GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

Amna Nawaz is away.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: Floodwaters rage and dangerous heat waves grow worse, posing serious risks to millions of Americans.

The end of a Russian grain deal with Ukraine raises fears about global food security.

And police under new scrutiny for their use of Tasers, less lethal than firearms, but a weapon that can still be deadly.

DAWN BLAGROVE, Emancipate North Carolina: The reality is, we need an entire paradigm shift around when force is necessary for law enforcement.

(BREAK) GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening, and welcome to the "NewsHour."

The nation remains at the mercy of nature tonight, but nature is showing no mercy; 100-degree heat stretches from the far West across the Deep South.

And a weekend deluge in the Northeast has washed out roads and claimed lives.

In Bucks County, Pennsylvania, standing water from intense flash floods over the weekend has all but dried up.

But in the township of Upper Makefield, just north of Philadelphia, a search-and-rescue mission is still ongoing.

TIM BREWER, Upper Makefield, Pennsylvania, Fire Chief: We have search teams that are assisting us from Delaware, Chester, parts of Bucks County, New Jersey.

We also have deployed canine units, underwater assets, air assets.

And the reason we have done that is, weather conditions have permitted that today.

GEOFF BENNETT: Two children, 9-month-old Conrad Sheils and his 2-year-old sister, Mattie, have been missing since Saturday afternoon.

Upper Makefield Township police released these family photos today.

Officials said their family was driving to a barbecue when seemingly, out of nowhere, Bucks County was inundated with seven inches of rain in 45 minutes.

The downpour claimed the lives of at least five people, including the 32-year-old mother of the missing children.

Scott Ellis, a representative for the family, thanked authorities for their search effort.

SCOTT ELLIS (Sheils Family Representative): We are thankful that they were able to save so many affected by these unprecedented by these floods.

Are we are grateful that they were able to recover many who have been lost.

GEOFF BENNETT: The other four victims were 78-year-old Enzo and 74-year-old Linda Depiero of Newtown Township, Pennsylvania, 64-year-old Yuko Love, also of Newton, and 53-year-old Susan Barnhart from Titusville, New Jersey.

The damage reaches beyond state lines.

In New Jersey, roads were fractured and washed over and cars barely intact buried by debris.

GOV.

PHIL MURPHY (D-NJ): I'm shocked beyond words.

GEOFF BENNETT: Today, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said flooding in the Northeast is becoming more and more frequent.

GOV.

PHIL MURPHY: We have seen it, but not at this level.

And I think we all fear that that's going to be the new norm.

And we can't be dragged by that.

We got to get ahead of it.

GEOFF BENNETT: From the East to the West, where Arizonans are sweating and splashing through their new normal.

KALEEL WASHINGTON, Phoenix Resident: If you ever, like, stood next to an oven while you're baking something, it's like that, but, like, it's coming from every direction, and you can't escape it, unless you go inside.

It's very, very hot.

GEOFF BENNETT: An historic streak of heat continues to beat down on Phoenix with no end in sight.

Today marked 18 straight days with temperatures of 110-plus degrees.

That officially ties the previous record set in 1974.

El Paso, Texas also shattered records, hitting its 30th triple-digit day in a row.

The El Paso Fire Department said several park-goers were rushed to the hospital yesterday with heat-related symptoms.

And, nationwide, more than 70 million people live in areas where today's forecasts were dangerously high, all the way from the Florida Panhandle to the deserts of California.

But not everyone is looking to escape it.

In California's Death Valley, keeper of Earth's hottest temperature on record, dozens of tourists posed next to an unofficial thermometer, hoping to see the number tick past the all-time high, a sight to see, but, even more so, a foreboding reminder of climate change and its deadly impact as it pushes our environment to the extreme.

California has been dealing with these extremes, including the heat baking the state right now.

We're joined by Wade Crowfoot, the secretary of California's Natural Resources Agency.

Thank you for being with us.

And you have said that global climate change is supercharging heat waves.

What is your state doing to confront the long-term threat posed by climate change, but also the immediate, urgent threat posed by these heat waves?

WADE CROWFOOT, Secretary, California Natural Resources Agency: Well, most of us across America are not a stranger to hot summer temperatures.

However, in California and across the West, we are experiencing he waves that are altogether hotter and longer.

Parts of California that have never experienced this intense, sustained heat are now suffering these waves.

And so, in the near term, we are focused on ensuring people understand when this heat is coming and understanding what precautions they need to take, identifying where cooling centers are they can go to.

And over the long-term, we are helping build community resilience to these heat waves through things like shading streets and schoolyards, expanding cooling centers, helping people get air conditioning in their homes.

GEOFF BENNETT: On the point about resilience, how is the electricity grid keeping pace with the demand?

How resilient is the grid?

And what are you advising Californians to do in the meantime?

WADE CROWFOOT: Well, last year, we experienced a far higher energy demand than we ever had during one of these sustained heat waves, because more people had to use their air condition for a longer period over that week.

So we are bringing on more energy, and specifically clean energy, to ensure that there is enough energy, that, even when everybody across the state is turning that A.C. on and using electricity, we have enough of it to ensure everybody can stay safe.

GEOFF BENNETT: California's wildfire season is ramping up amid these intense conditions.

How is your state addressing the wildfire risk?

WADE CROWFOOT: Well, hotter temperatures deeper into the summer mean greater wildfire risk.

And we have upwards of 10,000 men and women out there protecting us from wildfires.

