amna: good evening and welcome. i'm amna nawaz. judy woodruff is away. on the newshour tonight, help wanted. the latest jobs report shows the employment market cooling but the economy remaining steady, even as recession concerns linger. then, on trial. conspiracy theorist alex jones again faces families from the sandy hook mass shooting seeking major damages for defamation. and voices of the protest. women from inside and outside iran on the uprising unfolding after the death of mahsa amini in police custody. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs

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this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: the u.s. economy remained strong enough last month to create 263,000 new jobs. the unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, but that was after the labor force shrank. overall, job growth remained solid. but it's dropped from the first half of the year when the economy created roughly 400,000 new jobs a month. stocks sank on wall street as investors weighed the news and feared more interest rate hikes. the dow jones industrial average plunged 630 points to close at 29,297. the nasdaq fell 421 points. the s&p 500 slipped 105. economics correspondent paul solman digs into the details.

paul: the economy kept cooking up jobs in september, but at a slower pace. so there are signs that hiring is cooling? >> so i would say it's not cooling. i would say it is normalizing. it's steady gains. and those are the kind of gains that we want to see in the economy. we don't want the labor market to overheat. paul: and there were steady wage gains too, says economist nela richardson. >> the fed is worried about that wages are going to rise too much because the labor market conditions are tight. main street is concerned that their wages aren't rising enough to keep up with the pace of inflation and the cost of living. paul: t given continued inflation, most economists and the fed see a labor market that hasn't cooled enough yet. >> the unemployment rate went down to 3.5%. that is a 50-year historical low, again, suggesting that the labor market is very tight and that the fed needs to keep a really aggressive stance when it

comes to inflation and how wages could drive inflation in the future. pa: sure enough, signs of a tight labor market still abound. employers in sectors like restaurants can't fill the jobs already out there. >> there are right now about 10 million, 11 million unfilled vacancies jobs. paul: labor economist giovanni peri. >> before covid, there would have been, you know, 5 million, 6 million, 7 million unfilled jobs at every given time. paul: one reason we are still seeing those signs? >> we have had many fewer immigrants come into the country since late 2019. both the documented and undocumented. and their population in working age and contribution to employment has essentially stagnated for two years. paul: well, how many people are we talking about? how many fewer working age immigrants? >> you know, 1.5 million immigrants, a little less than

that that we are missing. paul: polls show many americans are concerned about undocumented immigrants. but stagnant immigration overall has been a drag on the whole economy, as measured by gdp, estimates researcher jose ivan rodriguez sanchez. >> the impact of not having enough immigrant workers, it was around 1.1% per year in 2020 and 2021, around roughly $200 billion. if we do not have enough workers, we cannot produce. if we cannot produce, people cannot have access to goods and services. paul: the shortage of immigrants is especially acute in sectors like personal care that rely on them. >> 80% of our staff are foreign born. paul: adam lampert runs a dallas, texas, senior care company. >> we're open every single day. we wt people to call us. the reality is, is that the people who answer the call are immigrants. paul: but there aren't enough of them to fill care jobs. for several reasons, including a

clogged immigration processing system. >> it's that our government is backlogged and that they don't have the resources to address the visas, which are central to employment. paul: another issue -- a new legal ruling that's made the future of the deferred action for childhood arrivals, daca, uncertain. >> at least 20% of our employees are daca individuals who were given the authority to work while they're here. paul: al flores is legal counsel for a chain of texas restaurants. >> the daca individuals have been here since they were young, young children. but because of the lawsuit at some point will not be able to work. paul: at her atlanta electrical firm, tonya hicks cites another problem -- years of deportations. >> some people had the right to be here and go through the process, and they were still deported. and a lot of people lost their lives when they got into different countries. so, i think it's a little ptsd. paul: finally, the reason that's

