October 18, 2024 - PBS News Hour full episode

GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: The killing of Hamas' leader echoes throughout the Middle East and sends the war in Gaza into an unpredictable new phase.

GEOFF BENNETT: Western North Carolina residents contend with a lack of basic needs and overwhelming grief as they try to rebuild after Hurricane Helene.

AMNA NAWAZ: And Afghan women whose education was cut short by the Taliban find another chance to fulfill their dreams of being doctors in Scotland.

HAJERA SAFI, Medical Student: We all have a hope, because that's something I believe in.

Of course, I want to go back and serve my people.

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

If the U.S. wants to use the death of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as an opportunity for peace, the warring sides today are publicly resisting.

GEOFF BENNETT: Hamas vowed to keep fighting.

Lebanese Hezbollah announced a new phase of its war and Israel announced more military deployments into Northern Gaza and the Israeli border with Lebanon.

Nick Schifrin starts our coverage.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Today in Khan Yunis, in a blown-out mosque, Palestinians from Yahya Sinwar's hometown mourn the death of a man they called a martyr, his final act throwing a stick at an Israeli drone before an Israeli tank seen in new footage released today fired and killed him.

But one day after it announced his death, the Israeli military also announced it expanded operational activity in Northern Gaza.

Much of Hamas' leadership is dead, but Hamas' fighters continue their attacks.

And, today, the group promised to keep it up and not give up its 100 Israeli hostage without a permanent cease-fire, said deputy Hamas chief Khalil al-Hayya.

KHALIL AL-HAYYA, Gaza Hamas Deputy Chief (through translator): Those prisoners will not return to you until the aggression our people in Gaza is stopped and full withdrawal from it, as well as the release of our heroes, the prisoners, from the occupation jails.

And we will continue with Hamas' path.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And Israel vowed to continue what it called its limited operation in Southern Lebanon, calling up another reserve brigade, said Israel's top general, Herzi Halevi.

LT. GEN. HERZI HALEVI, Chief of Staff, Israeli Defense Forces (through translator): We are very determined to strike Hezbollah as hard as possible, and we are making sure that every day there's a very tough surprise for Hezbollah.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But the war has been difficult and deadly for Israeli soldiers buried today, and for Lebanese, including 13 killed in an Israeli airstrike on a municipal building whose funeral today was collective.

Hezbollah is still launching rockets at Israel and today vowed a -- quote -- "new phase of the war."

Despite all the calls for more fighting, U.S. officials still hope Sinwar's death can produce momentum for a Gaza cease-fire.

And Secretary of State Antony Blinken will soon make his 12th trip to see Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: I told the prime minister yesterday, let's also make this moment an opportunity to seek a path to peace, a better future in Gaza without Hamas.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But President Biden also admitted today it would be harder to get a cease-fire in Gaza than it would be in Lebanon, what U.S. officials tell me is a reflection of their skepticism that Israel's maximalist goals in Gaza will change or, Geoff, that Hamas will be willing to make compromise.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, given, Hamas' latest position on the negotiations, what does that suggest about what might come next and who this militant group might choose as their next leader?

NICK SCHIFRIN: We spoke to a lot of experts and officials today and all of them emphasize it's a little too early to know exactly where Hamas will proceed.

But in the piece that we just showed, you heard that statement from the deputy leader of Hamas, Khalil al-Hayya.

He is believed to represent the organization, not just himself.

That suggests the fighting will continue, also that they're willing to negotiate, even if the opening public offer has been unacceptable to Israel.

He is one of the possible successors to Sinwar.

Other candidates include Khaled Mashal.

Either one of them would likely lead the organization's political wing from Doha.

But the military wing will likely be led by this man, Mohammed Sinwar, Yahya Sinwar's brother.

He is considered just as, if not more ruthless than his brother.

Hamas has replaced leaders in the past.

But given what's happened in Gaza over the last year, any political leader based in Doha is going to have a hard time controlling the fighters in Gaza.

Take a listen to Nathan Brown from George Washington.

NATHAN BROWN, Professor of International Affairs, George Washington University: Hamas has well-oiled procedures.

They have got ways to canvass people in jail, ways to canvass people who are underground in the West Bank, abroad, Gaza and so on.

Their mechanisms have never had to operate under a situation like this.

I have got to believe the Hamas that comes out of this will be very, very different, probably leaner and perhaps a little bit meaner, as people within the organization look to each other and say, what did you do in the war?

NICK SCHIFRIN: That distance between the political and military wings and also some expectation that the first step any new leader would make would be to make concessions, that, Geoff, is going to make it very difficult to get any kind of cease-fire talks going from the Hamas side.

GEOFF BENNETT: Meantime, U.S. officials say they want Israel to use this as an opportunity to end the war.

What is Israel saying about that?

NICK SCHIFRIN: There's a debate in Israel on what to do.

And some in the military have been saying even before Sinwar's death that it is time to declare victory in Gaza and downshift operation, move to some kind of counterterrorism operation and allowing more humanitarian aid into Gaza.

But the first order for the military and the political leadership in Gaza remains the hostages.

Yesterday, Netanyahu made a specific offer.

He said, Israel will guarantee the safety of all those who return our hostages.

What he did not offer, however, and what he has been consistent about since day one is that maximalist goal, letting Hamas have any power in Gaza in the future.

And that goal is not going to change, says Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute.

YOHANAN PLESNER, President, Israel Democracy Institute: The goal of not allowing Hamas to continue to control Gaza is a goal that is still valid.