We have been really focused in recent years on creating fuel breaks around communities that defend communities, doing the work we need to across our forests and landscapes, so that these fires, when they start, stay fairly small.

Our focus right now is ensuring that everybody is prepared for wildfires that may come this summer.

GEOFF BENNETT: California also has the largest variety of plants and animals of any state.

It also has the world's tallest and oldest trees.

How does this prolonged, extreme heat affect biodiversity?

WADE CROWFOOT: Well, a lot of plants and animals historically have been pretty flexible and able to withstand big temperature variations.

But these extreme heat waves are almost unprecedented, though.

They're getting hotter conditions in our rivers, which is impacting our fish, impacting ecosystems even up into our mountains.

So we're focused on finding areas of wildlife connectivity in coming years and places of climate refuge, where animals can actually migrate to as it gets warmer.

GEOFF BENNETT: You have been doing this work for quite a while.

Have you ever seen it this bad?

How does it change the work that you and your colleagues do?

WADE CROWFOOT: You know, I have never seen it this bad.

And, frankly, we are living on a planet that is not looking like the planet we have been living on as a human species for the last several thousand years.

It's not hyperbole to note that we have had the driest conditions, the wettest conditions, the hottest conditions, the worst wildfires.

We are seeing climate change accelerate and bring these extremes along with it.

And there's so much that we need to focus on in California and our country to combat climate change and protect Americans from these impacts.

GEOFF BENNETT: What are some of the things that you say we need to focus on?

WADE CROWFOOT: Well, one is, we need to green our grid.

We need to demonstrate to the world that we can reduce the pollution that's worsening climate change.

Thanks to the president's leadership and our state's leadership, our governor's leadership, we're focused on doing that.

And there's a lot that we can do to build this resilience to these impacts.

So, in the West, that means creating water systems that are more resilient to these hotter, longer droughts.

There is so much that's happening, and our focus is, show the world that we can effectively combat climate change and protect Americans in the process.

GEOFF BENNETT: Wade Crowfoot is the secretary of California's Natural Resources Agency.

Thanks for being with us.

WADE CROWFOOT: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: As that heat wave hits parts of the U.S., Southern Europe continues to swelter, as intense heat there shows no signs of abating.

The culprit is a hot air mass from Africa called an anticyclone.

In Italy, officials stepped up heat warnings as temperatures in Rome soared to 102 degrees.

It could be even worse tomorrow, but many tourists seem to take it in stride.

KARSTIN MYHRVULD, Tourist: We are young and healthy, and I think we will manage the heat.

We have water, and nothing in the bag, just water, lots of water.

And we have the air conditioning on the hotel.

GEOFF BENNETT: Spain and Greece are also enduring brutally hot temperatures, and the heat wave is expected to last until Wednesday.

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry met with his Chinese counterpart today, pushing for a curb on coal usage and methane emissions.

The Beijing talks marked their first extensive face-to-face meeting after a yearlong break as relations worsened.

The U.S. and China are the world's leading polluters.

Russia is warning, Ukraine will answer for an attack that closed a key bridge today and killed two people.

The Kerch Bridge links Russia to annexed Crimea.

It's a supply route for Russian forces and was initially attacked and damaged last October.

Moscow released sometimes blurry images today showing investigators at the mangled bridge and a damaged passenger vehicle.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned of retaliation.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, Russian President (through translator): I would like to repeat that what has happened is yet another terrorist attack committed by the Kyiv regime.

It's also a cruel crime because innocent civilians have been killed.

Of course, there will be a response from the Russian side.

The Defense Ministry is preparing adequate proposals.

GEOFF BENNETT: Ukraine did not directly confirm or deny responsibility for the attack.

An adjacent railroad bridge appeared undamaged.

It handles more military traffic than the Kerch Bridge does.

Back in this country, a state court judge in Iowa has temporarily blocked a law that banned most abortions after six weeks of pregnancy.

Republican state lawmakers pushed it through last week in a special session.

Today's action puts the measure on hold while courts decide if it's constitutional.

Another experimental Alzheimer's treatment is showing promise.

Drugmaker Eli Lilly reports its medication donanemab slowed the disease by four to seven months among patients in the early stages.

A different Alzheimer's drug was approved by the FDA earlier this month.

Both come with a risk of brain swelling and bleeding.

On Wall Street today, hopes for improved corporate earnings outweighed China's report of weaker economic growth than expected.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 76 points to close it 34585.

The Nasdaq rose 131 points, nearly 1 percent.

The S&P 500 added 17 points.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": the case being made against third-party candidates; our Politics Monday team on the latest fund-raising numbers for presidential hopefuls; and a look at Britain's growing housing crisis.

Today, Moscow announced it will not renew the yearlong deal that allowed Ukraine to export its grain through the Black Sea.

There was critical food supplies which were shipped to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia could now be cut off just at the moment when many vulnerable nations need them the most.

William Brangham explores the impact of this decision.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Geoff, the agreement, known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, was brokered last year by the U.N. and Turkey after Russia's naval blockade of Ukrainian ports trapped millions of tons of corn, barley and wheat.

For the past year, Russian forces allowed Ukraine to ship more than 32 million metric tons of those grains through the Bosphorus Strait and on to the rest of the world.

The deal has been renewed three times, most recently in May.

Tonight was the deadline to extend the deal, but Russia announced its suspension, complaining that Western sanctions have restricted the sale of its agricultural products.