become a cliche -- most american-born workers won't do the jobs immigrants will, says hicks. >> some of them will work longer. some of them will work in hotter conditions because they are already conditioned to do that. paul: the bottom line for the restaurants al flores represents? >> you've got to have immigrant labor to keep our keep our businesses going. paul: and fewer workers means fewer people to care for loved ones, says adam lampert. >> if we are stiff-arming immigrants as a policy in the united states, keeping them out, we're only hurting ourselves. paul: with more jobs, more than 10 million already unfilled, and a civilian labor force that actually shrank last month, no wonder businesses are concerned. for the pbs newshour, paul solman. ♪ amna: in the day's other news, hurricane ian is now the

second-deadliest storm to hit the u.s. mainland this century, behind hurricane katrina. the associated press reported at least 101 people have now died, including 92 in florida. in the hardest-hit areas, all that remains are piles of debris from destroyed homes and businesses. some residents are still struggling to come to terms with their new reality. >> i mean, i've been through storms since i was a kid, born and raised in florida. donna in '60 and all the big ones and everything. and i've seen devastation, but i've never seen it this widespread. even with charley, it was probably a 20 mile wide swath. this was enormous. amna: about 99,000 customers in southwestern florida are still without power more than a week after hurricane ian made landfall in the state. the uvalde school district has suspended its entire campus police force after intense criticism over their response to the gun massacre in may. the district requested more texas state troopers stationed on campus and at extracurricul activities. 19 students and two teachers

died when a gunman opened fire at robb elementary school. russia pounded the ukrainian-held southern city of zaporizhzhia today with missiles and explosives from iranian-made drones. meanwhile, the death toll from yesterday's russian strikes on apartment buildings in the city rose to 12 people. that follows a stark warning from president biden that the world faces the highest risk of nuclear war in 60 years. at a democratic fundraiser last night, he said, "we have not faced the prospect of armageddon since kennedy and the cuban missile crisis." this year's nobel peace prize was awarded to human rights activists from belarus, russia, and ukraine. jailed belarusian activist ales bialiatski shares the award with the russian group memorial, and the ukrainian organization center for civil liberties. a project coordinator for the ukrainian group says it's a reminder that there is still much more work to be done.

>> we didn't know about this. none of our staff did. i didn't know either. this was a shock for me. but i have to say that this prize gives us inspiration and an understanding that the direction of our work is important for building peace, democracy, and freedom in ukraine. amna: the announcement is a strong rebuke of the russian war in ukraine. it follows a nobel tradition of highlighting groups and activists working to prevent conflicts. and new york city mayor eric adams has declared a state of emergency over the thousands of migrants being bused there from southern border states. the city expects to spend $1 billion by the end of the fiscal year to help new arrivals. it's also been a strain on the city's homeless shelter system as it struggles to take in asylum seekers. >> we now have a situation where more people are arriving in new york city than we can immediately accommodate, including families with babies and young children. although our compassion is limitless, our resources are not.

amna: adams called for state and federal financial aid, as well as a national plan to fairly distribute asylum seekers throughout the country. still to come on the newshour, federal prosecutors weigh tax and gun charges against president biden's son, hunter. david brooks and jonathan capehart weigh in on the week's political headlines. we hear from the stars of the broadway revival of "death of a salesman." plus, much more. >> 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. amna: a connecticut jury will soon decide how much money conspiracy theorist alex jones has to pay families from the sandy hook shooting. that's part of a defamation suit after jones called the shooting a hoax and the victims' families actors. the infowars host spread those lies for years before apologizing during an earlier

trial this summer. now, he could be on the hook for millions of dollars. stephanie sy has the details. stephanie: amna, alex jones lost four defamation lawsuits filed by sandy hook families late last year. the trial in connecticut is the second of three trials for juries to decide on how much money jones must pay in damages. a previous jury in texas ordered he pay $50 million to a sandy hook family. during this trial in connecticut, where the shootings occurred, father mark barden was among those parents who testified about the torment he endured from jones's followers. >> this was horror beyond anything we could ever imagine, trying to deal with -- trying to deal with the fact that our little boy had just been shot to death in his first grade classroom. i had a picture of one of my little days at home with daniel, you know, just for fun. we had a little bath in the kitchen sink, and i had taken a

