captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc oo >> woodruff:evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, gruesome new details in the alleged murder of a journalist, as some of the suspected killers have direct links to saudi arabia's crown prince. then, following a dramatic senate debate in texas, we take a look at key midterm election races that could decide the balance of power in washington. plus, creating a health care connection-- how a program links volunteer doctors to clinics to help patients needing speciality ca d. >>epending on specialty there are often long wait-times ormi d options often times resulting in patients having to travel pretty far from their home to get the care they need. mo>> woodruff: all that an on tonight's pbs newshour.

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october 2, and the diplomatic crisis over his disappearance has deepened each day since. president trump sent his secretary of state, mike pompeo, to the middle east to get some answers. foreign affairs correspondent nick schifrin has our report. >> schifrin: for the last day and a half, america's top diplomat has held emergency meetings with the leaders of turkey and saudi arabia. and as he left riyadh this morning, secretary of state mike pompeo expressed confidence in ability to conduct an investigation into itself. >> they want to have the opportunity to complete this investigation in a thorough way. i think that's a reasonable ting to do to give them t opportunity. and then we'll all get to judge. >> schifrin: jamal khashoggi, a ton post" columnist and critic of the kingdom. he hasn't been seen since he r tered saudi's istanbul consulate earliethis month. turkish officials are maintaining their pr on saudi arabia via media leaks. for days they've referenced auo of the killing.

and today a pro-government newspaper reported new details the saudi hit squad tha turks say toured, murdered and i shortlyed khasho an anonymous turkish official identified the saudi government's head of forensic evidence as one of the men who "cut kshoggi's body up on a table in the study while he was still alive." turkey has now released images of 15 suspects. and the new york tes reports at least nine worked directly for saudi security services. and four have ose ties to saudi arabia's de-facto leader, crown prince mohammad bin salman. >> i'm not giving cover at all. >> schifrin: but in washt gton, presidump expressed confidence in saudi arabia. in an interview with the associated press last night, tha presiden king salman and his son, the crown prince, both denied any involvement. and in response to criticism he's letting saudi off easy, he saere we go again with, you know, you're guilty until proven innocent. i don't like that. we just went through that with justice kavanaugh.oc and he was innt all the way."

mr. trump made his first overseas visit to saudi arabia. and he has put the kingdom ate nter of his regional policy, to fight radicalism out of a new couering-violent extremism center, push back against iran's use of proxies, such as hezbollah, and help israel gain arab support for an israeli-palestinian peace plan. >> saudi arabia's been a very important ally of ours in the middle east. >> schifrin: but while the inpresident expresses faiton saudi arabia, capital hill there are increasing calde for an indep investigation into the alleged murder of jamal khassoghi, more than two weeks ter he was last seen. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin.ll >> woodruff: wake a closer look at the impact the khashoggi case could have on u.s. business dealings with saudi arabia later in the program. t day's other news, president trump asked every member of his cabinet today to cut five percent from their budgets for next year. he urged them to trim the "fat" and "waste" during a meeting focused on the administration's deregulatory efforts.

the request comes after the treasury department reported a $779 billion federal deficit, its highest level in six years. a senior official at the u.s. treasury department has been charged with leakingco idential documents about suspects charged in special counsel robert mueller's investigation. natalie mayflower sours edwards worked in the department's financial crimes enforcement network. she allegedly leaked bankingin rmation about paul manafort, rick gates and others to anbu unnamefeed reporter. a detained american graduate erudent has asked israel's supreme court to r an expulsion order, and let her stay in the country. prosecutors argue lara alqasem supported a boycott against israel and is still a threat. the flida native appeared in a jerusalem court today. e 22-year- said old's activist days are behind

her. >> if she was an aivist in the past, that past was 18 months ago, everything in the rord indicates that she is not that same person, that she's come to israel in violation actuly of the academic boycott, and of the economic bcott because she's going to be living and breathing and living her day to day life in israel. ee>> woodruff: alqasem has detained in israel for two weeks, after arriving on a valid student visa. at least 19 people died in a shooting rampage at a vocational school in crimea today. ane alleged perpetrator wa 18-year-old student, and later killed himself. most of the victims were students at the college in the black sea city of kerch. more than 50 people were wounded. one witness described the terrifying scene. >> ( translated ): there were many bodies, children's bodies. it was a real act of terrorism. ey burst inside. five or ten minutes after i left, someone burst innd blew everything up.

