread has been working with Ralph Lauren to increase inclusivity.

Last year, the brand announced its first artist-in-residence, Navajo Weaver Naiomi Glasses, who has created two collections so far.

Bread, who is Comanche, Kiowa, And Cherokee, hopes fashion events like this will continue the progress.

PESHAWN BREAD: I really hope that this opens the fashion world's eyes into our world, and successfully creates a bridge where we can collaborate with different brands or anything that we dream of as designers.

MEGAN THOMPSON: This is Bread's first runway show as a designer.

Their collection is an ode to the 1970s, when federal law finally guaranteed Native Americans the right to religious freedom.

PESHAWN BREAD: It was such a politically charged time for indigenous people, for Native people around the country.

So I wanted to imagine, what if we weren't always fighting?

What if we could have some joy?

What would we wear to the disco?

MEGAN THOMPSON: When Saturday's runway show began, Bread's were the first looks to come down the runway.

Seven more designers followed.

For many of the spectators, the show was about more than beautiful clothes.

WOMAN: It became very emotional.

WOMAN: I'm speechless.

WOMAN: This is history in the making.

MEGAN THOMPSON: Patricia Michaels' designs ended the evening, her signature hand-dyed and painted garments receiving a standing ovation from a devoted crowd.

PATRICIA MICHAELS: I see how its evolved so that every Native tribe now can have their story told in a very modern, contemporary sense, without ridicule, but celebration.

MEGAN THOMPSON: For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Megan Thompson in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

AMNA NAWAZ: And, remember, there's much more online.

You can check out our YouTube page for "PBS News Weekly" that looks this week at the latest in Russia's war on Ukraine and its efforts to influence the U.S. presidential election.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, later tonight, be sure to tune into "Washington Week With The Atlantic."

With less than two weeks -- or, rather, two months to November's election, our own William Brangham guest-moderates a panel discussion on the state of the presidential race.

AMNA NAWAZ: And tomorrow, on "PBS News Weekend": A new court ruling rolls back protections for communities of color in a part of Louisiana known as Cancer Alley.

And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

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