i'm geoff bennett. amna nawaz is away. on the “newshour” tonight, israeli forces continue to bombard cities and refugee camps across gaza, amid continued exchanges of fire across the lebanese border, raising fears of a widening conflict. the challenges the ongoing legal cases against former president donald trump pose for the 2024 campaign. and fake or mislabeled content linked to the israel-hamas war has been viewed millions of times, sparking concerns about

the information war online. >> this is really, i think, an emotionally resonant conflict on both sides. and so we see that there is sort of this confirmation bias, this ability to kind of just discount confirming evidence. ♪ >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by. >> pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymondjames financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well-planned. >> consumer cellular, this is sam. how may i help you? this is a pocket dial. well, somebody's pocket, thought i'd let you know that with consumer cellular, you get nationwide coverage with no contract. that's kind of our thing. have a nice day.

>> the kendeda fund, committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendedafund.org. carnegie corporation of new york, supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security, at carnegie.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions.

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: welcome the “newshour.” we learn today that a 70-year-old womawith u.s. citizenship who was thought to have been taken to gaza as hostage by hamas on october 7 was actually killed during the initial attack. that's according to a statement released by the kibbutz she was taken from. meantime, israel continued its assault on gaza today amid an escalating war of words between israel and hezbollah. stephanie sy has the story. stephanie: an early morning air strike hit deir al-balah. the flames of war burn on in central gaza. as the israeli offensive against hamas continues, grieving families are running out of space to bury the dead. >> here, around 11,000 martyrs arrived at this cemetery, and here they are being buried. today or tomorrow will be the last day of burial in the

cemetery, because the cemetery is almost full. stephanie: some gazans traveled south to escape the fighting, but couldn't outrun the air strikes. in khan younis, the youngest patients were rushed to the hospital. >> we were sitting and eating when we found something falling over our heads. we didn't have any hamas members or anything, if they're saying this is because of hamas. i wish we hadn't come to khan younis. i wish we had stayed in gaza city. stephanie: in rafah, the hamas-run health ministry said an israeli air strike killed 20 and injured 55 palestinians. as the air strikes rain down, israeli troops battle hamas on the ground. hamas released this video of its militants firing on israeli military vehicles. amidst the fighting, 129 hostages remain captive in gaza. today, a kibbutz in israel announced that an israeli-american citizen, judith weinstein haggai, thought to have been a hostage, was

actually killed on october 7 along with her husband. their bodies are believed to still be held by hamas. meanwhile, the idf released video showing what it called widespread strikes in southern lebanon in response to hezbollah's firing of rockets and missiles into northern israel. the hamas-allied movement is backed by iran. >> iran is a culprit. iran is definitely, seriously, deeply involved in the instability of the region. stephanie: today, israel intercepted a drone above haifa that took off from lebanon. last night, benny gantz, a member of the war cabinet, said they were ready to engage. >> the situation on israel's northern border demands change, the stopwatch for a diplomatic solution is running out. if the world and the lebanese government don't act in order to prevent the firing on israel's northern residents, and to distance hezbollah from the

border, the idf will do it. stephanie: a hezbollah deputy said they were prepared to escalate the fighting. >> hezbollah and the resistance in lebanon are making great sacrifices in support of gaza and the future of this country. we are making the sacrifices that the battle requires, and they are great, but we are also repelling a great danger. we are ready for more whenever necessary. we are not intimidated by threats or warnings. we in the field are clear that we are part of this battle. stephanie: a battle that threatens to expand if hostilities can't be contained. for the "pbs newshour," i'm stephanie sy. geoff: we're going to keep our focus on the risk of a regional conflict in the middle east as tensions with iran increase. for that we turn to paul salem, the president and ceo of the middle east institute, a washington-based non-partisan think tank. thank you for being with us. how do you interpret the comments from israel's former defense minister, current member of israel's war cabinet, who is

clearly warning about the potential for military escalation against hezbollah? paul: there has been tension between israel and hezbollah from the first date of the hamas attack against israel october 7. reporting indicates u.s. talked israel down from a preemptive attack on hezbollah in those early days. this tension is coming back centerstage and the israelis have made it clear to the americans and to the world that they want some resolution to parts of the situation on their northern border with hezbollah and lebanon. otherwise they will take military action, or at least that is what they are threatening. geoff: is israel capable of starting and maintaining a two front war right now? paul: i believe it is capable of doing that. obviously that would take a lot of manpower and a lot of effort. particularly as they may be transitioning their war in gaza to a more focused and targeted

