GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: Hurricane Idalia sweeps across Florida, bringing devastating storm surge winds and rain.

GEOFF BENNETT: Gabon's military ousts its president immediately after his reelection, the latest in a recent spate of coups in West and Central African nations.

AMNA NAWAZ: And Judy Woodruff explores the link between the decline of local news and the rise in partisanship.

MARY MARGARET WHITE, CEO, Mississippi Today: People are really beginning to understand the value of journalism to our democracy, the value of it to local communities.

(BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "NewsHour."

Hurricane Idalia has weakened to a tropical storm tonight hours after it blasted north Florida with winds near 125 miles an hour and a wall of water that caused heavy flooding.

GEOFF BENNETT: Officials reported two rain-related traffic deaths.

Thousands of people chose to get out of harm's way while others hunkered down for the first major storm to hit the state this year.

After a night of raging wind and rain, Hurricane Idalia landed early today on Florida's Gulf Coast.

Those who sheltered in place woke up to find flooded streets.

BILL HALL, Tampa Resident: The flooding is unbelievable.

I'm not going to be able to go to work, I don't think, for a couple of days.

And this is going to be devastating, I think, for at least a couple of days.

GEOFF BENNETT: The hurricane could be seen from the International Space Station.

The storm hit hardest and the Big Bend region where the Florida Panhandle curves into the peninsula.

After the hurricane had passed, officials urged people to remain watchful for surging water and rising tides.

Local utility companies staged crews and trucks in anticipation of outages.

As of midday, when the eye of the hurricane moved out of Florida, hundreds of thousands of people were without power.

GOV.

RON DESANTIS (R-FL), Presidential Candidate: The state is still being impacted by the storms bands, and we're seeing that particularly in the northern part of the state.

Utility workers are actively working to restore power in all affected areas.

GEOFF BENNETT: As Idalia moved inland, the storm was on track to cross Georgia and head into the Carolinas before moving back out to the Atlantic Ocean.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said he expected the storm to move quickly through the state.

But he cautioned people not to let their guards down.

GOV.

BRIAN KEMP (R-GA): It's a dangerous storm.

People need to prepare.

They need to be ready when it's coming through and either move a county or two up, if they have the ability to do that, if not, make sure they're in a secure location.

GEOFF BENNETT: Up to 120,000 people in Georgia had already lost power by the afternoon.

Back in Florida, images from the storm's aftermath included this one of a downed tree at the governor's mansion in Tallahassee.

President Biden today spoke about the storm's impact.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: Federal teams on the ground are going to continue to work with the first responders in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina to get people to safety.

I let each governor I spoke with know, if there's anything, anything the states need right now, I'm ready to mobilize that support of what they need.

GEOFF BENNETT: All of this in a state still recovering from last year's Hurricane Ian that destroyed thousands of buildings and killed nearly 150 people.

For an update now from an official on the ground, we turn to the mayor of Tallahassee, John Dailey.

Mayor Dailey, thank you for being with this.

This was the largest, strongest storm to ever hit the Big Bend area in modern history.

Tallahassee is, of course, the region's biggest city.

How has your city fared?

JOHN DAILEY (D), Mayor of Tallahassee, Florida: Well, to be honest with you, we got lucky.

We started off this morning at about 6:30 at the emergency operations enter, looking at a potential Cat 3 hurricane making landfall and coming straight to Tallahassee.

But, as we now know, when it hit landfall, it actually went due east, we were impacted, and we do have damage.

But it could have been much worse for the Tallahassee area.

But you are correct that this is the strongest storm, I believe, in history that has hit the Big Bend area.

And I know a lot of my colleagues and mayors of other communities up and down the Gulf Coast are in a massive rebuilding, recovery stage as well.

GEOFF BENNETT: In our report, we saw that 100-year-old oak tree that split in half in front of the governor's mansion, and part of which fell on the mansion.

Do you have an idea of the extent of the damage across your city right now?

JOHN DAILEY: We do.

We have a lot of trees down.

One thing about Tallahassee is that we are a Tree City USA; 55 percent of our city is actually under a tree canopy.

So, our concerns, obviously are, when you have high winds and trees and power lines, they do not mix very well.

So, as a result between the sustained winds that we did impact here in Tallahassee, we did have a lot of trees down, a lot of trees that fell on power lines.

They're blocking roads.

We're out in the process right now.

And, unfortunately, the massive oak on the grounds of the governor's mansion fell down today.

And we're sorry to see that happen.

But we're glad that no one was hurt when it did come down.

GEOFF BENNETT: This part of Florida, as we mentioned, isn't really accustomed to storms of this size and magnitude.

How was your city able to prepare for it?

JOHN DAILEY: Well, we laughed and say we had backup plans to the backup plans to the plan itself.

And we started early.

And I will give you some examples.

Number one, communication is key.

And we began communicating with our community.

Let me remind you, we have a municipal population of 200,000, another 100,000 in the county with a student population of 70,000.

So it's very important for us to communicate, and let everyone know that we have a significant storm event coming and be prepared.

As a result, we didn't have the long lines at the gas pump or in the grocery store.

People took care of business, but we did it an orderly fashion.

As an institution, we are the largest municipal service provider in the region.

We were out checking over 4,000 miles of transmission and just distribution, electric lines to make sure that they were clear, checking our sewer system, our stormwater system, our water systems.

And as a result of that activity up front, I think that our stormwater and our water systems, they all worked very well.

But we also ramped up our manpower.