Israel is not putting that offer on the table, because we know, if Hamas remains there, their alliance with Iran will allow them to again redirect, rebuild their capacity and redirect their terror capabilities.

So this is not an option.

Someone else needs to replace Hamas as the entity that manages Gaza.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The challenge, of course, is, what is the next entity to manage Gaza?

U.S. officials have been working with Arab governments to try and create a security force that would transition to the Palestinian Authority.

But there is no agreement between those Arab governments, and Netanyahu opposes any Palestinian Authority control over Gaza.

That is what Blinken is going to be working on next week when he goes to the region.

But, again, U.S. officials are skeptical that you get either sides' movement.

GEOFF BENNETT: And what about the Palestinians?

I mean, how are they viewing the prospects of ending this war?

NICK SCHIFRIN: Very skeptically.

They do not see Netanyahu budging from his goals, nor do they see the U.S. using very much leverage over Netanyahu to try and get him to budge.

Take a listen to Khaled Elgindy of the Middle East Institute.

KHALED ELGINDY, Middle East Institute: It is an opportunity, but it's one that I'm not sure Prime Minister Netanyahu is going to seize upon.

I mean, in his statement yesterday, he's sort of nodded in both directions, on the one hand saying there's an opportunity here, on the other hand saying the war will continue.

I think most people understand his personal and political calculations are that he needs the war to continue to remain in power, to keep his coalition intact, to avoid accountability for the failures of October 7 of last year.

And he's had very little incentive to end the war.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Palestinians in Gaza and U.S. officials also point out there's very little aid getting into Northern Gaza.

Geoff, over the last few days, the Israeli military does say that dozens of trucks got in.

The U.S. says that's not enough.

GEOFF BENNETT: Nick Schifrin, our thanks to you, as always.

We appreciate it.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: Shifting our focus now to the presidential race, both candidates have their eyes on Michigan today as early in-person voting starts tomorrow in part of that state.

Former President Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris had busy schedules there today.

And our Lisa Desjardins has this report.

KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: Well, we're back in Michigan.

LISA DESJARDINS: In Grand Rapids, before rallying supporters, Vice President Harris wanted to say something to reporters about her opponent.

KAMALA HARRIS: He's not doing the CNN town hall.

He refuses to do another debate.

And, look, being president of the United States is probably one of the hardest jobs in the world.

And so we really do need to ask, if he's exhausted being on the campaign trail, is he fit to do the job?

LISA DESJARDINS: This following a Politico report that the Trump campaign told one outlet he was too exhausted to go through with an interview.

Within the hour, as soon as he landed in Michigan, Trump responded.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: What event did I cancel?

I haven't canceled.

She doesn't go to any events.

She's a loser.

So, today, I was at "FOX & Friends" at 7:00 in the morning, I then went to two different other appearances.

I then made about 15 phone calls.

I have gone 48 days now without a rest.

LISA DESJARDINS: Harris is trying to show she has the energy, especially in swing states like Michigan, where some early voting begins tomorrow.

KAMALA HARRIS: We have got to energize and organize and mobilize and remind our neighbors and our friends that their vote is their voice.

And your voice is your power.

DONALD TRUMP: We're going to save America.

We're going to save the automobile industry.

LISA DESJARDINS: Former President Trump also campaigned in the Great Lakes State this afternoon ahead of a rally tonight.

The former president took a battleground break yesterday to attend the annual Al Smith Catholic charity dinner in New York last night.

JIM GAFFIGAN, Actor: President Donald J. Trump.

LISA DESJARDINS: Traditionally, both candidates show up and roast themselves and each other.

KAMALA HARRIS: Right now, I'm trying to record my speech for tonight's dinner.

LISA DESJARDINS: But this year, Harris appeared virtually, citing a scheduling conflict.

Trump jabbed his opponent for not attending in person, but at one point also engaged in self-deprecating humor.

DONALD TRUMP: It's a true pleasure to be with you this evening.

Amazing pleasure.

These days, it's really a pleasure anywhere in New York without a subpoena for my appearance.

LISA DESJARDINS: Woven into the jokes were some barbs met by boos that the crowd felt were below the belt.

DONALD TRUMP: I also want to thank my very beautiful wife.

LISA DESJARDINS: Also in attendance, former first lady Melania Trump, who has largely been absent on the campaign trail.

MAN: Mr. President, welcome back.

LISA DESJARDINS: On "FOX & Friends" this morning, the former president said some of last night's jokes were written by people at the network.

MAN: Your material was real funny.

Who wrote you with it?

DONALD TRUMP: Well, I have had a lot of people helping, a lot of people, a couple of people from FOX, actually.

I shouldn't say that.

LISA DESJARDINS: FOX denied today that any of its staff were involved.

Trump also urged FOX to stop playing ads against him for the remainder of the election.

DONALD TRUMP: For 19 days, I don't think we should do that anymore.

I think you shouldn't play negative ads.

LISA DESJARDINS: The FCC prohibits broadcast stations from rejecting political ads from any legally qualified candidate.

Speaking of ads: MARC ANTHONY, Musician: I remember what it was like when Trump was president.

I remember what he did and he said about Puerto Rico, about our people.

LISA DESJARDINS: The Harris campaign is out with a new one today aimed at Latino voters featuring singer and songwriter Marc Anthony.

But in the crucial final two weeks of the election, it's Trump that has the edge in the ad department.