>> woodruff: investigators are still trying to detethe shooter's motives.s rohingya refug bangladesh are being sold into forced labor, to raise money families in overcrowded camps. ne united nation's migrat agency reported nearly 100 confirmed cases. almost two-thirds of those victims were girls and women.im the u.n. ees nearly a million members of the muslim minority are living in bangladesh's refugee cps. back in this country, some voters in georgia are waiting in line for nearly three hours to cast their ballots in that state's heated race for governor. long lines have plagued the polls around the atlanta area ig fulton, cobb annett counties. election officials said turnout monday, the first day of in- person early voting, tripled over the first day of voting in the 2014 midterm election.

canada today became the second and largest country to legalize marijuana. uruguay was the first. over 100 canadian pot shops were slated to open today. some opened their doors at the stroke of midnight, as hundreds customers lined the streets outside. canadian officials insisted legalizing pot will improve public health and safety. >> you cannot regulate aan prohibited sub. so we are lifting the prohibition. that's what legalization is, to enable us, to implement a comprehensive and far more effective system of regulatory control and order to tievery aspect of the prod, distribution and consumption of cannis. >> woodruff: the canadian government will alsohoardon peoplee been convicted of possessing up to 30 grams of marijuana. president trump hastepped up his criticism of the federal reserve, calling it the "biggest threat" to his presidency. he faulted its chairman jerome

powell, one of his own appointees, for raising interest rates while inflation remains low. the president spoke on the fox business network last night. >> my biggest threat is the fed, because the fed is raising rates too fast. and it's independent so i don't speak to him, but i'm not happy with what he's doing, because it's going too fast, because if you looked at the last inflation numbers they're very low. >> woodruff: the fed has raised rates three times this year, and is expected to do so again before the new year. worries about the fed's future rate hikes caused stocks to tumble on wall street today. the dow jones industrial average olost more than 91 points close at 25,706. the nasdaq fell nearly three points, and the s&p 500 slipped a fraction of a point. still to come on the newshour: the puppeteer who originated the role of big bird on "sesame street" announced he is retiring after nearly 50s ye the show, caroll

spinney also gave life to other beloved kark, oscar the grouch. spinney has performed on theow ince its very first ep today-- episode in 196 -9d.e year old ac letter record his final episode on thursday. but rest assuredse characters will continue to live on "sesame street." and what a gift mr. spinney has been. still to still to come on the newshour: inside the key midterm election races that could decide control of congress. companies grapple with thed political ral questions of doing business in saudi arabia. two military veteran members of ngress on overcoming the wounds of war, and much more. >> woodruff: it is one of the most expensive races in the country this election year: the texas senate showd between republican incumbent ted

cruz, and democratic insurgent beto o'rourke. tomeka weatherspoon of houston public media reports. >> cruz. >> i think a lot of textans otch the behavi senate democrats and were disgusted. >> versus o'rourke. >> has never been more divided, more polarized 6789 or people to be good and kind and gnerous to one another, that is what this country is looking for. t as voters are firmly divided between the republican incumbent and the rising democrat frm el paso. >> we got here really early because, well, i like, i want to be in the front and i want to see him up close. >> less than a month before the mid-term election, congressman beto o'rourke is campaigning to t in senator ted cruz's sea the u.s. senate and he's received record-breaking campaign donations outraising the incumbent by more than two to one. but e odds are stll stacked against him.

texas hasn't elected a democratf to statewide e in more than two decades. >> so help me god. >> donald trump won the state by fine points in the last pridential election. >> there is a fundamental choice in this eleion. >> but this is a surprisingly competitive race. cruz and o'rourke have squared off in two debates so far and ai lastht's debate in san antonio witnesses saw how eat heated it has become. >> he cruz will not be honest with yo mu, he wie up pogs or decisions on votes i havene r taken, he is dishonest thasm is why trump called him blind ted and why the nickname stuck. >> o'rourke's pollsters told him to come out on the attack. if he wants to insult me ande call m liar that's fine. >> cruz is full pulling ahead but o'rourke hasn't been k578 paining like a traicn diddal candidate, there say viral video of him skateboarding and image as of his days inr punk k band.

all over social medianess with my next guest running against ted cruz please lcome beto o'rourke. >> he is gaining national attention and appealing to diverse gowps in a state with a growing population of non-white voters. this i the race that could tu a red state blue. jay ire is a political science professor at texas southern university. he believes national party politics are trickling down and causing a rift in the state. >> the voters nem selves, the cruz loyalists and the beto o'rourke loyalists, you know, there is a lot of animosity going on back and forth. and a level we probably don't normally see, certainly the senate race. >> there are a lot of textans, national issues plus immigration-- immigration affect them, but not al first textans support daca whch provided protections for people brought to the u.s. illegally as ehildren. nicole drover an hour to senator cruz's rally in rural