We tripled the size of our electric utility department by reaching out for our mutual aid agreements as far away as Nebraska, Oklahoma, Ohio, Mississippi, Louisiana, and we had other municipalities that sent their crews to Tallahassee.

Prior to the storm, we stationed our assets all across the community.

And so, as the storm moved through our community, we were ready to respond, went straight out, had our emergency response to the first assessment.

And here we are.

GEOFF BENNETT: Do you expect that these kinds of weather events will become more common?

And how are you planning for it, if so?

JOHN DAILEY: So we are used to having these type of weather events, not necessarily a direct hit, but we usually are impacted one way or the other in the Tallahassee community by a tropical storm event, say.

Most of the time, they go to the west of us actually, not the east of us.

That's what made this one a little bit more unique.

I think what is concerning is, when we look at the size and the strength of the storm events as they're coming through now, we're seeing a lot more intensity even in our summertime rainstorms that take place, let alone these massive storm events.

So it does cause pause and make you think about the environment and global warming and what it's doing to all of our communities.

So, we are impacted, usually, maybe on an annual basis or every other year from some type of a massive storm event or tropical storm event.

GEOFF BENNETT: John Dailey is the mayor of Tallahassee.

Mr. Mayor, I'm glad to hear your city escaped the worst of Idalia.

Thanks for being with us.

JOHN DAILEY: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: And let's turn now to the federal response.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell is leaving Washington for Florida later today to assess Hurricane Idalia's damage firsthand.

And she joins us now.

Administrator, welcome back to the "NewsHour."

You have spoken quite a bit about all the resources that were prepositioned and standing by for when the storm hit.

It has now made landfall continues to move across the Southeast.

What can you tell us about how FEMA resources are currently deployed?

DEANNE CRISWELL, FEMA Administrator: Yes, Amna, I think the biggest thing right now is that we have the resources that are in place to support any lifesaving activities that need to happen.

Unfortunately, there are many people that chose not to evacuate.

And I know that our first responders, the really amazing brave men and women that are out there every day, have been going in to help that.

Our resources are there to support if they need to be.

And then we are posturing and getting ready to start to do rapid assessments to really understand what the impacts Hurricane Idalia has had on all of the states that it has crossed.

AMNA NAWAZ: We heard bits and pieces of reports from different places of exactly about people who did not evacuate, the mayor of Cedar Key, for example, saying there were 100 people there who had planned to stay put.

Do you have a bigger assessment?

How many people are you talking about who did not evacuate?

DEANNE CRISWELL: Yes, I don't personally have that number.

I would defer to the local officials, right?

They're the ones that are on the ground and know their communities to know who evacuated and perhaps who stayed behind.

Our focus is going to be able to send in any federal resources, if needed, to help support getting these people to safety now, if they need additional help from what the local first responders and the state teams are already doing.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, residents who've lived through this, who may be starting to assess the damage done there, what should they be doing to make sure they are in line for FEMA support?

Should they be documenting damage, getting in touch with your office somehow?

What's your message to them?

DEANNE CRISWELL: Well, my first message is make sure that you're doing it in a way that is safe.

There is still a lot of hazards out there, right?

We have downed power lines.

We have water in the streets still.

We have a lot of debris that was moved into the area.

So that area is still very dangerous.

And as individuals go back into their homes, they need to make sure that they're protecting themselves and they're staying out of harm's way.

Then the next thing to do is contact your insurance company, right?

Your first -- that first step, make sure you make that phone call to see what is covered and what's not covered.

And as they go in, absolutely, they need to start taking pictures and documenting what the types of damages are.

And after we work through the assessments and work with the governor to determine what level of additional federal assistance may be available, that bit of information is going to be extremely important.

AMNA NAWAZ: Administrator, you have said that the FEMA disaster relief fund is around $3.4 billion right now, that you're prioritizing funding for Idalia and for those horrific Maui fires people are still recovering from.

I want to put to you some concerns that Florida Senator Marco Rubio had.

He said that reimbursements to local governments for previous storms are still in the pipeline, and prioritizing new storms creates problems for those local governments.

What do you say in response to that?

DEANNE CRISWELL: Yes, our focus and our priority is to make sure that we can always support lifesaving missions, right?

That is what we are prioritizing the remaining balance of the disaster relief fund for, so we can have enough funding to send the search-and-rescue teams out there or power generation out there after a storm and ensure that those that are in harm's way don't have increased damage.

That's my priority.

The work itself and these other communities, this longer-term recovery work, it doesn't stop.

But it will delay the payments until the next fiscal year, if it's not a lifesaving activity that's needed right now.

AMNA NAWAZ: What about in terms of staff?

The New York Times reported this morning that just 19 percent of FEMA staff is available at the moment, compared to 31 percent this day last year?

Do you have the team that you need to meet the response right now?

DEANNE CRISWELL: Yes, we certainly are responding to a wide number of events across the country.

And the percentage of the staff that is referenced is related to our disaster work force.

But we also have all of our steady state employees that we will tap into and we can mobilize in to support our efforts.

And we also have what we call the DHS Surge Capacity, where the secretary has given us the ability to use volunteers from all of the different departments or agencies across the department, have them come in and support us.

And I think that last roster is somewhere over 6,000 people from across the department are signed up to support our efforts if we need them.

And so we have these layers in place as we continue to respond to multiple events.

AMNA NAWAZ: FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, thank you so much for joining us.

Safe travels to Florida, and please come back soon.