In battleground states, the former president's campaign is outspending team Harris by about $9 million total in future ad reservations and outspending her in each individual battleground state.

People are already voting in some of those states, like in North Carolina, where early voting kicked off yesterday.

Even in places hard-hit by Hurricane Helene, there was strong turnout with long lines at polling stations.

BILL WHALEN, Asheville, North Carolina, Voter: They're trying to figure out how to flush their toilets and take care of basic needs.

But, be that as it may, I think there's a -- at least in my neighborhood, there's a widespread understanding of the importance of this election and how important it is to vote.

LISA DESJARDINS: Across the country, more than 11 million people have already cast their ballots.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Lisa Desjardins.

AMNA NAWAZ: We start the day's other headlines in Berlin, where President Biden said Western allies must keep aid flowing to Ukraine, even as the U.S. heads towards a pivotal election next month.

Biden met with the leaders of Germany, France and the U.K. to discuss the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, but the possibility of another Trump presidency loomed large.

The former president this week signaled that Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was partly to blame for Russia's war and has questioned America's support for Kyiv.

Speaking alongside his host, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Biden said Ukraine's allies must stand strong.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: America and Germany are the two largest supporters of Ukraine in its fight for survival as a free and independent nation.

As Ukraine faces a tough winter, we must -- we must sustain our resolve, our effort, and our support.

AMNA NAWAZ: As he was leaving Germany, Biden told reporters that there is no consensus on allowing Ukraine to use Western-supplied weapons to strike deep into Russian territory.

That is part of President Zelenskyy's so-called victory plan, which he says is necessary to end the war.

Here in the U.S., a federal judge unsealed nearly 2,000 pages of documents filed by special counsel Jack Smith in the 2020 election interference case against former President Donald Trump.

The evidence is mostly redacted, with entire pages labeled simply as sealed.

But U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, denying a request by Trump's lawyers to keep the documents under wraps, wrote that -- quote -- "Withholding could itself constitute or appear to be election interference."

Prior to the release, Trump blasted Chutkan on a right-wing podcast, calling her a -- quote -- "evil person."

In Texas, the state Supreme Court has halted what would have been the first execution in the country related to shaken baby syndrome.

Robert Roberson faced lethal injection for the death of his daughter in 2002.

Supporters say his conviction was based on flawed science.

In a last-ditch legal bid, a bipartisan group of lawmakers issued Roberson a subpoena, calling on him to testify before a House committee next week.

The Texas Supreme Court agreed to allow it.

State Representative John Bucy called the ruling unique, saying that Robertson "is an innocent man.

He has a unique experience to tell, and we need to hear that testimony in committee on Monday."

Road safety officials are investigating Tesla's full self-driving system after reports of four crashes, including one that killed a pedestrian.

They occurred in low-visibility conditions, including fog or glare from the sun.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it will look into the car's ability to -- quote -- "detect and respond appropriately in reduced visibility."

The probe will cover more than two million Teslas from model years 2016 through 2024.

The company has said that the system cannot drive itself, and that human drivers must be ready to intervene at all times.

Autoworkers in Italy took to the streets today in the first national strike in 20 years.

Tens of thousands of employees from the country's three main unions crisscrossed Rome, calling for the government to guarantee them more work amid a slowdown in auto production.

The largest carmaker, Stellantis, has slashed its output there by nearly 70 percent over two decades.

Employees say there simply isn't enough work left for them to get by.

ALBERTO ZANETTI, Secretary-General, UIL Modena (through translator): People are working six days every two months.

It is a direction that cannot go on.

We are asking for investment.

We are asking for solutions to problems.

We are asking for work.

AMNA NAWAZ: Stellantis, which makes Fiat, Jeep and Chrysler vehicles, warned earlier this year that it expects an annual loss of up to $11 billion.

As a result, the company's CEO says Stellantis may have to lay off union workers and offer buyouts to salaried employees.

Cuba has suffered a nationwide power outage after a failure at a plant just east of Havana.

The blackout comes just a day after the government stressed the need to save electricity amid ongoing fuel shortages.

Officials had canceled schools for today and shut some state-owned businesses to try and save energy.

The head of Cuba's energy utility blamed the shortages on an increase in demand from companies and the private use of air conditioners.

The blackout comes as millions of Cubans face shortages of food, fuel and medicine amid a deepening economic crisis.

On Wall Street today, stocks posted modest gains to cap off a sixth straight winning week.

The Dow Jones industrial average added just 36 points, but managed to notch a new all-time high.

The Nasdaq added more than 100 points on the day.

The S&P 500 also ended the week at a new record.

Still to come on the "News Hour": David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart weigh in on the week's political headlines; far from home, Afghan women pursue their dreams of becoming doctors; and an art exhibit brings new perspectives on disability and medicine in the U.S. GEOFF BENNETT: It has been more than three weeks since Hurricane Helene battered parts of the Southeast.

The hardest-hit state was North Carolina, where more than 90 people died, 81 people remain unaccounted for, and residents there face a long road to recovery.

Laura Barron-Lopez has this report from Asheville.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Forty-two-year-old Patricia Miranda has lived at this Asheville mobile home for more than two decades.

She's seen flooding in the city before, but nothing like Hurricane Helene.

She captured this video on Facebook Live.

Miranda says that day is still etched in the minds of her young children.

PATRICIA MIRANDA, Asheville, North Carolina, Resident: My little one wake up every day at the morning: "Mommy, let's go.