texas wither husband andy. she discovered she was undocumented at 16 years old. >> i worked hard to be a u.s. citizen. i worked hard for the right to vote. and i don't think that peowhple just come in here and say give me, you know. it is not fair to those of us who worked a long time to get where we are at. >> other national conversations also fell very real for techans. this is a state with one of the largest african-american populations in theo cuntry. jordan moore as been following o'rourke's campaign for awhile now. >> my interest kind of got peeked when i saw his interview when he was speak being plice brutality and civil injustice and that just spoablg to me because that is a glaring issue not only in our community but in the world. >> and this is also a state where the administration's conservative values hit he. >> we've defended other nation's borders while leaving ours wide open, anybody can come in. >> when it comes to the border wall, this is common sense

issue. i represent texas, we have 1200 miles of border with mexico. and we have got to secure the border. >> jay ire says the comparison between cruz and o'rourke comes wn to traditional texas versus a more urban texas.fo democrats, the results could gage party strategy for 2020. the biggest pools of voters for them tend to be young people, people of color, low income voters d thoseers traditionally are the lowest participatiorates. >> if they vote at higher amounts they would almost certainly flip. >> so forns republithey already have their eye on early voting for the mid-terms, present trump made it priority to hold a rally in houston this coming monday. >> but for now, both cruz and o'rourke will continue reaching out to ve ers for next faw weeks, each with their own vision for the future of texas. >> for the pbs newshour, i'm

tomeka weatherspoon. >> woodruff: while eyes are on the senate race in texas, competitive house races are crucial to a blue wave on election day. we'll now take a look at what's playing out in some of these those races in key states three public media reporters: scott shafer, of kqed in california, briana vannozzi of njtv in new jersey, and mary lahammer of twin cities pbs in minnesota. welcome to all three of you. and i'm tbing to start, in the est and work my way west. briana vannozzi with you, let's talk about what is on the minds. of the vot what issues are you hearing them bring up?>> ealth care, health care, health care. across-the-board, thnepolls in jersey no matter the district show health care is the

number one issue he and beyond that, it's taxes. the gop tax bill that was passed you know really hit new jersey at a different level. because we have some of the highest real estate values and also some of the highest property taxes in the ntion. and a specific portion of that known as the state and local tax deduction duction would really affect residents here.re so folksoncerned about whether the federal tax bills are going to go up or whether they willeceive a c, whether that tax bill would be repealed and replaced as some have talked about. beyond that, immigration, and guns, i think one of the biggest, most interesting items that we have seen in new jersey is that the voter gistration numbers are increasing more than we have ever seen for mid term. we've had 100,000 more voters register since january through the end of september. >> woodruff: right, i ant to tubing to you about be the enthusiasm and what you are seeing, so let's turn to minnesota. mary lahammer t is interesting

what is going on in your state. ve had at least four competitive races, two in the p minneapolis sl suburbs where republicans are worried, democratgeseem to be in str shape. but out in the rural parts of minnesota it is a different picture. tell us what is going on? i wh on the mind of voters. >> health care for sure and partisanship. we are an independent state, we are a unique state, we lead the nation in voter turnout, in education levels, in civic engagementab already herntee voting, early voting is up 235 percent. so we have an incredibly engaged d electorate. do have fully half of our congressional races are seen as competitive. that is four out of eight. and as you mentioned, two ofe those seats rural minnesota, one in northern minnesota, the other in southern minnesota and then the other two are in suburban areas and it really dep pends how thesident is playing, how issues are plague. verynteresting exotion in a state with an independent streak that awhile back, you know,

elected a third party governor and former prowrestler, jesse ventura. >> i do want to ask you about issues there as well am but i want to get to scott shff in california where you also have some interesting congressional races under way. what are voters talking about there, scott? >> well, first of all, judery, say real sense of disfunction in washington. they're tired of thengicke they feel ta government isn't paying attention to their problems and they want that fixed. they want the parties to work together to get things done. health care isefinitely a big issue. there are concerns about the republican tax bill in places like orange county where many oo thespetitive races are being held. the tax bill could well hurt people in places like that, where home costs are very high, incomes are high, and certainly the democrats are talking a lot about that. ere is also a repeal of the gation tax on the statewide ballot here ondcourse orange county which is again where many of these races are playing out, very antitax, historanally. so republicans are hoping to

use that issues along with immigration, security at the border to get voters to come out to the polls. >> but i will st ay tha terms of fundraising, democrats in this last quaerthe third quarter, have outraised in these ns bytitive races republi five to one. and these are all first time sendidates, judy, all t democrats have never run for office before and they are doing really well, both raising money and in the polls where polls show that almost all seats are very, very competitive right now and in some kisses the democrat, at least one case the democrat is way ahead. >> woodruff: briana vannozzi, you a minute ago were talking about issues on the minds of voters. you talked about health care. but president trump is coming up as well. we know that in a uple of these races where you have a republican incumbent, case with leonard lance, it is someone who hasn't always voted with the president. but there is another race where you have a candidate who has been tom mcrthur who has been more prodone all trump.