campaign, they might have the capacity to open a second front. but the challenge is that hezbollah has so much firepower that it can unleash on israeli economic infrastructure, civilian infrastructure, energy infrastructure, including offshore gas operations, that the calculation is not so much can they wage war, as rather, can they bear the brunt and the cost. geoff: tell us more about hezbollah's military capabilities. what kind of damage could potentially inflict on israel? paul: the last were between israel and hezbollah was in 2006 , so, 17 years ago. since then, iran has resupplied hezbollah with a much larger and much more accurate arsenal of missiles, estimated to be well more than 100,000 missiles. these are in various parts of the country. and because many of them are

precision missiles, according to reports, that they are able to target very critical infrastructure in israel as well as civilian infrastructure. although israel has an effective defense system that can catch a large number of missiles, but certainly not all. geoff: does hezbollah, in your estimation, want a war? paul: hezbollah definitely does not want a full-scale war, nor does iran. hezbollah has made it clear after the hamas attacks on israel and after the israeli attacks on gaza, that it will maintain a limited level of engagement or hostility across the border. in their telling it is to pin down some of the israeli forces of the north in order to relieve their allies, as it were, hamas, in the gaza strip.

they have also made it clear they don't want a full-scale escalation or a full-scale war. israel also probably does not want a full-scale war. the west as well does not want it. all the parties i think are scrambling to find a way forward while avoiding a full-scale war. geoff: on that point, the potential path forward, the u.s. appears determined to find a long-term political solution to the israeli hamas conflict. in your view, is that even possible? paul: for the israel hamas conflict which involves gaza and the palestinians, that is certainly a very complicated and difficult pathway forward. it is noteworthy to say that the american governments and the israeli governments are on opposite pages. the current israeli government led by prime minister netanyahu, which is right wing, their plan is to consolidate their occupation of the west bank and gaza.

whereas the american plan is to get over the gaza war and move towards negotiation towards a two-state solution. so, very different trajectories. geoff: what would the u.s. role be if -- and we should emphasize if -- this war between israel and hamas escalates into a wider regional conflict? paul: the u.s. has already made it clear that that is something it does not want to see happen. u.s. diplomats have been visiting at least lebanon, which is the most likely place the conflict could spread. in order to negotiate between the israelis and hezbollah, to avoid a second front to this wart which would be a front between israel and lebanon. yemen on and the houthi movement there has been a place where they have been attacks from the houthis on shipping in the red sea. so far it has been fairly limited.

the u.s. has led a naval operation to protect shipping and most shipping has resumed. i would say that is largely being managed. it is noteworthy that escalation has not reached the persian gulf itself. which is where much of the world's energy is exported from. so far that remains to be the case. geoff: paul salem, thank you for your insights this evening. paul: thank you. ♪ geoff: in the day's other headlines, republican presidential candidate nikki haley today sought to clarify comments she made last night about the civil war. at a campaign event in new hampshire, the former south carolina governor was asked what she thought caused the war. she did not mention slavery in her response, which the man in the audience who posed the question noted. >> i mean, i think the cause of the civil war was basically how

government was going to run. the freedoms and what people could and couldn't do. >> in the year 2023, it's astonishing to me that you answer that question without mentioning the word slavery. >> what do you want me to say about slavery? geoff: following backlash, haley clarified her remarks today at a new hampshire town hall. >> of course the civil war was about slavery, we know that. that's unquestioned, always the case. we know the civil war was about slavery. but it was also more than that. it was about the freedoms of every individual, it was about the role of government. geoff: haley is trying to close the wide polling gap in new hampshire between her and former president donald trump. and she has less than a month before that state's first-in-the-nation primary. a federal judge has accepted georgia's newly redrawn voting districts that favor republicans. he said state legislators fully

complied with his order to create more majority-black voting districts. the judge's approval paves the way for the maps to be used in the 2024 elections. the fight over redistricting was sparked by democrats whittling away at the gop's dominance in georgia over past election cycles. huge surf battered the west coast and hawaii today, bringing coastal flooding to some low-lying areas. dangerous waves and rip currents were generated by storms churning in the pacific ocean. high surf warnings were issued for parts of northern california, where waves were expected to surge as high as 40 feet in some areas. residents flocked to a beach in santa cruz county for a firsthand look. parts of northern and central europe are under water tonight after heavy rain caused rivers to overflow. hundreds of people in germany were forced to evacuate. the elbah river there is nearly 13 feet above its normal level in some areas. meantime in hungary, residents and tourists in budapest are grappling with flooding from the

danube river. it overflowed after days of unseasonably warm weather. >> we're standing next to europe's biggest river, which can carry away flash floods in the summer so fast we don't even notice. but now the weather has caused a sudden melting of all the snow, and we're facing a flood in the winter. geoff: the rain cleared across much of the region today. but authorities warned it will take some time before water levels finally start receding. u.s. and mexican officials have agreed to strengthen their cooperation to curb record levels of migration. their pledge comes a day after u.s. secretary of state antony blinken was in mexico city for high-level talks on the issue. they plan to hold another round of discussions in washington next month. meantime, a caravan of some 6000 migrants continues the long journey by foot from southern mexico toward the u.s. border.