The water's coming."

So, how can I explain that everything is done?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Three weeks on, Miranda's trailer still has no power or drinkable water.

Nearby tanks are filled with water for showering and flushing toilets.

To make matters worse, temperatures in Western North Carolina have dropped in recent days, with lows in the 30s.

PATRICIA MIRANDA: My house is really cold, because that doesn't have no insulation under -- so we have to wait.

But thank God we have where we can sleep, where we can stay, and I'm able to cook for my family and for my neighbors.

I have to keep going.

I have to be strong for my family, especially for my kids.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Late last month, Helene's fury stretched from Florida's Gulf Coast to the Appalachian mountains.

Torrential rain sent rivers and creeks in Asheville as well as the rural communities that surround it over their banks.

This area hundreds of miles from where Helene made landfall found itself completely underwater in some parts and decimated by landslides in others.

BRYAN CRAIG, Western North Carolina Resident: What you're looking at is family land.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: About 15 miles southeast of Asheville, Bryan Craig lost far more than the family homes he grew up in.

Eleven of Craig's relatives were killed when the storm washed away this hillside, including his mother and father.

BRYAN CRAIG: Just a total shock.

And it was like that for a week.

Just couldn't believe it.

You hope it's a nightmare.

You don't wake up and it's a nightmare.

But that's probably the only way to explain it.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: As the Craig's prepare for days and days of funerals, they're also contemplating the future of the land they have owned for at least 80 years.

BRIAN CRAIG: The immediate response from everybody is, I'm moving.

I can't live here.

I don't think we will build anything here anymore.

We're going to try to make it look beautiful again and maybe have a place to come have family reunions or people in the community can come have cookouts or something like that.

I mean, that's what's next.

We have got to figure out what we're going to do after all the cleanup and just get it to where it can be a place for us to come back to.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: While many communities here continue to grieve, they have also had to practice patience as crews work to remove debris and restore utilities.

ESTHER MANHEIMER, Mayor of Asheville, North Carolina: This storm knocked out both the main line and the redundant line.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer says plenty of work remains.

It could be weeks until residents have potable water again.

Do you think that there's anything that could have been done differently to better prepare for something like this?

ESTHER MANHEIMER: No, I don't think so.

I don't know on the budget of a local government how you create systems that are resilient enough to withstand a catastrophic event like this without any failure.

I don't think that's possible.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The mayor and other officials warn that misinformation and conspiracy theories, especially about the federal response, continue to complicate recovery efforts in a region that never expected a storm of this magnitude.

ESTHER MANHEIMER: The biggest tragedy to me is if someone doesn't get the benefit they are allowed to get or are entitled to because they believe one of these conspiracy theories.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The mayor herself has been the target of online attacks and threats, including antisemitism.

ESTHER MANHEIMER: It can take your focus off of the recovery effort and for me, created a terrible concern about just how people in this world think about challenges like we're facing right now, that they want to find a scapegoat, that they want to find someone to blame, instead of doing what everyone I see here doing, which is helping a neighbor, coming together as a community, helping one another try to recover from this catastrophe.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Across Western North Carolina, armies of volunteers are still working to fill the gaps.

JERRY CAHILL, Asheville, North Carolina, Resident: Yes, keep coming.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Jerry Cahill's screen printing studio in Asheville's River Arts District was flattened by Helene.

JERRY CAHILL: Like, I don't have a job to come back to right now, so my free time has been freed up to help volunteer and do what I can for the community.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Cahill and some fellow artists brought water tanks to low-income and elderly residents so they could flush their toilets.

Now, as some taps come back on, they're pumping and rerouting water to areas that still need it.

Donations keep flowing into distribution sites, like this one serving people in hard-hit Swannanoa.

Jenalee Tipton works with the Silverado's concert venue, whose stage now holds boxes of diapers and other supplies.

She says residents are moving into a new phase of recovery as they regain power and apply for aid.

JENALEE TIPTON, Western North Carolina Resident: We ask them, like, have you tried applying for FEMA?

Because it's there, it's available.

Take advantage of that resource while you're displaced or while you don't have a job or income.

I just think that they may be automatically saying that they will be denied, which is sad, because we just try to encourage them to try.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: It's still unclear how long it will take before life starts to feel normal again.

In Asheville, Mayor Manheimer is committed to rebuilding the city, but acknowledges the long-term challenges it faces.

ESTHER MANHEIMER: We're being compared to Katrina, which obviously resulted in, I think it was about half the population of New Orleans left initially.

And so we don't want to see that kind of impact in our community.

We need to get things normalized as quickly as possible to lessen the loss of people and businesses in our community that make us such a special place.

And we're acutely aware of that.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: For Patricia Miranda, the storm changed everything.

PATRICIA MIRANDA: Probably in the future, I will move.

I'm going to move from here, because this is going to happen again.

This is not going to be the last time.

I love North Carolina, but probably I'm going to do another state.

I have to think -- in the future move for my children to be safe.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Laura Barron-Lopez in Asheville, North Carolina.

AMNA NAWAZ: This week saw the death of Hamas' leader, which could mark a turning point in the war in Gaza.

And there were key moments in the presidential race with less than three weeks to go before Election Day.

For all of that and more, we turn to the analysis of Brooks and Capehart.

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

Great to see you both.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Hey, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let's start overseas, because, David, as you know, the killing of Yahya Sinwar in Gaza, President Biden, Vice President Harris have said, offers an opportunity for potential for peace in the region.