DEANNE CRISWELL: Thank you, Amna.

Stay safe.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the day's other headlines: The White House announced a grant of $95 million to strengthen the electrical grid on the island of Maui in Hawaii.

It will come from last year's infrastructure law.

There have been questions about whether downed power lines sparked the Maui wildfire that consumed Lahaina.

The fire killed 115 people, with more than 300 still missing.

A federal judge in Washington ruled today that Rudy Giuliani defamed two Georgia election workers by accusing them of ballot fraud in the 2020 vote.

The default judgment came after the Trump lawyer and adviser failed to turn over required documents.

The judge also ordered Giuliani to pay more than $130,000 in legal fees for his accusers.

The two sides in the Russia-Ukraine war traded heavy aerial assaults overnight.

The Ukrainians launched what appeared to be their biggest drone barrage yet, hitting airports and military planes inside Russian territory.

Russian video caught the explosions from afar.

The attacks reportedly hit six regions and lasted more than four hours.

Moscow accused Kyiv's Western allies of helping.

MARIA ZAKHAROVA, Spokeswoman, Russian Foreign Ministry (through translator): Ukrainian drone attacks on civilian objects confirm the terrorist essence of the Kyiv regime once again.

It's clear that Ukrainian drones weren't able to fly those distances without assistance from Western satellite information.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the meantime, Russian drones and missiles lit up the sky over Kyiv in the biggest bombardment of Ukraine's capital in months.

By daybreak, smoke was still rising, and officials reported two deaths.

U.S. officials say new intelligence shows Russian leader Vladimir Putin is actively trying to buy weapons from North Korea for the war in Ukraine.

The White House disclosed today that Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on have now exchanged letters about an arms deal.

National Security Council spokesman John Kirby spoke about that in an off-camera briefing.

JOHN KIRBY, NSC Coordinator For Strategic Communications: He's going to North Korea to try to get artillery shells and the basic materials, so that he can continue to shore up his defense industrial base.

There is no other way to look at that than desperation and weakness.

AMNA NAWAZ: Also today, North Korea fired two more short-range ballistic missiles into the sea.

That came hours after a U.S. strategic bomber flew over the Korean Peninsula during military drills.

The Kremlin conceded today that a plane crash that killed Russian mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin could have been foul play.

U.S. officials have suggested it was retaliation for his short-lived mutiny two months ago.

Prigozhin was buried yesterday in his hometown of St. Petersburg.

The site quickly brought out mourners paying their respects.

Back in this country, former Roman Catholic Cardinal Theodore McCarrick will not be tried on charges that he sexually assaulted a teenage boy in 1974.

A psychologist testified today at a Massachusetts hearing that McCarrick has dementia.

Both sides agreed, and the judge dismissed the case.

McCarrick is 93 years old.

He was defrocked in 2019 after a Vatican investigation found he molested adults and children for decades.

The Labor Department proposed today that another 3.6 million salaried workers will be eligible for overtime.

It affects those making less than $55,000 a year.

That's up nearly $20,000 from the current threshold.

The Obama administration tried something similar, but business groups defeated it in court.

And, on Wall Street, stocks managed fractional gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average was up 37 points to close at 34890.

The Nasdaq rose 75 points, and the S&P 500 added 17.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": students respond to the shooting at the University of North Carolina and the trauma of gun violence; Judy Woodruff delves into the connection between partisanship and the decline of local news; Frances Tiafoe shares his roller-coaster journey to becoming one of the top tennis players in the world; plus much more.

GEOFF BENNETT: For the second time this summer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell froze up while answering reporter questions, this time during a press conference in Kentucky this afternoon.

There was a similar moment for the senator on Capitol Hill last month.

Our congressional correspondent, Lisa Desjardins, joins us now with more.

So, Lisa, walk us through what happened today.

LISA DESJARDINS: Geoff, I think it best just to show what happened.

The 80-year-old McConnell was speaking to reporters in Covington, Kentucky.

QUESTION: What are your thoughts on running for reelection in 2026?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): What are my thoughts about what?

QUESTION: Running for reelection in 2006?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL: Oh.

(LAUGHTER) SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL: That's...

QUESTION: Did you hear the question, Senator?

Running for reelection in 2026?

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL: Yes.

LISA DESJARDINS: You can see there that the senator froze.

And it was a total of at least 30 seconds where he was nonresponsive.

Senator McConnell did go on to take a couple of questions.

He gave very brief, just-a-few-word answers to those.

Now, his office said that he felt dizzy and paused.

That is exactly what he said, what the office also said in July, when there was that similar moment on Capitol Hill, where the senator paused after and froze after getting questions from reporters.

Now, this office is known for its discipline, not a lot of information.

I did hear from the office of the number two Republican in the Senate, John Thune.

They told me Senator Thune spoke to Senator McConnell this afternoon and said he was his usual self -- Geoff.

GEOFF BENNETT: Lisa, McConnell is the longest-serving party leader in Senate history.

And this incident is the latest to raise questions about the age and health of our elected leaders.

Tell me more about that.

LISA DESJARDINS: That's right.

A third of the U.S. Senate Geoff is over 70 years old.

McConnell, at 80, is the fourth oldest.

There are senators in their 80s, 89 and 90, including Dianne Feinstein, who had health problems this year as well.

John Fetterman, senator from Pennsylvania, is younger, but he had a stroke that took him out of office for several weeks as well.

Now, this is a place where seniority is power.