picture of it because it was adorable. and somebody came on the website saying that that picture was actually -- excuse me -- but that was a picture of daniel after i had dismembered him and killed him myself. and that picture was me mocking everyone else with the fact that i had murdered my son and taken a picture of him in the sink. you can't make this up. somebody did. but this is what i was trying to -- we were all trying to deal with. stephanie: barden's son, daniel, was among the 20 first graders killed at sandy hook. joining us now is elizabeth williamson, who has been in the courtroom throughout the trial for "the new york times." she joins us from inside the courthouse. she's also the author of "sandy hook: an american tragedy and the battle for truth." elizabeth, thank you so much for joining the news. mark barden's story is just one of many searing testimonies that came out of this trial. such raw stories of pain these

families went through. what struck you the most in the last few weeks? elizabeth: i think probably the story of alyssa and robbie parker was the most searing and really is central to this damages case against alex jones. what the parkers went through was it resulted from a news conference that robbie parker gave the night after his daughter emily's death at sandy hook. and he spoke about her, what type of sister she was to her two little sisters. he even expressed compassion for the gunman and the gunman's family. and jones seized on a moment of -- a moment, a split second as robbie parker stepped to the lectern that night. and there was a small laugh that he gave because he was shocked to see so many cameras and so many reporters in front of him because he only expected one. jones for years played and replayed that split second laugh and portrayed him as an actor.

so all of that video over all of those years made him kind of the face of the so-called sandy hook hoax. and he and his family came in for unbelievable numbers of threats and online abuse, to the point -- and it started immediately, within hours of that news conference. so it disrupted the funeral that they planned for emily. they were in terror. just before the funeral, ravi found alissa, emily's mother, hiding in a closet, saying, i don't know if i can go through with this. just really horrific trauma, secondary trauma inflicted on these families by these lies that alex jones spread for years. stephanie: these families had already gone through the unspeakable, losing their young children to a gunman. and these witnesses described years of these types of threats way beyond harassment. alex jones, how much of this testimony was he forced to

listen to, and wt was his attitude during this trial? elizabeth: great question. almost none of the testimony was heard by alex jones. he refused to turn up in the courtroom. he was there for one part of a day. he delivered his sort of testimony in which he said he was done apologizing. the families were there. some of them were weeping because that video that i just spoke about with robbie parker had just been played in the courtroom. people were very emotional and he was just really expressionless, looking at them and saying, you know, i'm done apologizing for this. what is this, a struggle session? are we in china? just a really sort of unbelievably coarse performance. and then he never came back. however, he held forth on the courthouse steps multiple times, you know, giving these news conferences in which he was just trumpeting his own grievance and saying that, you know, he was

right to question this. so, he sort of doubled down rather than showing any kind of contrition in this situation. stephanie: elizabeth, alex jones is on the hook for tens of millions of dollars from just the texas trial. and texas does have caps on damages, but connecticut does not. do these large amounts have the potential to financially ruin alex jones and potentially take away his ability to promulgate the next conspiracy theory on his platform? elizabeth: that remains to be seen, stephanie. it's hard to know at this moment because he is currently in bankruptcy proceedings. he is saying that he can't pay these judgments. the families, of course, are pursuing and they have some suspicions about the bankruptcy filing. so, we'll see. a really big judgment would be a severe financial impact for him, for sure.

stephanie: yawned alex jones -- and i know your book talks about this -- what are the ramifications of these trial outcomes to a greater society, which seems to be prone, at least in segments, to these conspira theories? elizabeth: yeah. i mean, really what the families are doing here is standi up for truth in our public discourse, because sandy hook was a foundational story in how false narratives and disinformation have spread in our society. and alex jones was part of this, but certainly not the entire problem. so we've had, you know, pizzagate and charlottesville and coronavirus myths and then the 2020 presidential election conspiracy theories that led to the january 6 capitol insurrection. so they really are saying we have a societal problem here, and they're trying to draw attention to it. money is something that might get alex jones to stop doing this and stop targeting vulnerable people, or really anyone with these false theories.