Because Ukraine is such a major producer of grain and other foodstuffs, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres today said the end of the deal could have far-reaching consequences.

ANTONIO GUTERRES, United Nations Secretary-General: Participation in these agreements is a choice, but struggling people everywhere and developing countries don't have a choice.

Hundreds of millions of people face hunger, and consumers are confronting a global cost of living crisis.

And they will pay the price.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: For more on what this suspension might mean, we're joined again by David Miliband.

He's the president of the International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian organization that works in over 40 countries.

David Miliband, great to have you back on the program.

As you heard, Secretary-General Guterres acknowledged that participating in this deal is voluntary.

So what do you make of Russia's decision to not renew it?

DAVID MILIBAND, President, International Rescue Committee: Well, this is a callous move that has been condemned by the U.N. secretary-general for a very simple reason.

It piles agony upon risk for some of the most vulnerable communities in the world.

And the impact is twofold.

One is obvious and direct.

For example, in East Africa, one of the most stricken regions when it comes to food malnutrition and hunger, 80 percent of their grain supplies come from Russia or Ukraine.

But there's also an indirect impact which I think is very important for your viewers to understand.

That's the impact on global food prices.

We all know, in the United States or in the U.K., food inflation, food price inflation has been real, but it's twice as high, 40 percent over the last year, in countries that are most at risk of famine and malnutrition.

And given that there are 50 million people in East Africa alone who are at the highest levels of U.N. food insecurity, this is a really dark and dangerous moment for them.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I want to touch on those impacts in a moment.

But, first, Russia's argument is that they pulled out of this deal because it was unfair to them, that the sanctions were hurting their ability to sell their agricultural products, even though there are no sanctions, we should say, on their particular products.

One analyst we spoked to today argued that Russia's argument is not -- doesn't hold up to scrutiny.

Let's hear what she had to say.

CAITLIN WELSH, Center for Strategic and International Studies: It's important to remember that Russia is playing victim right now to a crisis of its own making.

It's actually Ukraine that is suffering to a far greater extent than Russia is right now.

Russia is simply doing what it can to stall the workings of this initiative, of the Black Sea grain initiative, that it understands that Ukraine and many other countries around the world are benefiting from, which, of course, is to Russia's own detriment in the course of this war.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Do you share that concern that this -- that Russia's claims are illegitimate?

DAVID MILIBAND: Well, my only concern is for the people on the receiving end of this move.

The International Rescue Committee is not a partisan or political organization.

We're a humanitarian organization.

And we speak to the real needs that we see.

We can, however, note that Russian agricultural exports have actually gone up in the last year.

And our concern has to be with the fact that this grain initiative, which is so important for the global supply and demand of critical foodstuffs, but especially important in some of the most vulnerable parts of the world, is going to hit them very hard.

There was no quid pro quo between Russian interests and humanitarian interests.

This grain deal was done on its own merits and needs to be followed through on its own merits.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Are there specific nations that, when you look at the at the global map and the nations that you work with, that you worry most particularly about?

I mean, we saw today that Nigeria declared a state of food emergency.

What nations stand out as most in need?

DAVID MILIBAND: Yes, that's a great point that the burden of food insecurity is not shared equally.

Those most at risk are countries suffering from conflict and from the climate crisis.

So the top five would include countries like Somalia and Ethiopia in East Africa.

They would certainly include Northeast Nigeria.

But I'd also point you to a countries like Burkina Faso in the Sahel region of Africa.

And then I'd point you towards countries like Afghanistan, where poverty is real and malnutrition is rife.

And even in the southern province of Pakistan, in Sindh Province, there's now evidence of malnutrition as well that our teams on the ground are working to tackle.

All of this isn't because there's a lack of food globally.

It's because food price inflation because of restrictions on the supply of food and interference with subsistence agriculture as a result of climate change is hitting these vulnerable communities the hardest.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Your organization today called on the U.N. very specifically to beef up its efforts, given the suspension of this deal.

What specifically do you want them to do?

And do you think they will heed this call?

DAVID MILIBAND: Well, I think there's two or three things that immediately come to mind.

First of all, the Russian government have in the past withdrawn from the deal and then got back -- gone back onto it.

So, clearly, step one is very active diplomacy of the kind that you have seen from the secretary-general of the U.N. speaking out today.

This needs to be resolved.

Secondly, I think it's very important to hear the voice of some of those communities who are affected.

It's the leaders of those communities and the people on the ground whose voice needs to be heard.

Thirdly, I think it's very, very important that we underline that, in the countries I have mentioned, U.N. appeals for humanitarian aid are massively underfunded.

Just to take one example, Somalia, which in some ways is the epicenter of the global food crisis, its U.N. humanitarian appeal is only 30 percent funded.

That is a recipe for the kind of malnutrition and hunger that we're seeing on the ground every day.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: You, as -- are saying -- you run a major humanitarian organization, but many people will remember that you were the U.K.'s foreign secretary and are well-versed in global diplomacy.

What do you believe it will take to pressure Vladimir Putin to reopen the supply line?

DAVID MILIBAND: Well, you use the word pressure, and pressure is the critical element.

This is a moment for countries around the world, many of which have tried to not take sides in the course of this Ukraine conflict, to point out that there are innocent victims, not just within Ukraine, but beyond as well.

This is a moment when global voices are going to be very important, not just the obvious Western voices.