And McConnell is the linchpin to many things that affect all of our lives.

And he could also be critical in the next month, as we potentially face a government shutdown at the end of September.

GEOFF BENNETT: Lisa Desjardins.

Lisa, thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the last two years, six countries across Western and Central Africa suffered what the U.N. has called an epidemic of coups.

That number is now seven.

Today, soldiers in Gabon seized power immediately after election results were announced.

Gabon is an oil-rich country and one of France's most important allies in Africa.

Nick Schifrin reports on what led to the coup and what it means for the region.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In Gabon, an election is erased to thunderous applause.

Residents of the capital, Libreville, filled the streets to celebrate what they called their liberation.

They have declared the ruling family's 55-year reign.

They thanked the army for launching a coup.

And they called for their former colonists, France, to clear out.

WOMAN (through translator): This is independence day.

The army has freed our country.

We didn't know we could be free.

Today, we are free.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Shortly before, military officers closed the borders, dissolved state institutions and declared they're in charge.

COL. ULRICH MANFOUMBI, Gabonese Military (through translator): The organization of the August 26, 2023, elections did not meet the conditions for a transparent ballot.

In addition, irresponsible and unpredictable governance has led to a steady deterioration in social cohesion, threatening to drive the country into chaos.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The results of that election had been announced just hours earlier, Ali Bongo reelected for a third term.

He's been president since 2009.

The 41 years before that, the president was Ali's father, Omar Bongo.

From house arrest today, Ali Bongo appealed for international help.

ALI BONGO, Gabonese President: To make noise, for the people here have arrested me.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In Washington, national security spokesman John Kirby called the coup deeply concerning JOHN KIRBY, NSC Coordinator For Strategic Communications: We will remain a supporter of the people in the region, supporter of the people of Gabon, and on their demand for democratic governance.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Gabon is the seventh country in Central and Western Africa to suffer a coup since 2021.

But unlike those countries across the Sahel suffering from Islamist insurgencies and internal power struggles, Gabon's problems stem from the Bongo family dynastic rule.

For decades, Ali and Omar Bongo have been staunch French allies and enjoyed French patronage.

French companies dominate the country's Oil Ministry.

Gabon is a wealthy member of OPEC, but one-third of the country lives in poverty.

This afternoon, the junta introduced the new head of state who, until yesterday, led the Republican Guard that was supposed to be protecting Bongo.

To discuss the coup and what it means for the region, I turn to Oge Onubogu, the director of the Africa Program at the Wilson Center.

She joins me now from Washington.

Thank you very much.

Welcome to the "NewsHour."

How much of the cause of the coup is the election itself, no international observers, no international media?

They turned off the Internet right afterward.

And how much is, as we just highlighted, the Bongo dynastic family rule?

OGE ONUBOGU, Africa Program Director, Wilson Center: Thank you very much for having me.

I think as, you have rightly pointed out, there is a lot of citizen frustration with the current status quo in the country.

I think, over time, we have been seeing a lot of frustrations about the fact that the system of government isn't delivering for the people.

While, on paper, Gabon is seen as a country with a high GDP, unfortunately, this doesn't reflect to everyday life.

So, we have seen a lot of frustration from citizens on the ground, especially with the fact that you have had one country in the - - in a leadership position, the Bongo family, that has been ruling Gabon for over 50 years.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And so when we see the scenes that we just highlighted of people filling the streets celebrating, that is, what, a genuine national reflection of frustration both of the election and the last half-century?

OGE ONUBOGU: It's not necessarily a celebration of the coup, but a celebration of an opportunity for a transition.

It doesn't necessarily mean it's in support of the military.

But it's more or less citizens voicing -- they're showing a sign of relief that perhaps this could be an opportunity to transition to something better than what they're coming from, so not necessarily a support for the military.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Zooming out, let's look at that map again that we showed in the story, coups in seven countries since 2021.

Each is different, of course.

And we highlighted how Gabon is unique.

But is democracy in Africa in decline?

OGE ONUBOGU: I think, to put it directly the way you have put it, yes, it is in decline.

Yes, there is a concern among citizens, obviously across the board.

There is a huge gap between the demand for democracy on the citizen side and a supply for democracy on the governance side.

Unfortunately, that gap between demand and supply continues to widen across the continent, where, for many, they want to see democracy deliver.

They want to see the dividends of democracy.

They want to be able to see this translate into better livelihoods.

And, unfortunately, this isn't happening.

So we're seeing a trend where the gap between demand, citizen demand, for democracy is widening, due to a lack of proper supply or responsive governance to the needs of citizens.

Unfortunately, as that gap widens, then you have actors, such as military and -- military actors, that will that will seize to take advantage of this widening gap to present themselves as an alternative to a government that isn't responding to the people.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And what are the implications for U.S. interests as that gap widens?

OGE ONUBOGU: I think, in the long run, for U.S. interests, it is clear that there is a -- there's a strong case to be made for continued U.S. support to governance and strengthening democratic institutions of governance on the continent.

At the end of the day, this should give the U.S. and other international actors an opportunity to really take an honest inward look at their approaches towards partnering with governments and, most importantly, people in these -- in the different countries to strengthen democratic institutions of governance.

So, the opportunity is still there for honest U.S. and international engagement and partnership with citizens in the different countries.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Oge Onubogu of the Wilson Center, thank you very much.

OGE ONUBOGU: Thank you so much.

AMNA NAWAZ: A shooting at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill earlier this week left one professor dead and a community really, especially students on and around campus.