>> it's been interesting to see which candidates and depending pong nair districlean re toward advocating for the president's policies. their mesage from democrats has been we will be the checksnd balances on president trump's hard right agenda. the message from republicans who know that they have a base as is in the case of the third district, tom mcarthur is i will stand up for the president's policies for the reasons that you elected him. t and in thition, it still seems to be working, up in the 11thdistrict, we've ben noticing that president trump's name is often lteft ou, specifically in discussions and in the seventh as you mentioned, swrudy, we're actually gearing up to host a debate tonight between leonard lance and h opponent where both can bats are saying i'm a moderate, i'm practicing-- pragmatic, a centrist, i will talk to the undecided votedders that we have quit few in this area, where you have really a highly

educated voter bhos alstoo ten disapprove of the president's job. >> woodruff: so much of it depends on the profile of th district, of course, and who these voters are and what they think is in their interest. mary lahammer, quickly,a, minnesow much of a fact certificate president trump there? these close races, me house races. >> trump is a big factor in the fact he havisited. he was just in southern minnesota, in minnesota's open congressional district. he was visiting the rochest area, and there shall it-ni- jim is r with him and in the 8th, the republican running with the preside with the president. the interesting part is approval numbers are difrent in those two regions, northern minnesota is known as the iro range. steel tariffs appear to be fairly popular there. theresident's ratings are holding there. but in southern minnesota, soybeans territory, soybeans farmer there appear to be pretty

displeased with the soybeans tariffs. soresident appears to be helping republicans in northernu minnesotpotentially hurting republicans in southern minnesota. and then we have those two suburban seats. >> one of the republicans is running with the president, the other is not, ngressman eric paulson in the suburb not running with the president and ngressman jason lewis said yeah, i like what he is doing. maybe don't always like his style but he says his policies are working it really deends where you are in minnesota. >> woodff: so interesting get this picture of the whole country, finally to you sct shaffer, we know the president plays a different roll inia califo he is not as pop ar as is he in some other parts of the country but there are parts of yo state where he is. a >>bsolutely. donald trump won 28 or so of california's 53 counties t i just that a lot of people don't live there. but in these competitive races, thstricts we're talking about, donald trump is not particularly popular and the candidate, the republicans are not mentioning him, president tomp is not coming out here campaign or raise money.

he's going to nevada, next door, arizona but not toalifornia. i think they decided it is notve helpful to him out here t will only turn out the democratic vote more. we have seen obama and biden out here k578 paining fordemrats but so far mike pence was here awhile ago but no president trump. >> woodruff: fascinating. we still have almost three weeks to go and we will watch all of these house races between now and then and certainly oni electionht. scott shaffer kqed in california, briana vannozzi with nj tv in new jersey and mary hammer, twin cities in minnesota. thank you. >> thank you. >> woodruff: as we reported earlier, jamal khashoggi's disappearance is leading to all kinds of difficult questions for the president and about our political relationship with the saudis.

many u.s. companies have long had business ties with saudi arabia. and as william brangham explains, those corporations now have to answer their own questions about whether they will continue to do business as usual with the kingdom. >> brangham: there's a big investment conference in saudi arabia next week. it's been dubbed "davos in the desert," and initially, a number of prominent u.s. executives planned to attend. but then jamalsahashoggi eared, and the saudis claimed no knowledge of what happened to him.r now, a num those executives have pulled out. they include j.p. moe an c.e.o. jamon; ford motor's haairman, bill ford; and uber c.e.o. dara khosro. but a number of business leaders will still attend the big eventt so will u.asury secretary steven mnuchin. today, when president trump was asked again about khashoggi, he emphasized arica's economic ties with saudi arabia. >> they're a tremendous purchaser of not only military equipment but of other things.wh

i went there, they committed to purchase $450 billion worth of things and $110 billion worth of military. and those are the biggest orders in the history of this country. probably the history of the world. i don't think there's ever been any order for $450 billion, and we remember that day in saudi arabia where that commitment was made. >> brangham: to help go a little deeper on those economic ties, and how corporations are responding to this crisis, i'm joined by andrew ross sorkin. he's an editor and columnist for the "new york times" and also the co-host of cnbc's "squawk box." he's joins me now from the thank you very much for being mere, i know you have bb reporting a great deal about ese decisions made by c.e.o.s to pull out, can you justtell me, wh was their calculus. >> well, this has turned out to be a remarkable crucible for business executives in the united states and really around