I think it's also very important that those Western governments that are criticizing the Russian move put their money where their mouth is and start fulfilling the pledges that are so much needed to meet those humanitarian funding appeals that are at the moment not being properly heeded.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: David Miliband of the International Rescue Committee, thank you so much for your time.

DAVID MILIBAND: Thank you so much for having me again.

GEOFF BENNETT: A new bipartisan organization called Citizens to Save Our Republic is opposing the effort by the group No Labels to run a third-party candidate in the 2024 presidential race.

That's with concerns growing among Democrats and Republicans opposed to Donald Trump's candidacy that a moderate third-party candidate could serve as a spoiler in the race for the White House, ultimately peeling off Biden voters and benefiting Mr. Trump, if he's the GOP nominee.

Former House Democratic Majority Leader Dick Gephardt is one of those officials teaming up against No Labels.

And he joins us now.

Thanks for being with us.

FMR.

REP. DICK GEPHARDT (D-MO): Good to be with you.

GEOFF BENNETT: No Labels, as you well know, says it plans to run one Democrat and one Republican on the same ticket next year.

You are leading a group of former Democratic and Republican lawmakers aimed at stopping that effort.

Tell us why.

FMR.

REP. DICK GEPHARDT: Well, if these were normal times, we would have no problem with this.

Third parties, we have always had third-party efforts.

These are not normal times.

We avoided having a broken election in 2020 by a whisker.

Only because Mike Pence and six or seven state electoral officials, all Republicans, stood up to major pressure from former President Trump did we avoid a broken election.

The president at that time was the one who tried to overthrow our government and overthrow our electoral process.

As Liz Cheney said, he can never be near the White House again.

The No Labels effort, we believe, if you look at all the polling data, all the data you can look at, would probably elect Donald Trump, if the two candidates are Trump and Biden.

GEOFF BENNETT: How can you be so sure, though, that a moderate candidate would peel votes away from Joe Biden and benefit Donald Trump, if he is the nominee?

I ask the question because there are a number of Republicans who would never vote for Joe Biden under any circumstances, would likely hold their nose and vote for Donald Trump.

Couldn't a moderate candidate then end up peeling votes away from Donald Trump?

FMR.

REP. DICK GEPHARDT: We commissioned a national survey and a survey in the six or seven swing states that really determine national elections.

And it shows conclusively that, if it's a two-person race, then Donald -- that Joe Biden wins by four points, which is precisely what he won by in 2020.

But if you put a third-party, independent, bipartisan candidate -- and that's the way we phrased it, to give it the best benefit of the doubt -- then Joe Biden loses by five or six points.

If you look at 2020, it was independent moderate voters in six swing states that stayed enough with Biden for him to win the race over Donald Trump.

We cannot have Donald Trump back in the White House.

He engineered a overthrow of the electoral process.

He would do it again.

We cannot allow that to happen.

GEOFF BENNETT: The founding chairman of No Labels is the former Senator Joe Lieberman, who has said repeatedly that the last thing he'd ever want to do is have a hand in returning Donald Trump to the Oval Office.

One, do you believe that?

And, two, does that assuage any of your concerns?

FMR.

REP. DICK GEPHARDT: I like Joe Lieberman.

I served with him in the Congress.

He's a great person.

But if that's what they're saying, why don't they say publicly that if the Republican candidate is Donald Trump, they will not go forward with this effort?

That's what I can't understand.

They say they're forming an insurance policy in the case the candidates are Trump and Biden.

That's precisely the time they should not do this, if their goal is not to reelect Donald Trump.

GEOFF BENNETT: There is now a full coalition of political groups opposing No Labels, to include the progressive group MoveOn.org, the center-left think tank A Third Way, the anti-Trump group Lincoln Project.

How will your organization be different?

FMR.

REP. DICK GEPHARDT: We are totally bipartisan.

We have got great former members of Congress, like Jack Danforth, Chuck Hagel, Bill Cohen, and others.

We have got great former Democratic officeholders, like Gary Hart, Tim Wirth, and others.

And we are moving into this space not to attack No Labels, not to criticize them severely for what they're doing.

We understand there are a lot of really well-meaning people in that organization.

We're just trying to get them to look closely at the facts.

And when they're in the place where they're going to make this decision of what they're going to do about going forward, we hope they will understand that we cannot afford this risk of a third-party candidate if Donald Trump is the Republican nominee.

And our greatest worry is that campaigns take on a life of their own.

If, next spring, they have raised a bunch of money, and they have candidates who are announced and out there, it will be very hard to pull that effort down.

That's our great worry, is that we will just blindly walk into a reelection of Donald Trump.

GEOFF BENNETT: Understanding the worry that you have just articulated, tell me more about how you will do the work.

How exactly will you stop them?

FMR.

REP. DICK GEPHARDT: All you can do as is keep hoping and messaging to everybody, including all their people, their funders, whatever, that this is too high of a risk to take, that, if Donald Trump is the Republican nominee, they should stop this effort and not go forward with it.

So we're going to do messaging in every way we can.

We're going to talk to everybody that's involved and try to speak common sense to them that this is a risk we cannot take in this country.

This democracy is fragile.

It's always fragile.

It can collapse.

We can lose our ability to have elections.

There are millions of Americans now who believe the 2020 election was stolen.

Donald Trump is still asserting that it was stolen.

We're in a bad place.

These are not normal times.

And we're just asking the folks at No Labels to really come to their senses and not do this, if the risk is anywhere near what I think it is.