but really, what they're standing up for here is the broader truth. and they're trying to send a signal that there is a problem in society right now where people are choosing their own facts and their own reality and their own truth. and this is extremely dangerous, not just to vulnerable people, but to our democracy. stephanie: elizabeth williamson, thank you so much for the context. obviously, you are in th courthouse, so we're hearing some noise, but we appreciate you joining the newshour. elizabeth: it's my pleasure, stephanie. thank you. ♪ amna: for nearly three weeks, iranians have marched in the streets to denounce the islamic regime that has ruled for more than 40 years. sparked by the killing of a young woman named mahsa amini by the so-called morality police, this uprising led by young women is now nationwide, even global. over the last week, producer zeba warsi has been in contact

with women both inside and outside iran. here are some of their stories. >> [chanting] zeba: in an iconic moment lest, schoolgirls in iran drove out a paramilitary officer, calling him shameless. high school girls are off with their he job, singing the protest anthem demanding freedom. stunning images from across the country. iranian youth angry and defiant despite the regime's brutal crackdown. students from sharif university, one of iran's most respective, are sometimes called geniuses, chased by the likes of m.i.t. and the stanford. today, they are being chased by state security forces. >> the government wants to control this protest, but i hope this time it will be different.

zeba: we spoke to several young women inside iran. we are protecting their identities for their own security. >> it is a government problem. we want to be equal with men. we want to wear anything. zeba: they opened up about life under this harine regime. >> we are on a journey, and in the road the headscarf of my sister fell down. after 10 minutes or maybe 15 minutes, my father received a message on his phone. if you repeat it and if you lose your headscarf, you will have to pay a fine for that. and my father was angry. 5 zeba: another woman spoke to us from her home. >> the situation is so video leslie messed up that they are

literally checking people's phones, the people that are passing by in the street. they can be arrested and prosecuted. i have had friends who arrested, friends who were threatened to stay silent or they will be prosecuted. i have had friends that have had to literally run for their lives from the hands of the cops that are now trying to suppress them. i want this government gone because i want to live like a normal human being with human rights. with the rights to express myself, without the fear of literally being killed. zeba: in all our interviews, there is one common message. >> women and men are being killed in the streets. islamic republic is not equal to iran. we are iran. they are the islamic republic. zeba: human rights groups say more than 100 protesters have been killed by security

forces. among them is a 16-year-old. her disturbing death created more fear and more outrage. in a heartbreaking message on her birthday, her mother called her a martyr. >> today was your birthday, my love. i want to congratulate you on becoming a martyr. congratulations on becoming a martyr. zeba: iranian women forced into exile across the world by the regime's policies poured out their hearts to us in dozens of emails. >> every day, it is like waking up to a bottle no matter where we live. it is the 21st century and other people do not understand the horror and instability. >> you have stolen our peace for four decades. return iran to its people. we urge you, leave our people alone. >> for as long as i remember, i wanted to be a boy. i even asked my mom to cut my hair. i wanted to be a boy because girls are not allowed to sing, dance, laugh loudly, be happy,

to exist. >> i was walking in the streets of tehran with my friends. i was arrested for wearing a v-neck t-shirt under my long coat. there was no way out. we had all been objected by the morality police. zeba: it has sparked a global backlash, with millions standing in fierce support. women leaders from all book of life, from wrench actresses to belgian lawmakers cutting their hair in solidarity. but for the iranian dias bruck, it has brought back hunting memories and sparked fear for memories back home. >> i'm sorry. i'm so sorry. [crying] just remembering all the pain and guilt and everything just made me emotional. i'm so sorry. just give me a second. and it is still going on. you know, very simple, easy