starting today, independent lawyers will now prosecute cases of sexual assault and other major crimes in the u.s. military. the mandate comes from a new law aimed at addressing a rise in assaults and harassment in the armed services. it arose from concerns that some commanders aren't taking victims' cases seriously or are protecting alleged perpetrators. in economic news, the u.s. job market cooled last week, but not enough to cause concern. the labor department reported weekly jobless claims rose to 218,000. that's an increase of 12,000 from the previous week. but the four-week average of claims fell by 250, to 212,000. and trading was light on wall street today. the dow jones industrial average gained 53 points to close at 37,710. the nasdaq fell four points. the s&p 500 added two. still to come on the "newshour," ballot measures in multiple states could drive turnout and change the future of elections. u.s. oil production reaches a record high during the hottest year in world history. and high demand for weight loss drugs outstrips supply and prompts concerns about their

use. >> this is the "pbs newshour" from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: while donald trump holds a decisive lead in the 2024 republican presidential primary, his 2024 calendar will be full of legal challenges and court appearances. in four major criminal cases, the former president faces 91 felony counts and two key civil cases could cost him millions of dollars in damages. to help bring us up to speed on where these legal troubles stand and their potential impact on his campaign, we're joined by npr justice correspondent carrie johnson. welcome back to the "newshour." carrie: thanks for having me. geoff: before we talk about the trials and legal exposure facing donald trump i want to ask you about the michigan supreme court rejecting an effort to remove him from that state's 2024

primary ballot under the constitution's so-called insurrection clause. how did that court take into account donald trump's actions on january 6, and how did the outcome differ from the colorado case? carrie: this was an important decision from the michigan supreme court but it was a procedural one. the high court in that state left open the possibility that trump could be disqualified from the general election ballot but allowed his name to continue on the republican party ballot for the primary. and they decided that on procedural grounds. they did not get to the substance of whether the former president had engaged in insurrection and should be booted off the ballot for that reason. that is one key difference between what the michigan high court did and what the high court did in colorado. in colorado of course we had a five day civil trial where, among other people who testified , was a u.s. capitol police officer who talked about the violence he suffered on january

6, 2021 at the capitol. that court basically found trump should be kicked off the ballot in the state of colorado. the republican party in that state has now pressed the u.s. supreme court to hear that case. geoff: donald trump faces up to five separate trials in 2024. let's start with the special counsel jack smith's election interference case. yesterday he filed a motion trying to block donald trump from injecting politics into the case. tell us more about that and give us a status update. carrie: that case had been set to go to trial in march 2024 in washington, d.c. a few steps away from the u.s. capitol. but everything is on pause while the former president appeals the idea of whether or not he has lifetime immunity from federal prosecution for acts he committed while he was in the white house. and so we are waiting for the federal appeals court to hear that case in early january. eventually the u.s. supreme

court may need to weigh in as well. but jack smith asked the judge to consider blocking trump from presenting certain kinds of evidence in the case when it finally does happen. the special counsel seems to be worried trump is going to make all kinds of arguments about vindictive prosecution and allege that current president joe biden has directed the justice department to go after him. and he special counsel says those argument are improper, they could inflame an prejudicial the jury and trump should not be able to argue those things. geoff: trump is also facing a federal indictment for illegally holding onto an mishandling sensitive national security documents at his mar-a-lago club. a trump nominee has scheduled that trial to start may 20. how likely is it that it starts next spring, or even before election day? carrie: i think it is unlikely. in that case there is a high volume of verify -- very

classified information that both sides are going back-and-forth on now with a judge. the judge has tapped the brakes in terms of all that litigation over the highly classified materials. we know for instance the former president allegedly kept those papers in a bathroom at mar-a-lago. the question is how much of that stuff the jury may be able to see. the judge has directed both in case to submit a possible jury questionnaire by the end of february. what a lot of people involving parties involved in the case think it will be delayed past may and may be passed the election as well. geoff: shifting our focus to georgia, the georgia election interference case, as i understand it there is no start date for that trial yet donald trump's attorneys are trying to get the case tossed on first amendment grounds? carrie: yes. his lawyers are arguing everything he said and did in advance of the january 6 violence at the capital and the aftermath should be protected by the first amendment. of course other courts and other