GEOFF BENNETT: Former House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt, now with the group Citizens to Save Our Republic, thanks for your time, sir.

We appreciate it.

FMR.

REP. DICK GEPHARDT: Great to be with you.

GEOFF BENNETT: For a midsummer check-in of the presidential race, including newly released fund-raising totals, we're joined by our Politics Monday team.

That's Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter and Tamara Keith of NPR.

It's good to see you both.

TAMARA KEITH, National Public Radio: Good to be here.

AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: Good to see you.

GEOFF BENNETT: So let's start with this controversy surrounding this group No Labels.

They say they're offering an alternative, but it's not clear what that alternative will be.

West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, the former governor of Utah, Jon Huntsman, they were both in New Hampshire at a No Labels event today.

It's not clear that they would be the ticket, if there actually is a ticket.

Amy, for the masses who say that they are dissatisfied by the two choices, do they really want a third alternative?

Do they want a third-party candidate?

AMY WALTER: Well, this is what the difficulty is in trying to poll the question of a third-party candidate, because, in theory, of course, if you get a choice between two people that you're like, oh, I don't know that I love this matchup, I would love another alternative, especially somebody who says that they're centrist and moderate.

But my centrist and moderate may be different from yours or from Tam's, right?

My idea of the ideal candidate is not -- is difficult to poll.

Then you put the actual candidate in there, I see that candidate and I go, no, that person is too conservative, that person's too liberal.

So there's -- that is very difficult to do.

The other piece, I understand why Democrats are as worried as they are; 42,000 votes separated Donald Trump from being reelected again.

The Electoral College margin was basically 42,000 votes.

So any sliver could take votes away from Joe Biden.

At the same time, there are also Republicans, many of them who continue to vote in the Republican primary, they say they don't want Trump to be the nominee.

They probably voted for Donald Trump in 2020.

Those voters also might be willing to support a third-party candidate.

But if you're Democrats, and you see the last two times that the White House was lost, even though your candidate won the popular vote in 2000, and in 2016, you see third-party candidate and you think disaster.

GEOFF BENNETT: Tam, how are Democrats planning to confront this challenge, or is it still too early yet?

TAMARA KEITH: Well, I asked the campaign, and they had no on-the-record comment for me, which is to say that they have a lot of thoughts that they aren't publicly sharing.

And I think that's where they are, is kind of hoping this will go away, having friends who are putting together groups that are pointing out the concerns and challenges that could exist with this.

And if you look at history, George H.W.

Bush faced -- there was a third-party candidate in 1992.

The incumbent ended up losing.

The third-party candidate, Ross Perot, certainly siphoned votes away from him.

And then, if you look, in 2000, again, with - - he wasn't the incumbent, but Al Gore was certainly like an incumbent.

And there was a lack of enthusiasm out there.

And Ralph Nader got just enough votes to help George W. Bush win.

So third-party candidates are a concern for major-party candidates and for major parties, because they can take away votes, they can destabilize the -- they can change the dynamic.

But the thing that a third party has not been able to do, and it's not clear that what No Labels is talking about doing would do this either, is break the grip of the two-party system on American politics, which is what everybody who hates the two-party system says they'd like to do, but no one has found the way because of the way the system is set up to actually break that grip.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, let's talk about the money race, because we're getting a first full financial look at the 2024 presidential race as candidates file their campaign finance reports.

I got to put my glasses on and look at the numbers here.

AMY WALTER: Yes, I hear you.

GEOFF BENNETT: But, on the Republican side, look at this number.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis.

He raised a strong $20 million.

But his campaign is burning through cash at a rapid rate.

And his presidential campaign is shedding staff as it navigates this cash crunch.

And, Amy, less than 15 percent of his contributors have come from small donors.

What does that suggest about the strength of his campaign?

AMY WALTER: Well, for the DeSantis campaign, you have to look at how much money he's raising and spending.

And then he also has a super PAC.

Their FEC reports aren't due until the end of the month.

So there's a lot of money being spent, regardless of whether it's in his coffers.

A lot of those are the big donors.

To your point, they're not coming from small donors.

The other thing about, whenever I see a campaign say, well, yes, we're getting a lot of criticism, our candidate is not getting traction, we have to shake up our campaign staff, it's usually the candidate that's the problem.

GEOFF BENNETT: Yes.

AMY WALTER: It's very rarely that the campaign is the reason that you're not breaking through.

Should they spend less money?

Sure.

Maybe have lower overhead.

But the challenge that the DeSantis campaign has right now is the messenger and the message, not the fact that they have too many people on the payroll.

GEOFF BENNETT: And on the Democratic side, Tam, the president announced he raised north of $19 million.

But Biden's campaign, it's a real bare-bones operation.

He spent more than $1 million in the second quarter of this year.

By contrast, former President Barack Obama, his campaign at the time, in a comparable period, spent more than $11 million.

So, I mean, President Biden is taking campaign frugality here to an entirely new level, it appears.

TAMARA KEITH: Well, what you have to say about these numbers is that in order to make an apples-to-apples comparison -- well, one, it's impossible.

But, also, in order to make an apples-to-apples comparison to previous cycles, you have to look at both the campaign itself and the Democratic Party, or, in the case of Trump, the Trump campaign and the Republican Party in the reelection year.

And, in that case, President Biden, the total with the joint fund-raising committee and the Democratic National Committee is up to $72 million.

Now, that's not as much as Obama or Trump had, but, again, problems with apples and oranges and all the comparisons.