Zijie Yan, an associate professor in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences was shot on Monday afternoon.

A campus lockdown lasted three hours, alarming students and staff, who barricaded themselves for safety.

Police say Yan was an adviser to the alleged gunman, who was a graduate student.

The school's paper, The Daily Tar Heel, published a front page that went viral, showing text messages sent between friends, family and loved ones throughout the traumatic event.

Emmy Martin is the editor in charge of that paper.

And she joins me now.

Emmy, welcome and thank you for joining us.

I appreciate it.

EMMY MARTIN, Editor, The Daily Tar Heel: Thank you for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, tell us about where this idea came from.

How did it come together?

And what was it like for you and your staff to pull this front page together?

EMMY MARTIN: So, on Monday, I was in lockdown myself.

And we were planning to go ahead with a paper fully focused on the upcoming football season at UNC.

And, of course, when this happened, we knew that is not the way to go.

We fully scrapped the paper we had planned and we knew, this is such a traumatic event on campus, we have to cover it.

As soon as I got out of lockdown -- I was in a campus building a couple buildings over from where the shooting occurred -- I walked straight to the newsroom and sat down with my staff.

And we kind of talked through what this looks like.

And, at first, we didn't know what the cover would be.

Honestly, at first, we thought just a blank front page.

There's no words after such a traumatic event for students.

But then, that evening, I went home,was laying in bed, looking at all the text messages that I personally had received, while I was sheltering in place, and also looking at Instagram, and seeing so many UNC students post texts that they received, or that they sent to friends who were also in lockdown.

And I -- that's what I knew, if at least I was getting these texts, every single person campus got a "Are you OK, are you safe?"

message.

And so that's when I knew that had to be our cover.

AMNA NAWAZ: It is just stunning to read through all of these, especially when they're pulled together like this.

I mean, they range from messages like: "Are you safe, where are you?

", to "I can see people running and hear screaming," to, "I'm scared.

I am so scared right now."

Emmy, I know, you must have grown up watching coverage of shootings at other schools.

Had you ever lived through anything like this?

Or did you think it would happen at your school?

EMMY MARTIN: It's something we're seeing more and more.

It's something I saw a lot growing up.

I had to do lockdown trainings in middle school and high school, and I'm sure everyone my age has as well.

It's really not something you ever think you will experience until you do.

And so many students on UNC's campus had already experienced an active shooter situation, which is terrifying.

I personally had not, which is something I'm thankful for.

But before I became editor in chief, it was something I thought of.

What if there is a shooting on UNC's campus?

How will I respond?

And it is, in a way, sad that I had to think that.

And I know other editors at other student newspapers who have had to cover active shooting situations on their campus.

And so it has been front of mind for me in the fact that now we have to sit through it and we have experienced on our campus.

And now I have been the editor of a school paper covering an active shooter situation and one that did have a fatality.

It's sad, and it's something that I still have yet to process.

AMNA NAWAZ: This was only in your second week of school, your second week as editor in chief of that paper.

How does this change the rest of the year, how you see it?

How has it changed the community there, do you think?

EMMY MARTIN: I think everyone's perspective on campus is different now.

I was looking into the year very excited about what we would get to cover, and I'm still very thankful that I get to lead the newspaper for this year.

But this event has marked everyone's experience at UNC this year, and everyone who is an alumni of UNC.

And so, looking forward, this is something that is going to be a large part of our coverage.

And it's something that's not going to go away.

I think an event like this has lasting impacts on everyone who experienced it or who was close to it.

And so my team is working really hard to make sure we are reflecting that in our coverage and serving our community in the best way that we can.

AMNA NAWAZ: You know, Emmy, as you mentioned, you could have just covered the story and written it up as any other news story.

But you chose to do this in this way on this cover.

And it feels like it was meant to send a message.

Was it?

What's that message?

EMMY MARTIN: I think we wanted to create a historical record of what happened on Monday, August 28, on UNC's campus, but we also wanted to create something that kind of gathered the full experience of that day and how UNC students felt on that day.

Furthermore, those text messages are messages that anybody who has lived through an active shooter situation, that they have received.

And so, in a way, yes, this is a cover that is so personal to UNC students.

But it's also a cover that way too many people across the nation can connect with.

And I think, in a way, if people read it that way and read it as a message, I think that's also true.

AMNA NAWAZ: Emmy Martin is the editor in chief of The Daily Tar Heel.

Emmy, thank you for joining us, and thank you to you and your team for the journalism that you do.

EMMY MARTIN: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: In a recent report, Judy Woodruff examined how the loss of thousands of local newspapers across the country is depriving communities of some of the glue that holds them together.

Tonight, she looks at how some news outlets are managing to hang on, and whether what they're doing is sustainable.

It's part of her ongoing series America at a Crossroads.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Just after dawn most Thursdays, Anne Adams takes to the winding mountain roads of Western Virginia, delivering a local newspaper, The Recorder, to small stores and coffee shops.

ANNE ADAMS, Editor and Publisher, The Recorder: I will set one aside when I get back over to the office.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But Adams isn't just the delivery person.

She is also the owner, editor and publisher of this paper that covers three counties, including two of the most sparsely populated in the state.

And like many local news editors, she's closely connected to the community.

ANNE ADAMS: Folks need to know what's going on.

They need to know their neighbors.