Even former President Trump said that today.

But Prime Minister Netanyahu has basically said, he knows the war is not yet over.

You study this and follow this closely.

What do you see happening now?

DAVID BROOKS: Yes, I'm no big fan of Bibi Netanyahu, but I have to admit, over the last month, he's gone against world opinion and American opinion on a whole range of issues, and he's been absolutely right.

They have seriously weakened Hezbollah.

They have now seriously taken out the leadership, now almost the complete leadership of Hamas.

So these are two Iranian-backed terrorists.

And sometimes, in war, you have to defeat your enemies.

So he's made them weaker.

Obviously, there's still going to be Hamas.

There's still going to be a very powerful Hezbollah.

But he's made his enemies weaker.

And in my view, that's served world peace.

Now, is this a moment for him to turn the corner and now say, OK, we won?

I have some sympathy with that view, but I confess, unless you have access to Israeli intelligence and know how much of Hamas is still there, I don't think we can know that.

And, frankly, I'm not -- I don't think any Americans could know that.

And I don't like trusting Bibi Netanyahu, but he's been making some right calls over the last month.

AMNA NAWAZ: Jonathan, how are you looking at it, and specifically this piece of how much influence the U.S. and American leaders have or don't have over any of this?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Well, for me, that's been the frustrating part, that it seems as though, yes, the United States and Israel are super close allies, but it seems to me that the personal relationship, such as it is, between the president of the United States, between President Biden and Prime Minister Netanyahu, sometimes, I wonder if that dynamic, that complicated, negative dynamic, is playing into, in some cases, some obstinacy on the part of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

And I take your point that we don't have the intelligence that the Israelis have, but, at some point, this has to end.

It has to end.

The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is extraordinary.

I saw in one of the bumper shots, it was at 495,000 people in Gaza are facing a humanitarian catastrophe.

And I'm still waiting to hear from somebody within the Israeli government, but what happens when they do win the war?

What is the plan?

We don't know what the plan is.

AMNA NAWAZ: Do you think it impacts the U.S. election at all, the fact that this war will likely continue?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: I think yes and no, no, because, broadly speaking, Americans don't really care that much about foreign policy, yes, because the people in Michigan really do care about this issue.

AMNA NAWAZ: David, do you agree with that?

DAVID BROOKS: Yes, I more or less agree with that.

I should say the world is sort of gathering around Bibi right now to try to -- the Saudi to try to get him to do -- get to some sort of two-state solution-type approach.

And at that point, he just becomes a total obstacle to peace.

And at that point, America really has to hit him hard, I think.

But as for the election, when the encampments were going on campus, there was a survey of college-educated - - or college-age people.

Where do you put the Middle East on your list of concerns?

And it was 14 out of 50.

AMNA NAWAZ: Yes.

DAVID BROOKS: So I agree with Jonathan on the political impact, which is not big.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, let's turn to a closer look at that 2024 race, now 18 days to go until Election Day, or the last day of voting, as I like to call it.

And we have seen the candidates really kind of focus in on cutting into each other's margins with very specific voter groups.

We saw Vice President Harris sit down for her first interview on FOX.

She also rallied with a number of Republicans behind her in Pennsylvania.

We saw former President Trump hold an all-women town hall, the first time he's done that.

Jonathan, what does all of this tell you about the state of the race right now and also how the candidates performed in those venues?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: We don't have enough time for me to answer that, your question, Amna.

Look, we are in the last 18 days.

In some instances, they're both talking to their bases and trying to get them to turn out.

In other cases, and I think in the case of the vice president, particularly going into the lion's den, going to FOX, it wasn't about convincing the FOX audience, the die-hard audience, the die-hard MAGA audience to vote for her.

It was more talking to the Nikki Haley voters, to those Republican voters or those viewers of FOX News for whom Trump is just a nonstarter, but they're not convinced about her because they have heard that she's dumb, she's not prepared, all the insults that Donald Trump has hurled at her.

And in that interview with Bret Baier, she showed, she's not dumb, she's not stupid, she's prepared, and she's not going to let someone talk over her, put words in her mouth, or mischaracterize anything she's done as vice president or what she would do as president.

As for the all-women town hall that President Donald Trump did, I watched all of it.

And it was a rah-rah rally.

There was even a woman in the audience wearing an RNC delegate hat, which she took off halfway through.

And Donald Trump wasn't terribly serious.

He did not say anything differently in that town hall that he hasn't said on -- at any rally that he's done before or since.

AMNA NAWAZ: David, what's your take on that?

DAVID BROOKS: First, I'd like the confrontation interviews, the Harris going to FOX and Donald Trump talking to Bloomberg.

Those were more fun and engaging than we get to hear most of the time.

AMNA NAWAZ: Yes.

DAVID BROOKS: I think my frustration -- and they're trying to appeal to demographics, which is how consultants think, but they should probably think the way politicians should think, that, how do I widen my coalition?

And so what frustrates me about our politics over the last 10 years, it's been 50/50 for 10 years.

AMNA NAWAZ: Yes.

DAVID BROOKS: That's not normal.

Usually, there's a majority party, the Democrats are during the New Deal, the Republicans during Reagan, and there's a minority party.

Some party figures out a way to expand their coalition.

Our two parties don't seem particularly interested in that.

Donald Trump only plays to the same MAGA resentments over and over and over again.