things in other parts of th world, it is a no-no thing in iran, for everyone, young people, kids. they can be punished for it. it is so painful. when i remember what we went through, and i have two nieces, young nieces in iran. i feel like they have to go through what i went through. it is very painful. ♪ amna: new details have been revealed in an ongoing fbi probe of hunter biden. laura barron lopez breaks down what we know and what we don't know about the investigation. laura: that's right, amna. "the washington post," among others, has reported that federal investigators believe

they have enough evidence to charge the president's son, hunter biden, with tax crimes and making a false statement related to a gun purchase. investigators sent their findings to the u.s. attorney's office in delaware, where a prosecutor will decide whether to pursue criminal charges. "washington post" reporter devlin barrett broke the story yesterday. he joins us now. hunter biden has been the subject of scrutiny on the right for a long time. bring us up to speed on why agents are looking into him and what got us to this moment. devlin: this investigation began about four years ago and it stayed under wraps for a long time, but it first into public view in a very unusual way just before the 2020 election, when republican advocates started talking about a found laptop and hunter biden emails that were on it. ever since then, it has been an intense political debate as to whether hunter biden did anything wrong. all the while, and investigation has been quietly going on.

we know the federal agents who have been doing that investigation have reached the point where we -- they believe they have enough evidence to charge hunter biden with income tax crimes and a possible gun charge. laura: the tax crimes are focused solely on him not reporting all of his income? devlin: right. one of the big areas that the investigation looked at was, did he report all his income from his various business deals that were also in the mix of this investigation at different points? what they have come to the conclusion of is he did not report some of that income, but there s not been a charging decision yet. it is with the agents have found, but it is up for prosecutors to file charges. laura: we know this because there has been a leak. have there been leaks like this before where charges have ultimately never materialized? or is it pretty much a foregone conclusion that he will be charged? devlin: i don't think anything is a foregone conclusion.

in many investigations, particularly of high-profile people, reporters find out parts and bits of information along the way. there are still some things we don't know and those are important, but i also think this is an interesting and important moment in this investigation that has been going on for so long because it is clear a decision has to be made. laura: i asked the white house today for comment on the case, and they are not commenting. they say this is an ongoing investigation and that is how they have been treating a lot of inveigations, including the ones concerning former president trump. how is attorney general merrick garland? ? responding devlin: even before he became attorney general, he was under pressure to appoint a special counsel to handle this. on the accusation that a democratic administration could not fairly investigate the son of the sitting president. but what merrickarland keep saying when asked is he has tapped a trump appointee prosecutor, a holdover from the

last administration to supervise this investigation. and the case will stay and he will remain supervising this case. rland has vowed not to allow any interference with that work, and that is where things stand now. laura: can you explain what whittle to happen? in your report, you say eventually criminal tacharges have to be -- have to go through the justice department. devlin: one of the quirks of how the justice department works is if you are going to file criminal charges as opposed to civil charges, criminal charges have to be proved by justice department headquarters. that is a quirk in this process. and we have yet to see how that may or may not affect the outcome of this case. that is a key distinction that is not true for other types of criminal investigations. laura: republicans have been fixated on hunter biden for a while and his business dealings, and have in some cases try to

create this equivalency between investigations into him and investigations into former president trump. how is the justice department dealing with that, navigating it? devlin: it has been a headache from day one. it has been a headache before attorney general garland took on the job. it is in some ways the first test he has had. he has had a few big tests. one is the hunter biden case, the other is the january 6 case, now the mar-a-lago investigation. all of these raise questions about can this justice department fairly investigate a politically sensitive case? and one of the big questions this case raises is, if and when the justice department reaches its conclusions, will it change anybody's mind. people have been arguing about hunter biden for years. will the justice department settle the question once and for all? that remains to be seen. laura: what is the response from hunter biden's lawyer? devlin: his lawyer is unhappy