But, yes, the Biden campaign is leaning incredibly on the Democratic National Committee.

Their fund-raising, everything they're doing is being done in lockstep and in coordination.

Really, more than for former President Obama, it really is one campaign.

The only campaign-style rallies that he's done so far in this campaign, were actually put on by outside groups and the Democratic National Committee.

The Biden campaign did not put on those events.

It was not -- it did not come from the line item of the Democratic -- or from President Biden's campaign.

GEOFF BENNETT: And looking again at these numbers, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., his presidential campaign included donors who typically contribute to Republicans.

That was clear in the campaign finance filings.

And he, as you both know, is someone who constantly courts controversy.

His latest comments about a new COVID conspiracy theory are fueling allegations of racism and antisemitism.

Here's part of what he said.

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR. (D), Presidential Candidate: COVID-19 is targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people.

The people who are most immune are Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.

And -- but we don't know whether it was deliberately targeted, that, or not, but there are papers out there that show the -- the racial and ethnic differential impact.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, RFK Jr. says he was misunderstood, he was taken out of context.

That aside, there was a time when that sort of thing would be campaign-ending and potentially career-ending, and yet.

AMY WALTER: Well, and yet we're covering it.

And we're talking about him.

And so he continues to get a great deal of, whether we want to call it oxygen, or maybe some of this donor support, in part because he's out there so much, even with controversy.

We know that controversy pays.

The one thing that I'm curious to see as we come and see some new polling in the upcoming days is whether this controversy is taking a toll on his poll numbers with Democrats.

Remember, we saw some polling where he was as high as 20 percent.

Let's see if, since we have had all of these discussions, his numbers with Democrats are much lower.

GEOFF BENNETT: Amy Walter and Tamara Keith, we will see you back here next Monday.

AMY WALTER: Indeed.

TAMARA KEITH: Good to see you.

AMY WALTER: Bye.

TAMARA KEITH: Bye.

GEOFF BENNETT: Ever since a police officer fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, almost nine years ago, police use of force against people of color, especially Black Americans, has been under intense scrutiny.

Much of the attention is on firearms, but types of force considered to be less lethal, like choke holds and Tasers, are also getting a closer look.

As John Yang reports, Tasers may rank below guns on the spectrum of police force, but using them has resulted in deaths.

A note that some images in this report are disturbing.

JOHN YANG: Sonya Williams struggles with the death of her first-born child, Darryl Tyree Williams.

SONYA WILLIAMS, Mother of Darryl Tyree Williams: He was a good person.

You know what I'm saying?

I'm not going to say that he was perfect.

He had his flaws, like we all do.

But he was loved by everyone.

He didn't have no enemies.

JOHN YANG: She's especially troubled by the way Darryl died, in the custody of police who had used a Taser on him several times.

SONYA WILLIAMS: He didn't deserve this.

A don't day go by I don't think about him.

It's just hard.

It's a hard thing to go through.

JOHN YANG: The events leading up to Darryl Williams' death began unfolding at about 2:00 a.m. on a January morning.

Williams was sitting in a parked car on Raleigh, North Carolina's southeast side.

Police were in the predominantly Black neighborhood on what they call proactive patrol, because, they said, officers are frequently called to the area.

In Williams' pants pocket, an officer finds a folded $1 bill with a white powdery substance.

POLICE OFFICER: Put your hands behind your back.

DARRYL TYREE WILLIAMS, Died in Police Custody: Why?

POLICE OFFICER: Both hands behind your back.

DARRYL TYREE WILLIAMS: Why?

JOHN YANG: There's a struggle as Williams tries to get away.

The officer draws his yellow Taser and fires.

Its probes make contact with Williams and deliver an electrical charge designed to temporarily paralyze him.

Williams momentarily breaks free and is Tased again.

POLICE OFFICER: Behind your back.

JOHN YANG: With officers holding him down, Williams pleads with them.

DARRYL TYREE WILLIAMS: I got heart problems.

POLICE OFFICER: You're going to get Tased again.

POLICE OFFICER: Put your hands behind your back.

POLICE OFFICER: Put your hands behind your back.

SONYA WILLIAMS: Please.

Please.

POLICE OFFICER: Three, two, one.

(SCREAMING) JOHN YANG: In all, officers had Tased Williams four times.

About an hour later, Williams was pronounced dead at a hospital.

He was 32 years old.

An autopsy concluded that Williams died from sudden cardiac arrest in the setting of cocaine intoxication, physical exertion, conducted energy weapon use, and physical restraint.

The death was ruled a homicide.

DAWN BLAGROVE, Emancipate North Carolina: Darryl Williams lost his life because the Raleigh Police Department apparently doesn't have anything better to do than to harass Black and brown people.

JOHN YANG: Dawn Blagrove is executive director of Emancipate NC, a North Carolina group that focuses on race and policing in mass incarceration.

She's also one of the lawyers representing the Williams family.

She underscores the role of the Taser in Williams' death.

DAWN BLAGROVE: It can be a deadly weapon, in the hands of Raleigh Police Department officers, clearly, because Darryl Tyree Williams is no longer with us.

JOHN YANG: There is no authoritative database of deaths that follow the use of a conducted electrical weapon.

But a 2017 investigation by Reuters put the tally at more than 1,000, nearly all of them since the early 2000s.

KALFANI TURE, Widener University: They classify them as less lethal today, because the lethality is still present.