cities have totally disregarded that argument by the former president but his attorneys in fulton county say they are going to make it there. the district attorney in fulton county wants trump to go to trial august of next year. that seems unlikely given the sprawling rico nature of that case. geoff: donald trump is also facing verdicts in two civil cases in new york. which would we expect there? carrie: in january, the judge is expected to hand down his decision in that case against the trump organization, which donald trump calls a corporate death penalty hanging over him. and the writer e. jean carroll who has sued trump once again for defamation, she is seeking millions of dollars in money damages against him. geoff: carrie johnson, thank you so much for making sense of the galaxy a legal troubles facing donald trump. carrie: it is a lot. happy to be here. thank you. ♪

geoff: the 2024 race for the white house will take up a lot of time, attention, and money over the next 11 months. but as lisa desjardins explains, other votes next year could significantly influence the presidential campaign and our daily lives. lisa: activists around the country are teeing up state how it measures on a host of issues in 2024. watching all of them has been rita wilson, founder -- also friend of the "newshour." i can imagine some people here being ok, state initiatives, not the most scintillating topic. but can you help us understand how big and important these measures have become? reed: in a lot of states the ballot measure can be the most expensive campaign that happens on a statewide level. it is not atypical for california ballot measures to cost more than $100 million and we are seeing the same level of spending in other spades on

issues where these big corporations have billions of dollars at stake. lisa: these are niche issues sometimes but sometimes they are brought issues, like we have seen with abortion. when abortion is on the ballot, voters have been turning out. that includes in ohio in 2023 when that state easily passed a measure changing the constitution, enshrining abortion rights. in 2024, what do you see for the landscape of abortion on the ballot in states? reid: this reminds me of 20 years ago when gay marriage b ans were on the ballot. in 2024 we are likely to see abortion-related measures on the ballot in about a dozen states. that includes places like nevada, arizona, even florida. we could see abortion rights measures on the ballot. we will see an abortion restriction measure on the ballot in iowa. a lot of them are still collecting signatures so we are not certain they will be on the ballot, but it is very clear

abortion rights supporters have figured out putting these measures in front of voters is a good way to do things. lisa: this is not just policy. -- for many it is policy, but it is politics. reid: it is politics and the turnout, but abortion rights supporters have not lost at the about box since roe v. wade was struck down, and i am including states like montana, kansas, and kentucky, very red states. so far they have a perfect record. lisa: we have also seen elections themselves on the ballot. what do you see in terms of voters being able to weigh in on who gets to vote and how? reid: there are of wide variety of election related measures circulating. the most popular are measures to implement rank-choice voting. that is, a voter gets to pick five candidates who would advance to the general election and then pick among five regardless of party. only two states allow it rank-choice voting right now but will be on the ballot this year

in nevada and over again, and may in places like colorado, idaho, missouri, and montana as well. alaska is trying to roll back their rank-choice voting. some other measures, independent redistricting committees are likely to be on the ballot in ohio, changing the way they draw their congressional district lines. things like no-fault absentee voting, which will be on the ballot in connecticut. we think of connecticut as a very liberal state. well, you cannot get in absentee ballot there. lisa: in the last bit of time we have, i want to ask about in california, a state that is facing a real budget crunch, there is a bout measure where voters will navy to -- reid: governor gavin newsom approved a measure this year that goes to voters in march. voters will be asked to approve $6.4 billion in bonds to pay for

housing for those with mental health challenges or substance use disorder. and focused on veterans as well. homelessness is a massive crisis in california and the rest of the country. this represents a massive investment in trying to get a lot of people off the streets into housing, into treatment. it would spend more than $1 billion on housing alone, more than $4 billion on treating those with issues keeping them on the streets. lisa: all of this, direct democracy. we will see what the voters say. thank you so much, reid wilson. reid: thank you for having me. ♪ geoff: as the year comes to a close, gas prices in the u.s. are at their lowest point of 2023. and not coincidentally, domestic oil production is at a record high. william brangham looks at what's behind the big changes, and the implications. william: geoff, the average