Kamala Harris is running basically on your standard orthodox Democratic policy platform with very few policy surprises.

And so, of course they're playing to their 50 percent, but they're not going to get to 55 percent or 53 percent or even 51 percent.

And so what frustrates me is the parties' incuriosity about how do we expand and become the majority party, which should be their goal.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: I disagree with that, because I think that there are people in the Democratic camp and certainly on the progressive side who are quietly and not so quietly complaining that she's spending way too much time seeking Republican votes and talking to Republicans.

That's expanding the tent.

DAVID BROOKS: Without new policies.

You have got to have policies.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: She's out there hammering away at the bipartisan immigration deal in the Senate... DAVID BROOKS: That's fair.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: ... that Congressman - - Senator Lankford negotiated and that Donald Trump killed, a bill so tough that there were Democrats who were working really hard to scuttle it before Donald Trump handed them a gift.

DAVID BROOKS: That's a fair point.

So, on that issue, she has gone to the center.

(CROSSTALK) AMNA NAWAZ: And to the degree this is going to come down to a small number of votes in a handful of states, we know it's going to be won on the margins, right, unless anything dramatically changes.

This other issue of the gender gap that we have seen, just a huge gender gap, with a huge male advantage for former President Trump and a huge female advantage for Vice President Harris.

And I just have to say, I'm asking all the smart men in my life this question.

(LAUGHTER) AMNA NAWAZ: Because Harris continues to have weaker support with younger men, men who supported President Biden.

And I just wonder why you think that is.

Why do men have a problem supporting her?

David?

DAVID BROOKS: Yes, well, young men have been drifting away from the Democratic Party for a long time.

And that's especially accelerating.

And I don't want to downplay the role that sexism may play here.

But young men are -- have lower graduation rates, lower grades, lower work force participation rates, higher unemployment.

Young men have been suffering and struggling over the last 10 years in an accelerating form.

And so, if you're alienated, Trump is sort of your meal ticket.

And if you're alienated, well, the number one predictor of whether a young guy is going to go Democrat or Republican is this question, do you like Joe Rogan?

And so there's a podcast industry serving these young guys.

And it tends to be pretty conservative industries, ramping all the way to the insane Andrew Tate.

And so I think they're alienated because of what's happened to young men recently.

There's this nutrition system that's feeding them some reinforcement, and it's pretty conservative.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: That Trump meal ticket is junk food.

And I agree with you.

I take everything that you say.

I see all of what you're saying.

But I also see what former President Obama was saying in that campaign office in Pennsyl -- yes, in Pennsylvania, when he was talking specifically to African American men.

But when you watch the whole clip, he also mentions Latino men, white men, Asian men, that this is a bigger -- this is a bigger issue, this concern -- and not to downplay the role sexism plays into this.

I do think it's part of it.

And we can't just ignore it.

We have to talk about it.

So, all those people who were tut-tutting President Obama for saying what he said, I applaud him for saying what he said, because we need -- we have to talk about it.

Otherwise, we will never -- we will never overcome it.

AMNA NAWAZ: Thirty seconds, left, Jonathan.

Do you see that gender gap closing in these final 18 days before the election?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Nah.

AMNA NAWAZ: No.

It's going to remain where it is.

You agree with that, David?

DAVID BROOKS: It's been like a 16-year trend, so yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: It's been a defining feature of this cycle too.

Gentlemen, always great to have you here at the table.

Jonathan Capehart, David Brooks, good to see you both.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Thanks.

DAVID BROOKS: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: And now a story about the power of determination and turning grief into a force for good.

Nineteen talented Afghan female university students whose educations were cut short by the Taliban have been given the chance to fulfill their dreams in Scotland.

They're all aiming to be doctors, and they have been given places at Scottish medical schools.

As special correspondent Malcolm Brabant reports, the program is the legacy of a young Scottish aid worker killed in tragic circumstances in Afghanistan 14 years ago.

MALCOLM BRABANT: St. Andrews is the home of Scotland's most prestigious university.

For trainee doctor Banin Sultani, it's worlds away from planet Taliban.

BANIN SULTANI, Medical Student: I love Scotland.

The people are so friendly.

I love the people, because their attitude is so much different.

They're open-minded.

I really love it.

MALCOLM BRABANT: How do you feel about the freedom you have in Scotland, the freedom to be a woman?

BANIN SULTANI: Yes.

Actually, the freedom is something that existed in the soul of every human.

And I think here is that opportunity.

We can use from the freedom that every single human has.

And here is the place I can use it.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Fifteen miles north, Dundee's medical school has given Hajera Safi a second chance to become a doctor.

She was two years away from qualifying when the Taliban canceled her studies.

HAJERA SAFI, Medical Student: Of course, it's very heartbreaking and sad that you are stopped from going to university or going to give your exam.

It's like you're taking a basic human right from someone, and just like someone is breathing and just someone is eating something.

You are taking that from them.

How can they be surviving in that environment then?

MALCOLM BRABANT: I'm on a ferry from the Northwestern Scottish mainland going to the island of Lewis, which is part of the Hebrides archipelago.

It's one of the most remote places in the United Kingdom.

My journey, of course, is nothing compared to that of the Afghan students.

But I'm going to see the remarkable people who have made it possible for the Afghans to become doctors.

JOHN NORGROVE, Linda Norgrove Foundation: Is that her on top of the tank?

LORNA NORGROVE, Linda Norgrove Foundation: Yes.

Yes.