They need to know what what's happening, how their money is being spent.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The paper's Highland County office is nestled in the midst of the Allegheny Mountains in Monterey, Virginia, a small one-stoplight town of about 160 residents.

Adams says people in this tight-knit community not only suggest story ideas, but also hold her to account.

ANNE ADAMS: You can be shopping, and dropping the kids off at school, and they're like, we think you crossed the line there or not sure that was the right way to put it.

JUDY WOODRUFF: For much of the country's history, local newspapers played a key role in uniting communities, highlighting common challenges and events that tie people together, like high school sports and local political races.

ANNE ADAMS: We have always had a really good - - got a grapevine gossip network here.

But, well, we will dig into it and find out what's really going on, what's really happening and report that.

And then it settles down.

Without a newspaper to do that, I just feel like folks would not have the right information.

I think they would be less engaged, less apt to vote, less apt to care.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But that's become the reality for many Americans over the last two decades.

About 2,500 local newspapers, a quarter of the total, have folded since 2005, according to Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.

In that same period, newspaper revenue has plunged from $50 billion to 20 billion.

News organizations that have been able to survive are operating on razor-thin margins.

One-fifth of U.S. residents now live in news deserts, where residents have very limited access to credible and comprehensive news and information.

ANNE ADAMS: So they did scrub a times past look-back, even in the '30s.

And that's a feature that we still publish today.

JUDY WOODRUFF: That you still do today.

ANNE ADAMS: Yes.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Adams, who is only the 10th publisher of the paper, took over in 2007.

ANNE ADAMS: But look at these tiny little headlines.

Graphic designers today would go crazy.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The Recorder has helped hold this community with its long, proud history together for 146 years.

It's done so mainly by selling ads and subscriptions at a time when so many local newspapers across the country have collapsed.

But it may not be financially sustainable in the long run.

ANNE ADAMS: The cost of printing has gone up.

The cost of paper has gone up.

The cost of postage has gone up.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So, can you venture a guess, an educated guess as to how long you can keep this model going?

ANNE ADAMS: Well, as long as I'm alive and doing this.

I mean, I always say, we're not going to kill it off on my watch.

We will do whatever we have to do.

JUDY WOODRUFF: In 2017, Adams gambled and more than doubled the newsstand price from $2 to $5.

And it was just five issues away from folding during the pandemic, when its readers stepped in with donations to keep the printing presses going.

All this has paid off, most visibly in The Recorder breaking the news in 2014 of the proposed Atlantic Coast Pipeline, a 600-mile natural gas line that would have cut through three states and potentially had huge environmental impacts.

ANNE ADAMS: I remember everybody kept saying, why are you bothering?

You can't fight a company like Dominion, especially not in Virginia.

We just kept hammering away at them.

And we got the privilege of being the first to report when they shut the project down.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But many local newspapers lack the manpower to do that kind of reporting.

Newsroom employment has been slashed by 60 percent since 2005, turning many small publications into ghost newspapers.

In Jackson, Mississippi, staff at The Clarion-Ledger, owned by the Gannett chain, has suffered repeated rounds of cuts in the last 15 years.

MARY MARGARET WHITE, CEO, Mississippi Today: And there really was just a lack of Statehouse reporting.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Mary Margaret White is the CEO of Mississippi Today, a nonprofit digital news source launched in 2016 that's run by donations and grants.

MARY MARGARET WHITE: Some big issues were coming through the legislature, and there was no one there to cover them.

And that was really the early days of Mississippi Today.

JUDY WOODRUFF: It's become an exemplar of now rapid growth in these alternative news outlets.

MARY MARGARET WHITE: In early days, making a case for journalism as philanthropy was really a long and hard conversation.

It was just so new to so many people that you would give philanthropically to the press, to media.

And now six, seven years later, people are really beginning to understand the value of journalism to our democracy, the value of it to local communities, and that it is a worthwhile cause to support.

Last year, I'm so proud, we brought in more than $400,000.

JUDY WOODRUFF: My gosh.

Wow.

MARY MARGARET WHITE: And that's from everyday people.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Mississippi Today publishes the names of its donors online, and is partially funded by a venture philanthropy, the American Journalism Project based in Washington, D.C. SARABETH BERMAN, CEO, American Journalism Project: We think we're at the front end of building a new generation of news organizations.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The project was established four years ago, and now helps support 41 newsrooms across the country.

Sarabeth Berman is the CEO.

SARABETH BERMAN: We have seen over the last several years new digital nonprofit news organizations that are really fundamentally reimagining how we finance local news.

We used to use advertising to finance local news.

That has largely disappeared.

About 80 percent of advertising revenue has disappeared in the last two decades.

And these organizations are really thinking of their financial structure in the same way we think of other organizations that are really essential to our communities, like libraries and museums and other institutions that stitch us together.

MAN: If you're trying to register to vote, can't do it.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Mississippi Today's reporters cover policy and politics, which are livelier than usual in this, a statewide election year.

MAN: Because I want to see our election system change in our state.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Last month, we caught up with their small team of reporters covering the candidates at the Neshoba County Fair.

And we spoke with residents who say they have grown to rely on Mississippi Today's digital-only platform.

WILL SIMMONS, Mississippi Resident: And I don't agree with everything they write, but it is -- I mean, a lot of it is -- it seems like they're -- it's just pretty straight facts, a lot of what they do.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Now one of the largest newsrooms in the state, Mississippi Today won a Pulitzer Prize earlier this year.