any of this information is out there now. his lawyer argues it is improper for any federal officials to be providing this information and they are unhappy this information has gone into the public. laura: one piece of your report says that prosecutions -- when a subject lies on a gun purchase form, it is pretty rare. how did the -- how did this get mixed in there. devlin: he is under investigation for possibly lying on a form he filled out for buying a gun when he allegedly said he didn't have a substance abuse problem. by the telling of his own autobiography at that time, he had a very serious substance abuse program, -- problem. laura: how unprecedented is all this? devlin: it is unprecedented, but there's always going to be politically sensitive investigations that touch upon or are near the white house. in that sense, we have seen

other cases like this. the son of a sitting president, that is unusual, but there will always be political sensitive investigations. laura: thank you for your time. ♪ amna: october surprises here in the u.s. and crises on the world stage are rippling through american politics with the midterms just a month away and early voting already underway. that brings us to the analysis of brooks and capehart. that's "new york times" columnist david brooks and jonathan capehart, associate editor for "the washington post." and welcome to you both. it is good to see you. we are in the final weeks before those midterm elections. you expect some potentially politically damaging stories to be dropping. we see hunter biden's name back in the headlines all week, herschel walker's name in the news on reports he paid for his

girlfriend abortion even though he supports a national ban. does any of this resonate with voters? is it likely to move the needle? david: you would think so. it used to be if somebody did something really bad -- herschel walker, a bunch of unacknowledged kids, that is not great if you are a family values guy. you would think it would hurt. but if you look at the polls, they are pretty tight that race. but they are tight. the question becomes, maybe scandal doesn't matter. why? somebody in nevada in oklahoma said to me the last couple weeks, politics is national now. you try to have local politics, a local issue, it is controlled by the national debate. you tear up a church, a local organization over the big national issues. second, huge distrust for the media. i am sure a lot of georgia republicans are saying they are always going to play that game.

they just decided, we need to beat the other side. maybe it is possible. i still think candidate quality has to matter in a senate race, but maybe it is possible people are just so locked into their issues and want to beat the other side that it will not hurt them. amna: you have heard mitch mcconnell talking about quality issues, yet leadership is standing firmly by herschel walker. what does that tell you? jonathan: it says a lot about the republican right now. to your point, david, i think it was dana los this week put her finger on what is happening. she said, who cares about the children? who cares about the abortion? all i want is the senate seat for the majority. that is what this is all about. candidate quality, yes, it should matter, but the republican party has made it clear. senator rick scott has made it

clear candidate quality does not matter. it is about putting people in position to win. the fact that the polls are close in georgia i think says a lot about the parties, says a lot about georgia, and says a lot about where we are as a country. i am old enough to remember when a candidate like herschel walker wouldn't even get anywhere close to running in the primary, and now he is maybe 30 days away from being elected to the united states senate from georgia, given everything we know about him, we know in the reporting. amna: are there any more red lines here or is it all fair game? david: a couple things. first, i have to say sometimes democrats -- i remember the clinton and lewinsky scandal. people stuck with clinton maybe when they shouldn't. we can go back to chappaquiddick. people are partisan. what bothers me -- i know

jonathan has a brilliant come back to what i just died. [laughter] -- to what i just said. [laughter] it is bad enough, the character issues. he is not even close to being qualified to being a senator. he hasn't on the requisite things one would do if one wanted to serve in high office. i think that is the media change, that anybody in the media -- and there have always been athletes, but they genuinely had seriousness. they had serious policy chops. that seems lacking here. amna: i will let you respond since your name checked. jonathan: we can move on. amna: wonderful, love that. i do want to ask you on domestic politics, because we saw ben sasse with the announcement he plans to resign at the end of the year. you know him, and i wonder if that struck you or surprised you, because now we have another of the very few republican critics of former president trump politics. david: it didn't surprise me. the timing surprised me, but i