the world in tems of not only going to riyadh next week but what going to riyadh would represent, an endorsement, if you will, of the kingdom. and so many of these executives whether st jpmorgan or blackstone or black rock or uber have real business interests in saudi arabia. so there something meaningful for all of them at risk. real money, real profits. and real questions about their ability in the future to beable to continue to do business in some of these-- in saudi arabia. jpmorgan, for example, has donei ss in that country since 1930. and this is a country what hasst ically held grudges. >> was it your sense that this was a principled decision on their part or was it just terrible optics and that they will be right back in business with saudi arabia the miute is storm passes? >> you know, it's a very stcomplicated quen. it's similarly complicated

question for those in washingto right now. clearly the optics in the very immediate term weighed on them. the phone calls from jotsurnal look myself and others asking are you going, the reporting around that, but not just from uhis side of the aisle but their employees, theirtomers were calling them saying are you really going to go to an eve sponsored by the crown prince in the midst of these headlines,ve that they urdered a journalist? so i think that has weighed on all of them by default. i like to think that some of them d have a principled stand on this. but i think they're also wrestling with the long-termic econand economic ties to this country and what that means for their buinesses. >> and as you report in a recent 'slume you did in the "new york times," itot like saudi arabia slt only country that american businesses do business with that have a troubled human tights history. >> and that's whis is so

complicated. u.s. businessehave long done business, our biggest trading partner is china-- human rights in china, there is no great cord there. there are u.s. businesses that have long done business in russia, as we know there have been atrocities. i mean iohink that ifu really look, i hate to say the morality here is gray but it ise acrossorld. both in terms of the businesses that have done business with thestypes of country, and that our country itself has do business effectively with these and 's a very complicated iuntries. place for all of these people to be right now. >> we heard the president earlier say, in a way emphasize how important these arm sles are with saudi arabia. but a lot of critics have also pointed t that the president himself and his own company has had a long history of fincial dealings with saudi arabia. and those critics are arguingat

n essence the president's financial ties to the kingdom t hainted our foreign policy. and i wonder what you make of that criticism.t >> you knowre are those in washington and there are a number of senators and others that are calling now on making public those relationships, ose financial ties, similarly to the speculation around whether president trump hs financial ties to russia. i think in thies instance, th is probably less of a financial tiand more of just aery complicated situation, which is to say the united states ha considered saudi arabia that ally and levages that ally in many ways financial being one of them, whether it is weapon sales or more importantly oil or oil price, and lots of other things

incomer some cases even related to our antiterrorism efforts. t and question is do you push that away or how do you push that away while dealing with what is clearly and plainly a moral decision here, which is to say at if, in fact, saudi was responsible for this murder, whicat least in my mind as a journalist it very much looks that way. you cut the country often tirely? ntfectively, is there a way to sen sure the co and show maintain a relationship with them at the same time. that's a very tricky balance to pull off. >> all right, andrew ross soin, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: stay with us, coming up on the newshour: more migrant children are released from federal custody as the president considers another

immigration crackdown. and inside the effort to bring medical specialists to the most underserved communities. today president trump awarded the congressional medal of honor, the nation's highest military decoration, to 80-year- old sergeant major johely. 50 years ago in vinam, cannely helped lead a marine unit that recaptured a city seizedviy the nortnamese during the tet offensive. president trump caid today that ely exhibited "unmatched bravery" in charging throughfi enem, and risking his own life to save the lives under his command. >> one hisellow warriors who joins us today said, "you followed him because he was a true leader. he was totally fearless. he loved his marines. and loved us back. >> woodruff: that brotherhood has long helped service members recover from the wounds of war, both physical, and mental.

those wounds are now being felt by a new generation that has fought in afghanistan and iraq. here again is nick schifrin. since 9/11 almost three million americans have deployed to iraq and afghanista w the effects r are pronownd-- profound and last long after the combat ends. an stimed one in five iraq an afghanistan veterans suffer from some form of post traumatic stress disorder. one is jason-- when he left they milie became the first millenial elected to statewide office, anifovernight sta the democratic party thanks to an ad promoting background checks. >> in afghanistan, i volunteered to be an extra gun in a convoy of unarmoured suv's, and in the state legislature i supportednt second amendights. >> i also believe in background checks so the terrorists can't tget their hands on one hese. a prove this message. because i would like to see thee tor do this. >> he lost that senate race but he is considered the favorite to

win the 2019 kansas city mayor's race until he unexpectedly ended his campaign writing in an open1 letter afte years of trying to outrun depression and pts symptoms, i have finally concluded that it is faster than me. that i have to stop run, turn around and confront it. we wanted to talk abt post traumatic stress disorder and young veterans who go into public service, with 38 year old representative rub ann gallego, a democrat from arizona who joins us from phoenix, he serves in eye rook and brian mass, the 38 year old-- 38 area old republican from california who served in afghanistan. thank you very much. you were a friend of jason canneddor, do you believe what he did was brave and how important was it that he came out? >> well look, it's ave for any veteran to admit that they have sd and when you are in a public eye and you talk about your ptsd, you are basically exposing people to make