Reporter Anna Wolfe's investigation "The Backchannel" exposed the state's diversion of millions of federal welfare dollars intended to help some of the poorest people in the country instead directed to political supporters, such as former football star Brett Favre to build a volleyball stadium at his alma mater.

ANNA WOLFE, Mississippi Today: I think I'm probably on that story up to at least 100 public records requests.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Wolfe estimated she worked on the story on and off for five years.

ANNA WOLFE: So you think about the time that it takes to draft those and see them through the process of actually being able to get your hands on those records, and people might not realize how long it takes, and then might not realize the investment that is required to do that kind of work.

JUDY WOODRUFF: At times, the news outlet's reporting has angered Republican leadership.

Just last month, former Mississippi Governor Phil Bryant sued the news outlet, charging its employees defamed him in public comments.

The lawsuit does not appear to challenge the veracity of the reporting.

While Mississippi Today has focused heavily on state House and investigative reporting, Sarabeth Berman acknowledges that new nonprofit newsrooms also need to build up trust in their communities.

SARABETH BERMAN: Mississippi Today, last year during the Jackson water crisis, was out there providing people with just the basic tools that they need to be able to navigate this crisis, information about how to get water and what to do if you if you don't have access to good water.

And by providing people with that kind of information, you begin to build trust with them that you are there and you're on their side.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Well, the nonprofit model is showing promise in urban settings, economic realities persist for small local newspapers that still depend on subscriptions and advertising, like The Recorder in Virginia.

PENNY ABERNATHY, Northwestern University: The traditional news model has just vanished.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Northwestern University's Penny Abernathy has done extensive research on local journalism.

She posits that more than 90 percent of all news organizations are still commercially based and news organizations benefiting from nonprofit dollars are geographically uneven.

PENNY ABERNATHY: It leaves smaller communities kind of at a loss as to how do you go about getting that initial ignition that brings people together and helps them understand that they can do this, that they can raise that money to support local news operations.

JUDY WOODRUFF: She says one solution might be using public dollars to help local newsrooms survive, subsidies for hiring reporters and for local businesses that advertise in the local paper.

PENNY ABERNATHY: There just isn't sufficient subscriber revenue to pay the bills.

And, of course, there's not sufficient philanthropic dollars to lift them up over the profit margin.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The challenges ahead are great, and the stakes are very high.

PENNY ABERNATHY: Increasingly, I'm worried that we're evolving into a nation of journalistic haves and have-nots.

That has huge implications for not only our democracy, but for our society.

How do we come together around a common set of facts to solve the issues that are confronting us in the 21st century?

JUDY WOODRUFF: For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Judy Woodruff in Jackson, Mississippi, and Monterey, Virginia.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, some say tennis is a metaphor for life, involving anticipation, problem-solving and incredibly hard work.

For 25-year-old Frances Tiafoe, now one of the top 10 players in the world, those were lessons learned early both on and off the court.

I caught up with Tiafoe at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows, New York, as part of our arts and culture series, Canvas.

WOMAN: ... is no strange feat.

Frances Tiafoe, native son, what's good?

AMNA NAWAZ: Frances Tiafoe's trademark smile is both charming and disarming.

But, in battle, a fierce competitor roars to life, propelling Tiafoe to the world's top 10 and a place in tennis history.

FRANCES TIAFOE JR., Professional Tennis Player: I'm sure a lot of people have high expectations for me, but I have high expectations for myself.

AMNA NAWAZ: Those expectations soared after last year's U.S. Open.

ANNOUNCER: Even Rafa says, too good.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the round of 16, Tiafoe took down the number two-seated Rafael Nadal.

ANNOUNCER: Frances Tiafoe says, it's my time.

And that's it.

AMNA NAWAZ: Then, in the quarterfinals, beat Andrey Rublev in straight sets, before losing to Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals, making Tiafoe the first American man to make it to the U.S. Open semifinals since Andy Roddick in 2006 and the first Black American man since Arthur Ashe in 1972.

And, this spring, Big Foe, as he's known, became only the third Black American man in history to break into the top 10, following Ashe and James Blake.

At this year's Open, the world is expecting big things from Big Foe.

FRANCES TIAFOE JR.: I want to approach it like another year somewhere where I just want to do well.

I don't want to make it this big ordeal, because, ultimately, I know, when I'm at my best and having fun out there, I can do some special things.

AMNA NAWAZ: Everyone we talked to describes you as always happy, happy-go-lucky, easygoing, laid back.

But there is this fierce competitor in you that comes out when you play.

I wonder how -- how do you balance those two?

FRANCES TIAFOE JR.: Yes, I think Frances Tiafoe off the court is a totally different beast, a guy who just likes to enjoy and have fun.

But I know what I'm out there competing for.

I'm competing for my family, friends, obviously, myself.

I want to achieve great things, the whole DMV area.

So, got a lot of people I want to continue to make happy, continue to make proud.

And, yes, so that's probably what helps the balance.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tiafoe knows where he comes from, his 6'2'' frame often draped in hometown jerseys.

The Maryland native is proudly DMV-made from the District/Maryland/Virginia area around Washington, D.C.

He went pro at 16, competing in Grand Slams since he was 17.

He won his first in Delray Beach, Florida, in 2018, made the quarterfinals at the 2019 Australian Open and again that same year in Miami.

But Tiafoe's story, he says, began long before he ever picked up a racket, when his parents, Frances Tiafoe Sr. and Alphina Kamara, fled civil war in Sierra Leone in the 1990s, raising Frances and his twin brother, Franklin, in the U.S. His father worked in construction, helping to build the U.S. Tennis Association's Junior Tennis Champion Center, or JTCC, in College Park, Maryland, then becoming its custodian.