have had this conversation with him several times. he was a college president before the. when he talks about being a college president, his eyes light up. when he talks about being u.s. senator, his eyes shut down. it is just a fact not only for ben sasse, nobody likes being in the senate right now. being an educator is where his heart is. i lead a life where you can have a big impact as an educator, let him do that. amna: it is more about the senate than anything else. i have to ask you about something we heard from president biden we reported early in the show. last night, he offered a very stark assessment of where things are in russia's war in ukraine and what is at stake. here's one quote from what he said. "for the first time since the cuban missile crisis, we have a direct threat to the use of nuclear weapons. i don't think there is any such thing as the ability to easily use a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with armageddon." david, it is about as plainly as

it can be stated, armageddon. did that strike you? david: we are not at the cuban missile crisis, but i have been wondering -- putin has been talking about nukes. how seriously does the administration take it? my impression is they don't think it is probable, but they do think it is possible, and they are really rried about it. that is in part because the russian military doctrine is different than us. russian military doctrine puts technically smaller nuclear weapons as a legitimate weapon of war. it is not as big a hurdle for them to use them. by t way, help is very unclear, but the administration is working super hard to send messages to russia that this would be catastrophic if you did this. i think that statement was part of that. amna: in terms of public messaging, this is much further than the white house press secretary has gone. she has been asked about it. she said, we don't have new information about an imminent threat. jake sullivan has also not gone this far. he said armageddon. jonathan: i listened to you read

it and i read it on the screen, ani am trying to think, where is the hair on fire statement here? other than armageddon? i heard about that last night and i thought, this is the president being the president. this clearly is top of mind for president biden. this is clearly something, to david's point, that not only the ministry should is taking seriously in private but is something the president is taking seriously personally. it is top of mind, and we have seen many times when the president, he says things and people run out and say, he said this, it is a gaffe, a mistake, the administration tries to dial it back, but he ends up coming back to it. we have seen that five times, when it comes to taiwan. david: they always walk it back. sometimes you have to think a month this is just presidential policy. but they shouldn't be walking it back all the time. jonathan: i think the president using a stark word like

armageddon, to david's point, i think it is sending a message to the russians, but also saying to the american people, people around the world, let's not pretend that putin in this losing more wouldn't -- this losing war wouldn't use tactical nuclear weapons. we need to be ready for this. get our imaginations working to the point where we could see this happen, then once you do that you can figure out how would we respond? amna: the sticks could not be higher. -- the stakes could not be higher. david: the ukrainians began to march. this past week, they are taking a bunch of territory. super ambitious and mobile. russians are falling back from places they just called russian territory. a losing vladimir putin becomes a different animal and that is what they are trying to grapple with. at the same time, support in europe for the war is rising, not falling, even with the tough winter they are about to have. job stockpiling energy. a good

things are looking very good for the ukrainians, all of which has to look menacingor vladimir putin. amna: at the same time, the global crises keep piling up. you also saw the opec plus companies decided to slash oil production drastically. russia is obviously part of that decision, along with the saudis. that means oil revenue for russia will fuel the war in ukraine. president biden is going to have to deal with all that back here. inflation is likely to persist, gas prices are going to go up. is he doing enough to respond to that? david: there is nothing he can do. he tried to get the saudis to not do this and it failed. he is doing what he can.he will have to face the inflation. the main thing is to win the war on ukraine. inflation is survivable, but this could be an epic victory for the forces of liberal democracy if ukraine does this. so helping the europeans, preparing the americans, and ultimately aiding the ukrainians, that is the number one thing right now.