judgements on you, he is brave to do it but it is part of the process. what he did he did it for himself and his family so he can become the man he wan to be and not let ptsd hold him back. >> brian on an explosive ordnance disnsal unit i afghanistan in 2010 you lost itth your legs and a finger. how important iso talk not only about the physical wounds of war but also the mental wounds. >> the mental wounds are very often can be the tougher thing to deal with. i tell people about my own story often. and it's not to say that the physical part of it wasn't difficult at all. of course the physical part of it was difficult but the more difficult part to me t was tha wasn't going to get to return to the battle field and do my tjob same way that i had done it before. i felt as though initially i had st my purpose in life. what was i going to do after that. what was my work going to be, what was pie family going to think of me. that was the most difficult part of it everything. yeah, sure, there was pain and deficit in the recovery. but it was that mental side of it to say you know, what do i do

from here going forward, have i lost my purpose in life and that was a very tough thing to deal with. >> you are both rt ofa new, a younger generation of veterans, ruben, is our generation more open to talking about these issues than veterans from previous war is? hink so. i mean i think, you know, for some reason our generation is a little more understanding. i think because the millenial generation and thoseve that are the majority of people that went to war, a lot of mennd women know friends. unfortunately the dun side of this, alis that the military right now is basically being fought, yoknow, in iraq and afghanistan, other parts of the world, by a very small portion of the population. so while there is more understanding and general in the public the amount of people that are shari i guess in the sacrifice of war and families is even more and e narrow. and i think it shows sometimes. >> how do we overcome that challenge? how do we get all americans to

understand what veterans havene hrough and these mentalwa wounds of r that they continue to go through? >> i don't thinka tht's a realistic expectation that all americans understand what it as like to veteran, what if is like to go to war. there are aspects on the positive and negative side that you can only really understand if that has been a part of your life, these very intense mments of life. what i think it is important for anybody whether they srved in, combat or no realize that there is teunlt for what many people call st awm i believe growth. >> ruben, jayson would admit that he ki certainly loo for post traumatic growth and have some but also dealing with post traumatic stress disorder. and when he wrote his letter, he said that he wwos ied about admitting his ptsd because it might hurt his political future. does that gnify that we are still not quite comfortable enough as a society talking about ptsd. >> oh erck certainly. and i think people have to understand, you can be

successful all aspect of your life and still have p tsd. many people do t i feel i am one of those people.s i feel tom police officers, from firemen, the guys i served wiirh in that wanted to join the cia, fbi, you know, bbed to be air pilots, there is this rumor that is very pervasive among mat rines t you are diagnosed with ptsd you will not be allowed to have s,ese sensitive jobs. for us politicieah, it is a worry but for every day working working men ad women it is a real worry, about their career, that affects their care and i think that is why it is moportant, why-- jason, myself and brian are roldels to all these men and women. because if we can admit we ha ptsd and are talking about it, it will make it more difficult for them toid that whn they have a lot more to lose than us. have i an election to lose but these men and women, canse their whole livelihood and future, and especially th don't actually get treated for

their ptsd. >> and quickly in the tim le we haft s it not only the people who are already in the spotlighted but the record mber of veteran candidates this year, do you think that could help? >> absolutely. you know, any time are you bringing awareness to this issue, which is what you are doing rit n which is what has been going on in congress and other places, whether it is the look at the suicide rates out there or the way that we can help our veterans coming home to find work, to reintegrate into society, sto make sure they havl y relationship with their families, there say very active effort, not just at theme goveal front, at the nonprofit front, at the community level front, to make surehat th occurs. people care about our veterans today in a way that is so very, very obvious and it makes a difference in the life of every veteran it made a difference in my life. i thk k di spfor ruben and say it made a difference for his life as well. is is something that is important and we should all be proud about today. >> thank you very much to you both.

>> thank you. >> woodruff: now let's turn to immigration and the president's approach, which is once again stirring up concern as the midterms approach. u.s. border patrol agents arrested more than 16,000 family members in september, according to a new report from the "washington post." that's a record high since president trump officiallya nded licy of separating families at the border.ve the relapike in border crossings comes as the administration weighs new steps to discourage and deter cross- border flow, including what som are callmily separation 2.0 for the latest on what we know, i'm joined by amna nawaz. you have been followinall this, so since the president did announce officially in july that this policy was ending, we know the administration has been working what, with the aclu, other