JOHN NORGROVE: I haven't seen that one before.

MALCOLM BRABANT: After their daughter Linda was killed in Afghanistan in 2010, John and Lorna Norgrove channeled their grief into a force for good by creating a nonprofit in her name.

Linda Norgrove was kidnapped by the Taliban and died in a grenade blast when a rescue attempt by American special forces went wrong.

She lies in a simple grave overlooking a bay where as a child she rode horses with her younger sister, Sofie.

LORNA NORGROVE: It wasn't our daughter that the Taliban were looking for that day.

It was actually her boss.

Linda was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I think you have got to forgive.

It wouldn't have done us any good to blame and to go down that route.

It was much better for us to do something a bit positive and to try and do something she would have approved of and which would help people in Afghanistan.

JOHN NORGROVE: We're a very small charity.

I think we're a drop in the ocean.

There's a huge, huge need in that country.

So we're just a drop in the ocean.

But we make a huge difference to individuals.

That's for sure.

And that's the real pleasure of it, being able to change individual people's lives.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Do you think that you will ever be able to go back to Afghanistan to practice medicine, or do you think that you will forever be in exile because you are a woman?

HAJERA SAFI: Well, we all have a hope, because that's something I believe in.

And we all hope for the better.

Of course, I want to go back and serve my people.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Under pressure from the Linda Norgrove Foundation, the Scottish government amended education legislation to enable the Afghan students to receive free tuition and cost of living support.

Ellie Hothersall-Davis is head of undergraduate medicine.

How much do you hope that the Taliban is actually watching what is happening here to perhaps learn that women are worth educating?

ELLIE HOTHERSALL-DAVIS, School of Medicine, University of Dundee: I really hope that they see the value in educating women.

I think to undermine that value is so counterproductive and will lead to everybody suffering.

You need equality in education, equality in health care to look after everybody.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Dr. Panna Muqit is a senior lecturer and clinical mentor at St. Andrews Medical School.

She says the Taliban's interpretation of Islam is wrong.

DR PANNA MUQIT, School of Medicine, University of St. Andrews: I think it's vital that women are educated.

And Islam has always taught that a woman ought to be highly educated because she effectively is taking care of the next generation, with her husband, of course, but she plays a primary role.

And to have an uneducated woman in a household is not a good thing and definitely not something that's celebrated by Islam, if you study the religion properly, not through the interpretation of the Taliban.

MALCOLM BRABANT: How determined are you to become a doctor?

What sort of drive and ambition do you have?

BANIN SULTANI: Actually, we are always asked that, when you finish your medicine, do you supposed to go to your own country or be here?

But I want to say, like, my aim is to serve the world, not -- or serve the humanity, not the specific people in Afghanistan or other countries.

MALCOLM BRABANT: What message would you send to women and girls in Afghanistan?

HAJERA SAFI: That always believe on yourself, don't give up.

After every dark night, there is a bright and shiny, sunny day, so that's all in our life happens.

Even I would always say that, if you educate a man, you educate a man.

If you educate a woman, you educate a generation.

So always believe on that statement and stick to that.

LORNA NORGROVE: This is in Ethiopia.

We weren't trekking in Ethiopia with her.

MALCOLM BRABANT: While the Norgroves have attained serenity and joy from their charity work, they're fueled by the injustice of the Taliban regime.

LORNA NORGROVE: I am angry because I can't -- I just can't understand their way of thinking.

I just feel that the Taliban need women doctors.

They don't want their women folk seen by men, male doctors, so perhaps a lot of women are going untreated.

I know a lot of women are going untreated, because there aren't the women doctors about.

So why don't they let women study to become doctors?

I just cannot get my head round that.

JOHN NORGROVE: We see lots of people in Afghanistan who are here having an absolutely awful time, and you have the capability of changing their life.

And that's a really good feeling.

So, that's what it comes down to at the end of the day.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Do you feel that you're continuing the work that your daughter did?

LORNA NORGROVE: She was very passionate about helping women and children in Afghanistan, yes, and she would have been absolutely over the moon that we were doing that, we're able to do that.

MALCOLM BRABANT: And the love the Norgroves have extended has created an unbreakable bond.

BANIN SULTANI: I really thank them, and I hope to be able to do something to just compensate it for them.

They are so kind.

And I think, like, we are having a spiritual connection.

Like, we are far from our fathers and mothers, but we have another father and mother here.

We are really connected with them.

MALCOLM BRABANT: The 19 Afghan students will continue to enjoy the support of the Norgrove Foundation, but the nonprofit's main focus remains women and children facing draconian restrictions far across the water in Afghanistan.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Malcolm Brabant in Scotland.

AMNA NAWAZ: It's called For Dear Life, the first exhibition to survey the themes of illness and disability in American art from the mid-20th century up to the COVID pandemic.

It's part of PST ART, an enormous collaboration of Southern California arts institutions around the theme of art and science.

Senior arts correspondent Jeffrey Brown visited the exhibition for our ongoing look at the intersection of health and arts, part of our Canvas coverage and our series Disability Reframed.

JEFFREY BROWN: Drawings from a six-week stay at a hospital after suffering a debilitating breakdown.

A woman in a wheelchair with an able-bodied lover.

An Alcoholics Anonymous meeting transformed into an installation.

For Dear Life: Art, Medicine, and Disability, an exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, chronicles the experience of illness through art, what it looks like, how it feels.