price of gas is $3.12 a gallon, far below the nearly $4 a gallon highs this fall. at the same time, the u.s. is producing an unprecedented amount of oil, some 13.5 million barrels a day. moreover, big energy companies are merging, as they try to get more production out of the permian basin in texas and new mexico. exxon plans to buy shale giant pioneer natural resources for nearly $60 billion. and chevron plans to buy hess for $53 billion. this record production of oil, and these big mergers, come at the very same time when the u.s. government is trying to wean the nation off of fossil fuels, because using them is dangerously warming the planet. clifford krauss is the national energy correspondent for the new york times and he joins me now. cliff, great to have you back on the program. explain to us, how did we get here? from this plummeting oil market during the pandemic, to now

these record highs? clifford: great to be with you again william. really, the story begins about 15 years ago with fracking. where suddenly the united states became a production powerhouse. and it has had its ups and downs, but in the last year or so there has been almost an unprecedented increase in production. actually, the most sense 2014. and so, at this point the united states, as you mentioned, is producing about 13.5 million barrels a day, and we are heading towards 14 million barrels a day. that is more oil than any country in the world. that is a record for the united states. and it may well be the record for any country in the world. and now after saudi arabia, we are exporting more oil than any member of opec save saudi arabia. william: is that just a function

of companies ramping up production? is it as simple as that? clifford: no, it isn't. it's very interesting. the very large companies, the exxons, chevrons, have tried to be very disciplined. they don't want to repeat the mistakes of the past, where they would pump a lot of oil when prices were high only to see the price collapse. and of course that is what they don't want to see. and so while they have been disciplined, the smaller companies, financed by private capital mostly, they are basically pressing on the gas, so to speak. and we are producing more oil from these small producers. and this looks like it will continue. actually, what happened was with the russian invasion of ukraine when the price of all the commodities, but especially oil and gas, went up, these companies got a signal from the market to start pumping more.

and that is exactly what they have done. william: as you have mentioned, i know we export a great deal of that oil, but is all of this domestic production also responsible for the drop in gas prices, which i take it also became a bit of a surprise? clifford: it is. there's an abundance of oil going to our refineries. but also, remember that our gas prices are linked with global oil prices. and those prices are going down for a variety of reasons. both demand and supply. demand from china and europe has been low. production is not only up in the united states, it is up in canada, guyana, brazil, and a few other producing countries. so although opec plus is cutting back on the production, that is more than compensated by the united states and other producers that are not in opec. william: let's talk a little bit about these two big mergers.

are these, as some critics argue, the last gasp of the fossil fuel industry trying to squeeze every last prophet? -- profit? or is it a bet by these companies for a bright and robust future for fossil fuels? or is it something else? clifford: i see it as being something else. the oil companies realize -- this is not just our oil companies, the american oil companies, but the international state owned oil companies -- that probably oil demand in the united states and the world is going to plateau and come down. and so, the cheapest barrels are the barrels that will survive on the market. saudi arabia is the cheapest. actually, the permian basin is pretty cheap as well. and when these companies consolidate and merge, because of the economics of scale, the economies of scale, they are actually saving themselves money

and thereby squeezing more profit from their production. by the way, the exxon deal is for the permian mostly. b chevron deals to get it piece of the action in guyana, which is the fastest growing oil province in the world. geoff: as i mentioned at the beginning, all of this beefed up oil production comes directly at odds with the biden administration's desire to use less oil and gas and use more renewables. how do we as a nation square that seeming contradiction? clifford: [laughs] that is a tough one. because the united states has two goals, and they conflict. one goal is geopolitical, and to take basically to provide gas and oil for europe and other countries that were dependent on russia. also to keep our gasoline prices

low to try and fight inflation. but at the same time we are trying to pivot. how do you do those two things at once is a contradiction. the republicans are attacking this administration for making a war on oil, even though our oil production is at record levels. but it is hard to see this administration saying look at us, the united states is the top oil producer in the world, when you want environmentalists and young voters to vote democratic. geoff: that is the essential cntradiction right there. cliff krauss of the new york times, great to see you. thank you so much. clifford: thank you for having me. ♪ geoff: the israel-hamas war is nearing its third month, and this week, gaza's

telecommunications company once again announced a communications blackout. but there is another front in this war, and it's taking place on our screens worldwide. fake or mislabeled content linked to the war has been viewed online millions of times. to explore this issue, amna spoke earlier with shayan sardarizadeh, a senior journalist with bbc monitoring's disinformation team, and valerie wirtschafter, a fellow studying technology and foreign policy at the brookings institution. amna: thank you to you both for joining us. we really appreciate it. valerie, i want to start with you. you've looked at misinformation and disinformation coming out of other conflicts, too. what is different about this work when it comes to this specific conflict? valerie: i think what's different here is that this is really, i think, an emotionally resonant conflict on both sides. and so we see that there is sort