He slept in a spare office.

The Tiafoe boys did too a few days every week for over a decade.

It was there Frances Tiafoe first picked up a tennis racket, started training, and launched a career that has already inspired a new generation of fans, fans who gathered in the center his dad helped to build to cheer on Tiafoe during last year's U.S. Open, fans who now see themselves in Tiafoe.

You are only the third American Black man to make it into the top 10.

Why haven't there been more?

FRANCES TIAFOE JR.: How many people have gotten the op, though, right?

I mean, I think opportunity is everything.

I'm a product of it.

And how do we make the game more accessible?

Obviously, USTA is doing a great job, the NJTLs, and making it more accessible across the country.

But then you also need to have the right coach, a certain amount of passion for the game.

How do you have these kids wanting to continue the game at a high level, courts and what have you?

So, there's a lot -- a lot goes into it, but, hopefully, there's a lot more than three, right, when I'm done.

You guys gave me the best opportunity in the world to play the game of tennis.

AMNA NAWAZ: Success, Tiafoe says, is measured by how many you bless.

On a recent return to the JTCC, Tiafoe announced a $250,000 fund, seed money to boost tennis education and access in 270 communities across the country, as his mother and father looked on.

ALPHINA KAMARA, Mother of Frances Tiafoe Jr.: It's a wonderful thing for the children, because when they see somebody that grew up in the same facility that they are trying to come to, or whichever facility they are going to, and they see Frances has become what he has become, by the grace of God.

FRANCES TIAFOE SR., Father of Frances Tiafoe Jr.: Well, they will learn a lot from this today.

They want to be like Frances or better than Frances, so they can not even be like him or more than him.

BILLIE JEAN KING, Former U.S. Tennis Champion: He's great, and the crowd loves him.

He's got Hollywood in him.

He's got that.

AMNA NAWAZ: He loves the crowd too, right?

BILLIE JEAN KING: He loves the crowd.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tennis legend Billie Jean King says Tiafoe is just what tennis needs.

BILLIE JEAN KING: I think the players have to understand we're there for the audience, not the audience is there for us.

And great performers know that,when they walk out there, whether there's one person in the audience or it's full, you want them to go home and say, God, that was great.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tennis great Mary Joe Fernandez, the youngest player ever to win at the U.S. Open, says Tiafoe poised for even bigger things.

MARY JOE FERNANDEZ, Tennis Champion: I love Frances.

I don't know anybody that doesn't love Frances.

He brings so much entertainment to the game.

You really see his enjoyment of the game.

And I feel like Frances can compete, he can focus, but he can also entertain, and that's very difficult.

AMNA NAWAZ: There is a mental fortitude that's unique to tennis, right?

You're out there alone.

You're competing at the highest level.

The pressure is high.

There's a lot of conversation around mental health now in sports more generally, but really in tennis too.

And I just wonder how you think about that.

You don't seem to struggle with it.

But, again, a lot of that stuff, people don't show to the rest of the world.

FRANCES TIAFOE JR.: Yes, I think, obviously, it's a tough sport, man.

It's a tough sport.

You win, it's on you.

You lose, it's on you, right?

Traveling the world, a lot of time away from family, a lot of time away from home, dealing with expectations.

When you don't get them, you got all these hate messages, people going on you and stuff like that.

AMNA NAWAZ: Do you read those messages?

FRANCES TIAFOE JR.: So, that's the funny thing.

I always tell my girl, I'm not really into that, reading those messages or whatever.

For me, I think it's kind of a mind-set thing.

I'm not envious of anybody else or whatever.

What's meant for me is meant for me.

But, ultimately, these people who are sending hate messages, they're going to follow my life anyways, right.

AMNA NAWAZ: You love the crowd.

You feed off the crowd.

People wrote about it last time too.

You would hold your arm up and gesture to them and put your hand to your ear and call for them to be louder, which is not normal in tennis culture, right?

What do you love about that?

What's it feel like when you're out there?

FRANCES TIAFOE JR.: I mean, a guy like me would never think he would be able to play and 23,000 people and pack the whole arena up, right, and have them whistling and yelling their name for hours and hours while I'm competing at the highest level.

So I'm just loving that moment.

And, again, this is about having fun, and I play better that way.

AMNA NAWAZ: He may be out on that court alone, but Tiafoe says he is held up by a cast of dozens.

Who's your first call, who's your first text when you need that little moment?

FRANCES TIAFOE JR.: Yes, I definitely call both my parents, twin brother, obviously, my girlfriend who I have been with for years.

She helps me so much.

But, yes, I have cousin -- I have a big squad, cousins, friends, I mean, a lot of people I like to stay in touch with.

So... AMNA NAWAZ: You roll deep.

FRANCES TIAFOE JR.: I roll deep, yes.

You ready, right?

You got the wristband and everything.

AMNA NAWAZ: With his family and a legion of fans behind him, Tiafoe is laser-focused on the road ahead and enjoying every step along the way.

And our next piece on trailblazers at the U.S. Open features Billie Jean King and her fight for pay equity 50 years ago.

That's coming up next week.

And there's more online, including a lightning round with Frances Tiafoe.

That is on our Instagram.

GEOFF BENNETT: And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On behalf of the entire "NewsHour" team, thank you for joining us.