groups to try to take care o these children. but do we know, having done that, do we know how many are still in custody. >> there are still a few to go for sure. and the number even before the president ordered the end of it, it tk a federal judge to say you have to stop this and reunite these families. that was june 26th.ee it's16 weeks and there are still children in u.s. government care and custody. they are tryi to reunit. you had many, the government's own numbers say there are 66 kids in their care today that they are currently workingo reunit. one under the age of five, as well we should pont out yvment are they still in custody. well, for the vast majority ofth em, 50 of those children, their parents were already deported and that weren'ts a huge statistical challenge. you have to find the parents, then you have to contact theth an you have to ask if they want their children sent back to the same country they were fleeing. the government, the aclu are working to do that right now but the aclu say there are still five children whose parents they

have been unable to contact. we're taing about five kid was could be permanently orphaned as a result of u. policies. woodruff: so 2500 or so originally, they are down to 66. clearly there has been a lot of progress. but they still have work to do. >> they do. and it's important to point out, look, 66 kids they say they are still working to reunite.ou review of the numbers say there is another 250 children still in government care who they are not working to reunit. for a number of reasons. d those reasons raise more questions. these are cases in which they were separed from someone sw other than a parent, say a grandparent or older sibling. cases in which the government says the parent is unfit to be reunited or cases in which the parent was deported and the government said look, the parent, we contacted them and they said they don't want the child brought back to the same country in which they were fleeing the conditions in the first place. we should also say immigration advocateses on the front lines are worried the government is underreporting some of t

separatedded family members based on what they have heard and seen. and the gs overnmenn watchdog agency homeland security watchdontagency last issued a pretty damning rport slamming the government for the inconsistency in numbers and the lack of transparency. at is what they were giving their own investigators. >> woodruff: and there is confusion because you sad the 66, but then as you said, there are still others still in government care socker the president was asked about all of this yesterday. he did an interview with the associated press. he seemed to say that mot of these children who had come across-the-board her either come alone or they were sw smugglea. and he wnt on to say that this family operation policy was meant to be aeterrent. what is the evidence show? has it been a deterrent? >> so the president is absolutely right that the government right now has thousands of mld grant chin in their care and custody and the vast majority of them arrived al those kids tend to be older, yhey tend to have been sent awa for economic uncertainty or violence. they tend to arrive knowing what

to exement. they have contact information to family members. they know they are going to a shell ter and then be reuted. the president is wrong to say that the majority of the childr they separated under zero tolerance that the majority came with smuggler or traffickers. that not true and the government's own numbers bear that out. the president is also wrong in his apparent belief that family separation worked as a deterrent. the numbers don't show that as you talked about earlier, the latest border crossings actually show a short-term spike. and i say short term because important to remember in all of this is that historically border kroosings are the at a low f you look at a grh like this that goes back to 2 thousand, over the last 20er yoos, 20 years ago border crossings month by month, around 70,00, sometime 2-s00,000 a month, so day 15,,000 sounds like a lot but it is still a historic low. >> finally just yikwely-- quick, are starting to hear about another policy the administration is considering, we called it maybe a 2.0. what do we know about it.la

>> s week there was a report the government's considering putting a clois before parents when they cross its border. und basically saying look, you can either keep r child with you in federal detention which is not designed to housewa childrene their protection under a child welfare law or willingly be separated. let's your child be taken from u and go into a government shelter that is desained for children. now edi ask dhs exabout this and was told loo'k, were going to do whatever we need to do to humanlynforce the law to secure or borders. they are looking at range of options, to point out this is a polszee they floated back in ly. they put it before the judge overseeing reunifications. they feel they have a judge to sign off, if they need to use this we will. we should also say immigration advocates say if they decide to put it in place there will be a tlurry of litigation similar to what we saw afer the original family separation policy. >> woodruff: so much to keep track of and really important to

continue to folloa this am tt a nawaz,--a nawaz, thanks. >> thanks, jdy. >> woodruff: doctor shortages around the country impact access to care for millions of ericans. it's estimated by 2025 there will be a shortage of as many as 35,000 primary care doctors and0 specialists. special correspondent cat wise reports on a nonprofit aiming to help the patients most impacted by those shortages by enliing the help of volunteer doctors. it's part the "leading edge" of science, technology and health. >> reporter: every day, 44-year- old donna akers, known to friends as "dallas," makes multiple trips up and down then stairs ir seattle apartment building, and each shap is hard. egs a painful arthritic condition in her ls, feet and hands.

after spending 14 years in prison, she recently turned her life around, earning a full-ride scholarship to the university of washington. while her future looks brighter, akers' health issues remain a daily chalnge. >> i have lupus, and i have psoriatic arthritis, as well as some severe rheumatoid arthritis issues. with my medical conditions, it's not something that tority of doctors in a community clinic are well versed on. >> reporter: she knows that because since being released, akers has been getting care at a community clinic, one she really likes. for arly 50 years, the federally funded country doctor community clinic in the heart of seattle has served mostly low-at incoments who often have complex care needs. >> how have things been going this week? >> started school, so i'm way more active and it's put me pressure on my joints and i'm having a little bit more pain. >> reporter: dr. laura morgan is akers' new primary care doctor. >> remind me what areae most painful for you.