of this confirmation bias, this ability to kind of just discount confirming evidence. all of those things, i think, are really in play here. amna: and the reach, valerie, just to follow up on that on some of these videos is really frightening. there's a fake video that claimed to be israeli forces shooting at israelis at the music festival on october 7. that was seen 30 million times. there was the fake claims, about a five-month-old palestinian baby who was killed in an airstrike that people were claiming was a doll that went viral. it was published in the israeli press. i mean, does the global interest in this war mean that that misinformation, disinformation gets spread even faster? valerie: i think shocking things, things that resonate go viral. the boring stuff, the truth when we can get to the bottom of things, that's far less resonant, i think. and so, you know, when there are kind of claims being lobbed back and forth, they get amplified. amna: shayan, you have the near impossible job of trying to verify some of these videos, to debunk the disinformation that's out there and verify what you can. we've seen in this war, too, just images from other places, images from syria, for example,

being passed off as something that was unfolding in gaza. how do you even begin to verify what's real and what's not? shayan: it's not an easy task because of the volume of content that is being posted and has been posted since this conflict began on the 7th of october. and obviously, the nature of this conflict is a little bit different, to say, the conflict that we're seeing in ukraine or before that, the conflict in syria. this is a conflict that's been going on for decades and decades and decades and decades. people have already sort of jumped into this sort of with their minds completely made up. and already they think they assume that they're in an information war and they have to win it at any cost. at any cost. even if it means denying that a five-month-old palestinian baby was actually a real baby and not a doll and his mother was just showing that baby to photographers in grief was not faking it.

or that, you know, a 16-year-old israeli teenager whose parents was killed in front of him in a kibbutz near the border with gaza on the 7th of october is not a crisis actor, and he's not basically holding his laughter in front of cameras as he's given an interview recounting how he saw his parents get killed in their house in front of his own eyes. amna: valerie, how does the origin of some of this disinformation matter in this conflict? i'm thinking specifically of a video i know was widely covered. the israel defense forces shared a list that was posted in a basement of a gaza hospital. they said it was a list of hamas members, a schedule for them guarding israeli hostages. it was actually a calendar in which the days of the week were listed in arabic. but that video was reported on widely by a number of other news organizations. it's coming through official channels. how does that change the nature of this information war? valerie: i think it creates sort of just an immediate ability to distrust any purveyor of information who is in the region on the ground potentially given

the destruction and the violence in this conflict, there are so few people that are actually on the ground. those that are on the ground actually do have kind of a vested interest in the information space. and so, you know, we can see it with the idf in the calendar example you mentioned, trafficking in conspiracies or misleading information. journalists who want to get into gaza have to go with the idf. you know, that's maybe innocuous. maybe it's just to review footage to make sure that, you know, identities aren't revealed or things like that. but it's immediately sort of ability to dismiss, given past, whether it's massaging the truth, completely fabricating things, or sort of seeding alternative narratives, it's immediately disqualifying as well. on the other side of the coin, of course, you know, hamas, i think, has long oked unfavorably on journalists. why, you know, from the israeli perspective or from those who sort of are sympathetic with the

israeli cause, why believe them now? and so i think that that's a really huge challenge. amna: valerie, what's the real world impact of this kind of disinformation spreading as widely and as quickly as it does? valerie: i think a great example, maybe an example is the best way to answer that question is looking at the kind of aftermath and ambiguity around the hospital bombing kind of earlier in the conflict, sort of there was knee jerk reaction to kind of cover this event. all the information wasn't known. mainstream media outlets jumped on it. protests erupted. and then joe biden had to cancel several diplomatic meetings were canceled as a result. those types of high level communications are so important. but it wasn't allowed to move forward simply because protests and sort of the unwillingness of governance to engage after that event. and the challenge, of course,

with that event is that it was very unclear what happened. there was not a lot of on the ground reporting at all at the time. and then in the aftermath, more information was pieced together. amna: shayan, i've said before, this war is extremely online. and were it not for social media and a lot of online platforms, you have to think about what we wouldn't see when it comes to both the october 7 attacks and also what's been unfolding on the ground in gaza. with people getting so much information and so much content, how do you advise them on what they should do, how they should view all of this in sorting out what's real from what's not? shayan: well, it is not easy. you know, it's not an easy question for me. it's not an easy question for journalists. never mind, you know, the ordinary member of the public who just wants to go online and see what's going on.