Senior curator Jill Dawsey: JILL DAWSEY, Senior Curator, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego: The idea of holding on, it evokes kind of an extreme state of being, but we hope it might also kind of conjure up the idea of holding on to something else, whether it is holding on to your seat, holding on to an assistive device, like a grab bar, holding on to someone else, and also thinking about the idea that it's in the act of holding on that life becomes dear.

JEFFREY BROWN: The exhibition offers decades worth of artists who live the experience in many ways and incorporated them into their work.

JILL DAWSEY: Artists create a public discourse, and they reframe the idea of disability itself as a space of creativity and generativity and improvisation and ingenuity.

And that's what we see in all of these artists.

JEFFREY BROWN: Artists like Yvonne Rainer, the dancer and choreographer who made "Hand Movie" from her hospital bed while recovering from surgery.

David Hockney, who as he started losing his hearing, relied on fax machines as a mode of communication.

His Breakfast with Stanley in Malibu consists of drawings he made and then faxed.

And the pioneering artist and first Black curator at New York's Museum of Modern Art, Howardena Pindell.

Pindell has two works in the show, both made after a 1979 car accident left her with serious injuries including acute memory loss.

JILL DAWSEY: She begins to use her work both to remind herself of her own past.

So she's sometimes cutting up postcards, sometimes cutting up other photographic media.

You see cutouts of hands throughout this image.

And, in this work, her own body, her silhouette, her figure begins to enter the work for the first time.

JEFFREY BROWN: The exhibition highlights different periods in which artists responded to and raised awareness of societal ills and illnesses, AIDS, women's health, workplace and war injuries, the opioid crisis, all at the intersection of the rise of the disability rights movement.

ALISON O'DANIEL, Artist and Filmmaker: I'm deaf, hard of hearing.

I wear hearing aids.

I grew up in a hearing family, and I was integrated in hearing schools.

JEFFREY BROWN: The show also includes film like the 2023 documentary "The Tuba Thieves" by artist and filmmaker Alison O'Daniel.

ALISON O'DANIEL: In a lot of ways, it's about a question of the ownership of sound, who gets to own it and who can take it.

So the title of the film comes from the fact that tubas were stolen from 12 different high schools in Southern California.

And when I heard the story, I really - - I identified with this potential experience that these band directors and high school students were having.

JEFFREY BROWN: The literal theft and loss of sound.

ALISON O'DANIEL: Yes.

Yes, and then just how they respond and react and what they do to compensate if they don't have the deepest, biggest sound.

JEFFREY BROWN: Being included in this historic show was meaningful for O'Daniel.

ALISON O'DANIEL: Just to even, like, walk through this exhibition, there's -- my voice is quivering because it's to see yourself in a history and in a lineage and, like, contributing to these conversations that see ourselves as worthy of taking up some space and maybe redefining things.

Like, redefining sound and its value is remarkable to do as a deaf person.

KATHERINE SHERWOOD, Artist: I have waited 25 years for a show as this one.

JEFFREY BROWN: In 1997, at age 44, the artist and then U.C.

Berkeley art professor Katherine Sherwood had a cerebral hemorrhage, a type of stroke, paralyzing the right side of her body.

The two large paintings in the show from 1999 and 2001 are among the first she was able to complete in the aftermath, working in a new way.

KATHERINE SHERWOOD: My left hand is the more freer hand, because I didn't have as much control over it.

So I immediately scaled up my paintings so that I could have broad strokes, instead of tiny ones.

JEFFREY BROWN: Relearning the whole process.

KATHERINE SHERWOOD: Yes, to paint sitting down, instead of standing up, was part of it.

JEFFREY BROWN: Did you think about painting in a different way afterwards?

KATHERINE SHERWOOD: Well, before, I would think, oh -- when people would mention healing and art, I would just sort of, like, roll my eyes.

And then I was in a situation where it absolutely was mandatory for me as a painter to explore what I was going through.

JEFFREY BROWN: She also started teaching in Berkeley's Disability Studies program, a class titled "Art, Medicine and Disability," from which this exhibition takes its subtitle.

KATHERINE SHERWOOD: It's really an inside look, an inside perspective of embodiment, how your body affects your existence.

JEFFREY BROWN: The definition of disability is intentionally broad to signal affinities between a wide array of conditions, says senior curator Jill Dawsey.

JILL DAWSEY: To remind us that all of us experience illness and disability throughout our lives, or we will.

JEFFREY BROWN: Filmmaker Alison O'Daniel echoes a similar sentiment.

ALISON O'DANIEL: Everybody dies from something that happens with their body.

If everybody had a more -- like, a healthier, progressive view of disability and were actually considering it, I think they would not be so resistant and fighting their own aging bodies, and we would just have healthier, more accepting relationships to what does inevitably happen to everyone.

JEFFREY BROWN: For Dear Life runs until early February.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Jeffrey Brown at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego in La Jolla, California.

GEOFF BENNETT: And there's a lot more online, including our "PBS News Weekly" show that unpacks the promises and policies that Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have proposed along the campaign trail.

You can find that on our YouTube page.

AMNA NAWAZ: And be sure to tune into "Washington Week With The Atlantic" tonight for a look at Harris and Trump's closing arguments and what's next for the war in Gaza.

GEOFF BENNETT: And on "PBS News Weekend" tomorrow, we check in on Pennsylvania politics, as the control of Congress and the White House hangs in the balance.

And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On behalf of the entire "News Hour" team, thank you for joining us, and have a great weekend.