JOHN YANG: Kalfani Ture is a professor of criminal justice at Widener University and a former police officer.

He says police shouldn't use Tasers since officers can't know if a target has health problems.

KALFANI TURE: We're not trained as medical experts.

When we train to use Tasers, we simply train around the mechanical parts of it.

JOHN YANG: Tasers are by far law enforcement's most commonly used conducted energy weapon.

Its manufacturer, Axon, wouldn't speak with us on camera, but materials the company provided cite findings of independent studies that 99.75 percent of incidents in which a Taser was used did not result in serious injury, and that, of the tools available to police to exert force, a Taser is least likely to result in significant injury, less likely even than unarmed physical force.

The lead author of both studies is Dr. William P. Bozeman, an emergency medicine professor at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

He says his work is not funded by Axon.

DR. WILLIAM P. BOZEMAN, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist: When it comes to cardiac effects, it's extremely rare.

And the current estimate is one in 2 to 2.5 million.

JOHN YANG: Bozeman says decades of research on Tasers have established that they are safe, even if there are rare instances in which they contribute to a death.

DR. WILLIAM P. BOZEMAN: A Taser can absolutely kill you.

Whether it can do that by a cardiac means is still a topic of discussion.

But there have clearly been cases where people were standing in an elevated position, and they were struck with a Taser, and the muscular lockup occurred, and they fell and they had a major head injury, and they died.

But Tasers are actually remarkably safe.

MIKE GISH, Vice President of Taser Product Management, Axon Enterprise: We owe public safety and communities a better way to stop threats without having to take a life.

JOHN YANG: That's Tasers' key selling point.

Axon estimates that about 285,000 lives have been saved or serious injuries prevented because police used their devices, instead of a gun.

Raleigh attorney Dawn Blagrove says Tasers may be a useful tool, but the issue is how police use them.

DAWN BLAGROVE: The reality is, we need an entire paradigm shift around when force is necessary for law enforcement, even if it is nonlethal weapons.

If it is used with the intent to cause harm, to cause pain, to punish someone, that is always going to result in the people of Raleigh and anywhere else being in danger of death for even simple interactions with law enforcement.

JOHN YANG: In June, Wake County district attorney Lorrin Freeman announced that she was not bringing criminal charges against any officers in connection with Williams' death.

LORRIN FREEMAN, Wake County District Attorney: Yes, I would say this is one of the cases that I personally have struggled with more than others, candidly.

JOHN YANG: Among the circumstances she says led her to her conclusion, what she calls the limited uses of Tasers on Williams, none longer than five seconds, the question of whether officers heard Williams tell them about his heart condition, and the complications posed by the autopsy report, which cited a combination of factors contributing to Williams' death, rather than a single cause.

LORRIN FREEMAN: At the end of the day, the law enforcement actions while difficult to watch, while leading to a very tragic end, were lawful and in some instances were what were necessary at that point in time to bring the situation under control.

And so, hopefully, we learn from these situations kind of on both sides of that interaction.

JOHN YANG: Six officers involved in Williams' death were placed on paid administrative leave.

The Raleigh Police Department declined an interview request and wouldn't go beyond a written statement.

It said it is department policy that: "A conducted energy weapon shall only be used in response to active resistance."

The statement adds: "It is important to note that our officers are required to make split-second decisions in quickly evolving circumstances."

DAWN BLAGROVE: Darryl was not trying to harm law enforcement.

He did not pose a physical threat.

He was trying to get away.

He was trying to save his own life.

Ultimately, without the intervention of other human beings, namely, the Raleigh Police Department, Darryl would not have died on that night.

If this were some random non-law enforcement citizen who had committed a crime that resulted in the death of someone else, that person would be charged.

JOHN YANG: The DA's decision also frustrates Darryl's mother, Sonya.

SONYA WILLIAMS: I don't have anything against the Tasers.

I just think it's the way they use it.

They used excessively on my child.

And until something be done about it, they're going to keep on doing it.

JOHN YANG: Now that the district attorney has decided not to do anything, Sonya Williams and her attorney said they are exploring their options in their pursuit of accountability for the police and justice for Darryl Tyree Williams.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm John Yang.

GEOFF BENNETT: Experts in Britain are warning that a generation of young people may never be able to own their own homes because of a grave housing crisis.

Britain has a shortfall of over four million homes, the worst record in Europe.

And pressure is growing to start building in England's rolling countryside where, for decades, construction has been outlawed.

Special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports, from East Chiltington in Southern England.

MALCOLM BRABANT: The bells signal that ages-old tranquility is under threat from Britain's housing crisis.

The rustic landscape inherited by this congregation may soon be paved over to accommodate a small new town.

Kelly Penfold, born and raised here, has joined the local resistance movement.

KELLY PENFOLD, Don't Urbanise The Downs: Personally, I'd like more housing, because I'd like more affordable housing, but not at the expense of concreting over all of this.

I think there has to be a compromise somewhere, because, once this is gone, that's it.

We can't get it back.

We can't replace it.

We can't get back all of these trees.

You know, planting a new little sapling isn't going to replace a 200- or 300-year-old oak tree.

MALCOLM BRABANT: The farmland slated for urbanization is on the edge of a national park visited by millions each year.

The proposed town will comprise at least 3,000 new homes.