it's important to just first of all be careful about the source, you know, who's saying this. you know, how biased are they, what type of narrative are they pushing. just have a look at their profile. you know, again, they might have hundreds of thousands of followers, millions of followers, but are they actually pushing a certain narrative, a certain agenda, or are they somebody who genuinely -- or an outlet who's generally trying to tell the story of the conflict without putting any personal bias into it? see whether this video that has got, you know, 10 million views, has it been reported anywhere else? has any of the journalists who are either in israel or in gaza mentioned, referred to it? you know, try and follow people, actual journalists who are on the ground or actual people, witnesses, eyewitnesses, who are reliably posting videos from what's happening on the ground, on several occasions before this particular video. so if you see something that is incredibly viral, that doesn't necessarily mean it's true. it also doesn't necessarily mean it's false. it just means, you know, in a conflict like this, we all have to be careful. if you're not 100%, you know, the best thing to do is just not share it. amna: i'm so grateful to both of

you for the work you do to make sure the facts get out there. shayan sardarizadeh and valerie wirtschafter, thank you so much for your time. ♪ geoff: one of the biggest health stories of this past year is the surge in demand for popular weight-loss drugs like ozempic and wegovy. in fact, those drugs are in such demand, there's a nationwide shortage of them. pharmaceutical companies are scrambling to keep up. ali rogin looks at the demand, and the questions many have about these drugs. ali: in 22 states at least 35% of adults are obese. mostly in the south and midwest. medications including the latest fda approved drugs provide hope to patients looking for

sustainable weight loss. but they also raise questions related to high costs, insurance coverage, and long-term effect in this. depending on the drug and insurance, they can cost thousands of dollars a year. research suggests people may need to stay on them to maintain rate loss -- weight loss. i am joined by assistant professor at cornell medicine and specialist in obesity and weight related to competitions -- complications. thank you so much for joining us. you prescribed these medications to your own patients and come up with detailed treatment plans. why have these medications become so popular in recent years, and does it have to do with the medical community's rethinking of what factors contribute to obesity in some cases? >> two reasons. one is that when i started training over a decade ago, the most effective anti-obesity medications were associated with 5% to 10% total body weight

loss. which is actually what we considered to be clinically significant. if you think of any behavioral intervention being associated with on average 3% to 5% weight loss average, 5% to 10% was pretty good. but the medications that have come out the last few years are considerably more effective at 15% and now upwards of 22%. one is the increase in efficacy in the studies and effectiveness we are seeing among our patients. to is there greater recognition that obesity is a disease that requires medical management for the vast majority of people to effectively lose weight, and more importantly, keep that weight off long-term. ali: what are some of the risks associated with being on these medications? dr. saunders: each of the medications has its own risk-benefit profile. our typical patient has lost and gained weight so many times over the years that they come to us

saying i have been so successful in so many other aspects of my life and i just absolutely cannot lose weight and keep it off. for somebody like that who has had a very difficult time losing weight with nonmedical intervention, the risk-benefit profile is really different. if you take a look at reflux, constipation, those are the main complications we are seeing with those medications. it is a different risk profile. we can do so much in terms of dietary management, behavioral change to mitigate those side effects. so the hype we're seeing is because patients -- those side effects generally -- related to so many other health complications for each person it's an individual decision. ali: you talked about the importance of coming up with a detailed treatment plan with your patients, looking with them

to see if other interventions might work before medication is considered. why are those things so important, and are you concerned that right now doctors might be overprescribing? dr. saunders: that is a fabulous question. there is such a tendency that we are seeing now to how they -- to have a health care provider say i have a medication that can finally help you lose weight, here is a prescription for one of the medications. without the appropriate education and support, and the associated lifestyle interventions like diet and behavioral change that are necessary for comprehensive obesity treatment. so, it's really not just about one medication to as many people that can be taking this medication. it is about seeing each patient as an individual, doing a very thorough evaluation of everything in their history, everything in their medical condition that are leading to weight gain, everything preventing weight loss, then optimizing lifestyle.

ali: there has been a lot of talk about people who want to pursue these drugs, to reach a goal weight, then are planning to get off the drugs and sustain that goal weight with diet and exercise. what is your take on that approach? is that sustainable? dr. saunders: we get some any questions about this. this is a really hot topic right now. obesity is a chronic disease, meaning that it does not just go away, meaning that unfortunately right now, we cannot cure it. maybe one day in our lifetime we will be able to. but if you think about other chronic diseases that you classically think of as chronic diseases like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes. people who have these conditions that are not managed by lifestyle alone, except to stay on medication long-term. if they stop that medication, their levels go up. and we expect that.