>> reporter: like many family physicians caring for underserved patient populations, dre-morgan has treated a wid range of ailments. d her colleagues, who include nurse practitioners, can r ly do so much. and getting theipatients into specialists is a often a big challenge. >> most of my patients have insurance now or access to insurance and still have difficulties. especially those on medica. depending on specialty there are often long wait-times or limited options often times resulting io patients havin travel pretty far from their home to get ted care they ne. >> reporter: for akers, who has medicaid, thwait is fouro months te a rheumatologist. but now dr. morgan has a new tool in her medical bag that's making it easier to help patients who need specialty care. >> hi dr. morgan, may i call you laura? >> yes absolutel >> reporter: dr. katherine upchurch is a rheumatologist who happens to live 3,000 miles away

in concord massachusetts. the two were brought together by a nonprofit called the "maven project" which connects volunteer doctors with health providers in underserved communities around the country, via "telehealth"-- video conferencing and phone calls. >> tell me how her feet looked. >> reporter: their 30 minute scheduled consult gave dr. morgan plenty of time to get advice from dr. upchurch.um >> i'd check roid factori' analso check a test called anti-c.p.p. >> okay. or>> that's kind of hard tr in the electronic system but look hard enough and you'll find it.or >> rr: dr. upchurch is one of about a hundred doctors giving their time and expertise for free to 40 clinics thru the maven project." maven" stands for "medical alumni volunteer expert network." stted four years ago, the philanthropic and grant funded organization is small, but uses its ties to many of the big medical school alumni

associations to recruit doctors, most of whom are retired a semi-retired in addition to consults, maven project doctors, who are carefuy vetted, provide educational sessions and one-on- one mentoring. telehealth is widely used byon for-profit andofit health providers these days. but the maven project is unique in its focus on the country's most vulnerable patients and its use of volunteers like dr. church, who has been practicing medicine for more than 40 years. she's a professor at the university of massachusettssc medicaol. >> how many repetitions? 30? >> reporter: she's currently on medical leave, and spends about four hours a mth on maven consults. >> you have a growing cohort of well-trained aging rheumatologists, and other

specialists, and primary care physicians, who have been in the trenches with all the toil, and sweat, and blood, that goes along with that, enjoying theirn careers, b wanting to do nuat forever. and wanting to conto use their skills, but at the same time, wanting to smell some roses. >> reporter: dr. upchurch is one ofany doctors around the country at the end of a long career in dicine. in fact about 40% of doctors in the u.s. are 55 or older. >> we think of ourselves as match.com meets the peace corps. >> reporter: dr laurie green is the founder of the maven project. by day, she's a busy ob-gyn in san francisco, but every minute she can spare, she's invved in all things maven. green came up with the idea in 2012 when she was president of the harvard medical school alumni association. a roup of medical school alumni presidents started

recognizing that when the affordable care act was implemented, millions of people ncwould suddenly have insu coverage and very little access to the type of specialty care n they woud to treat their illnesses. and at the same time, we recognized that so many of our colleagues were retiring. i heard repeatedly how doctors felt so wistful when they were leaving practice. then we had one other element that10ould never have existed ar yeago; we had technology. >> reporter: after 30 years of treating cardiogy patients in the bay area, dr. bob cooper recently trading his medical instruments for garding tools. he now consults with a free clinic in miami florida. >> can you rotate the e.k.g? so there's atrial fib as well. >> and vertical hypertrophy. >> absolutely. >> reporter: the clinic isol staffed byteer physicians, including dr. zafar qureshi who recently reached out about a patient who has severe heart disease but no health insurance.

>> the underserved popations have higher incidences of many, many cardiac problems because of lack of care. cholesterol medicines tend to be expensive. and so, they want answers that, within what the patient can afford, what would you suggest next because maybe they can't use the most expensive drug. >> reporter: back in seattle, dr. morgan says the advice she's getting from maven projector dois one of many ways she's trying to provide care for her patients. >> we're always using this p information asce of our own clinical judgement. >> reporter: the maven project is currently partnering with clinics in six states but they hope to be in all 50 by 2023. >> i really appreciate your help. >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, i'm cat wise in seattle.

we woodruff: on the newshour online right nowet a poet's take on the devastating toll, both physical and emotional, that a major hurricane like michael or florence can leave behind. that and more is on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. and that's the new tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: on >> cmer cellular understands that not everyone needs an unlimited wireless plan. our u.s.-based customer service reps can help you choose a plan based on how monh you use your learn more, go toothing consumercellular.tv

>> and with the oning support these institutions and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you.yo than captioning sponsored by wshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh cess.wgbh.org coco's baja penin.

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