DAMON TURNER, Partner, Welbeck Land Limited: The idea at the moment is, is that where we stood at now here and where this existing track is, this would probably form the high street and then the -- sort of the center point of the new settlement.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Damon Turner's development company claims to champion the construction of attractive self-sustaining communities, where people's needs are no more than a 15-minute walkaway.

DAMON TURNER: This is roughly where we've identified the secondary school would be located.

But, overall, it's a small market town with food and farming at its heart.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Detailed plans are not yet available, but this similar-sized town is an inspiration for the developers.

It is Poundbury, 125 miles to the west, the pet architectural project of King Charles, an advocate of traditional design.

The land being fought over is owned by Eton, one of Britain's most prestigious boarding schools, with annual fees of $54,000.

Eton prides itself on teaching leadership and numbers 20 British prime ministers among it's alumni.

Eton is a bastion of the British establishment.

Its critics believe this place perpetuates the inequalities of the British class system, because the children of the elite come here and are taught how to exercise and maintain power.

The development in this parish should yield huge profits, infuriating campaign leader Marc Munier.

Eton doesn't pay tax because it's a nonprofit, or charity.

MARC MUNIER, Don't Urbanise The Downs: If they were really a charity, you know what they do?

They'd give it to people.

They'd give it away.

They would reward it for society.

Or even if they had to build on it, give it to people.

How many homes could you just give away?

And it wouldn't cost them a penny because they're a charity, and that's what they're supposed to do.

But they won't do that, because it's not about helping houses.

It's about making money for the people that are already incredibly privileged and wealthy in our society.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Eton says its charitable works include subsidizing pupils from poorer backgrounds and new schools in deprived parts of Britain.

Eton's director of development is Justin Nolan.

JUSTIN NOLAN, Director Of Development, Eton College: I think all responsible charities that have ambitions to do more work need to find sources of funding from a variety of different places.

All that takes money that goes beyond the fees that we charge.

MALCOLM BRABANT: The developers hope this video will help win the approval of the local planning authority.

HARRIET ROSE, Student: I don't think myself or any of my friends or contemporaries expect to be able to buy a property in our lifetimes.

It's pretty impossible to buy on a regular wage.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Besides being expensive, much of Britain's housing stock is old and tired.

Most experts say this overcrowded island needs to build a medium-sized city every year for decades to come.

ANTHONY BREACH, Centre For Cities: We have got to build more homes, not just to alleviate inequality and to address social challenges, but also to get the economy going as well.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Planning expert Anthony Breach warns that an entire British generation may be denied their version of the American dream of a home with a picket fence.

ANTHONY BREACH: That route is now really closed off for pretty much every young member of British society.

So there's millions of young people who are denied the opportunities available to their parents and who aren't able to move onto the next stage of life and enjoy better-quality housing and cheaper housing as they get older.

MALCOLM BRABANT: The housing crisis is becoming Britain's most important domestic issue.

With an election less than 18 months away, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is locking horns with opposition leader Keir Starmer.

RISHI SUNAK, British Prime Minister: So now what we have seen is the highest number of first-time buyers in 20 years, Mr. Speaker.

That is twice the number that the Labor Party ever managed.

KEIR STARMER, Labor Party Leader: He must be the only person in the country who thinks that enough houses have been built in the last 13 years.

And whether it's those dreaming of getting the keys to their first home or those already with mortgages, the ambitions of families across the country have been crushed by his failing Tory government.

MALCOLM BRABANT: If elected, Labor says it will lift a longstanding ban on construction on the Green Belt, a ring of countryside around London.

Centre for Cities has identified enough Green Belt sites close to railway stations where a million new homes could be built, including Hildenborough 30 miles from the capital.

ANTHONY BREACH: We think that's a crucial starting point where the infrastructure is lined up.

Environmental benefit's already clear.

The climate benefit's are really obvious.

But releasing land from the Green Belt, kind of breaking big taboo on building the Green Belt is really essential if we want to tackle this.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Kelly Penfold runs her online cake business from a tiny rented apartment.

Home ownership is beyond her means.

KELLY PENFOLD: It's very difficult if you're a young person and you're on a low income to be able to afford to live where possibly you grew up.

My only chance of getting my own home was to go on to the council social housing list.

That took five years.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Kelly Penfold's dog walk takes her past a small social housing project.

She has this question.

How many affordable homes promised by the developers will be in a similar category?

DAMON TURNER: We want to come up with a model that works for local people here, people who are really struggling to get onto the housing ladder or even to be able to rent because of the four million homes that we're short of it in this country.

MALCOLM BRABANT: The future rests with the local planning authority, which has to decide whether the region's historic market towns will share the landscape with a new neighbor.

JUSTIN NOLAN: What we're very committed to is making sure, with a strong design code, that this community actually does fit into the landscape.

It'll undoubtedly be a change to the landscape, but we don't think it will be as destructive as some people fear.

MALCOLM BRABANT: But, first, Eton must overcome the powerful so-called NIMBY lobby, not in my backyard.

Are you a NIMBY?

MARC MUNIER: Oh, absolutely, yes.

And you should be grateful that I'm a NIMBY, because I'm the one that's protecting these green fields for you and your family.

Once this is all bulldozed over, it's gone forever.

And we don't want to turn into L.A., and just a sprawling metropolis in the southeast of England.

MALCOLM BRABANT: This is a battle for the soul of national traditions.

An Englishman's home has always been his castle in a green and pleasant land.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Malcolm Brabant in East Chiltington.

GEOFF BENNETT: And that's the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

Thanks for spending part of your evening with us.