with obesity there has been a long-held belief it is just a lifestyle problem. it's such a massive industry that is really preying on vulnerable individuals who are looking for a quick fix or something that can cure their obesity. we are not there yet. right now when we start a patient on a medication, it is a long conversation about taking it long-term. if you look at the trial which was published in the last few weeks, this trial showed that when people stopped taking it, they regained about two thirds of their body weight over the next several months. ali: we mentioned there are shortages of many of these medications. in your opinion, what needs to change about the availability of these drugs, as well as access to them? even for people who can access them, they may not be able to afford them. dr. saunders: we have a huge problem right now. it's not enough we have fda approval of these medications. we need better coverage. we need the prices to be lower.

and we need more providers who know how to prescribe these medications appropriately. it's interesting that ozempic, which we were using before wegovy came out in 2021, there were not supply issues until wegovy hit the market. they are the same compound, just marketed for weight versus diabetes. as soon wegovy was fda approved and people realized ozempic was the same medication, we started to see shortages. now that this latest one was approved last month, there's another same medication. eli lilly is concerned about shortages of both medications, and they have opened new facilities to increase supplies so that we don't see what we have been seeing with wegovy and ozempic shortages. but the demand is just so high that it's a big problem. ali: a big problem and a very

hot topic. dr. katherine saunders, thank you so much for your time. dr. saunders: thanks for having me. ♪ geoff: andres gonzalez is a conductor, musician, and advocate for youth music education. he was trained from a young age through el sistema, a highly regarded music program in venezuela, before moving to the u.s. he has played for several orchestras across the country, and mentors at play on philly, providing music education to underserved students in the philadelphia area. tonight, he shares his brief but spectacular take on how music empowers communities. andres: for me, making music is joyful. when we become professionals in music, we forget that part. the joyful part. ♪

i grew up in el sistema project in venezuela, which is a free tuition program in classical music training that provides access to instrument, classes, and ensemble experience to children in the country. my mom and my dad was also part of el sistema. and i started conducting my first performance right before i turned three years old in front of the children's orchestra, in my hometown. my dad taught me the conductor protocol, how to get into the stage, how to bow. being part of el sistema for so many years, that's my family. the same group of kids, we were playing together for over 20 years. when i moved to the u.s., i started looking for community-based music programs, and i found that play on philly was also looking for a new music director. play on philly is an organization that provides transformative music training experiences to children in the area of philadelphia. pop's mission mirrors el sistema advocacy for social justice. it felt like it was an extension of my work in venezuela.

over 90% of the students identify as a student of color, and we as a community of color have been lacking access to this type of education historically. there are so many barriers that have created, lack of access to this type of education, not only in the u.s., in the entire world. one of the ways that we are removing those barriers is providing free tuition classical music training in orchestra and ensemble setting. the most capable teachers in the city are teaching our students every week. we also provide instrument loans at no cost for our families and also private lessons. when i see a student gain confidence after a performance, i feel very rewarded as an educator and as a conductor that all the effort that we put throughout the preparation, it paid off. access to music education and arts in general, it could be transformative for the students, but also for the people around them, like their family, like their peers. they can translate that into life skills. you need to dedicate a lot of

time to learn to play the violin, for example. you need to develop patience. it's really hard to play every single note on tune, for example. so those are skills that you learn through the music. we want them to see their life in a different way through the lens of the music. my name is andres gonzalez and this is my brief but spectacular take on how music empowers communities. geoff: and you can watch more brief but spectacular episodes online at pbs.org/newshour/brief. and while you are there you can also see stunning new images captured by nasa's james webb space telescope. you can see more on our instagram account. and that's the "newshour" for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. thanks for spending part of your evening with us. >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by. the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions,

and friends of the "newshour," including leonard and norma klorfine, and the judy and peter blum kovler foundation. >> it was like an a-ha moment. this is what i love doing. early-stage companies have this energy that energizes me. these are people who are trying to change the world. when i volunteer with women entrepreneurs, it's the same thing. i am helping people reach their dreams. i am thriving by helping others, every day. people who know, know bdo. >> the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. and friends of the "newshour."

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

>> you're watching pbs.

♪♪ -"cook's country" is about more than just getting dinner on theable. we're also fascinated by the people and stories behind the dishes. we go inside kitchens in every corner of the country to learn how real people cook, and we look back through time to see how history influences the way we eat today. we bring that inspiration back to our test kitchen so we can share it with you. this is "cook's country." ♪♪ today on "cook's country,"