amna: inflation is survivable, but people feel it every day. it is top of mind. there is an election looming. is there anything else he could be saying? or will they just blame him anyway? jonathan: no matter what he says, they will blame him. i am sure people will make the link and say, opec plus countries cut production, that is why my gas prices are going up. he went to saudi arabia and fist bumped mbs, and look at where we are, he failed. none of it fits, none of it is truly connected. but when you are going to the gas pump and it was, say, four dollars yesterday and $4.45 the following week, you don't care about this nuance. mr. president, what happened? amna: if we can end with a moment of zen, if such a thing exists in american policies today. [laughter] and also call attention to the fact that millions of people are still struggling in florida more than a week after hurricane ian

ripped through. i want to share a couple pictures when president biden made a trip. he and republican governor ron desantis shared a stage. they walked around meeting with people. they even shared a handshake, if you could believe it. it is a rare sight these days. i just wonder how that moment sat with each of you. jonathan? jonathan: it is that moment, a little bit of a real hope that in all of the partisanship -- amna: i want to see your fingers this far apart. [laughter] jonathan: a ray of hope that of all the horrible things governor desantis has said about the president and the administration, that he is done -- that he has done sending migrants to martha's vineyard, that he did not play politics with wives. mr. president, welcome to florida. please help. i only say a ray because he then went on a conservative radio

show and blasted the administration. that is why it is a ray of hope -- a glimmer of hope, not a ray of hope. not a full ray. [laughter] but it is a good thing to see that they can put politics aside long enough to try to help people in need. amna: david, what do you think? david: remember when we used to live in a country that was divided and polarized? now it is all over. [laughter] i saw angels coming down from heaven, cherubs coming out of the palm beach club. amna: there was music, harps were playing. david: i agree with jonathan. it was nice to see politicians behaving like normal human beings. [laughter] amna: does it take a national tragedy for things like this to happen? david: there is a little more of that in private than they can allow. if you get members of congress together, on the rare occasions they get together, there is a lot more normal human beings. amna: i don't think we can do enough to remind people those moments exist, even though we

don't always get to talk about them. david brooks, jonathan capehart, always good to see you. ♪ amna: it's one of the great classics of american theater, "death of a salesman," a drama confronting american dreams and harsh realities. a new production opening sunday on broadway offers a different window into a story captivating audiences for more than 70 years. jeffrey brown talks to actors wendell pierce and sharon d. clarke for our arts and culture series, "canvas." >> there were promises made. you mustn't tell me you have people to see. jeffrey: in "death of a salesman," willy loman is a proud but beaten-down man, an aging traveling salesman grasping at illusions of his own success and that of his sons, . >> you cannot eat the orange and throw the peel away. a man is not a piece of fruit.

>> he is not the finest character that ever lived. but he's a human being. jeffrey: while his wife, linda, desperately tries to save him. >> so attention must be paid. jeffrey: in a new production, there is an additional reality. the loman family is black. and that, for actors wendell pierce and sharon d. clarke, brings a new richness and depth to the story. >> it doesn't change. it's augmented. the delusion, the pursuit of this american dream, this idealism. >> it's an impossibility. it's futile. >> it's an intangible thing. but he refuses to accept that. >> i wanted linda to be the linchpin of the family, as black women are linchpins in families. and i think if we're going to do this through that perspective,

through that lens, then for me it's important that's what we see. jeffrey: pierce, 58, is a juilliard conservatory trained actor. >> those two are definitely straight up drug executions. jeffrey: who first gained wide attention in the early 2000s as detective bunk moreland on the hbo series "the wire" and has gone on to many other powerful tv, film, and stage roles. >> you shouldn't have left me behind. >> there is still time for that. jeffrey: in willy loman, he takes on one of the most defining characters in theater history, one created by legendary playwright arthur miller in 1949, and played on broadway by a who's who of renowned actors. >> he's got spirit! jeffrey: lee j. cobb, george c. scott, dustin hoffman, brian dennehy, philip seymour hoffman. > all great, all white. in theater tradition, this was a white family. it's been a dream role for pierce. but in a recent talk at famed broadway restaurant sardi's, he

thought first of others. >> i think of all the men who wanted to play it before but because of the times and the big currents, of -- and the ignorance, of prohibitions of who could and could not play it. i wanted to do it in honor of them. jeffrey: you're talking about black actors who didn't get the chance? >> yeah, didn't get the chance. i think about, you know, some of my heroes, specifically ossie davis. i think of roscoe lee browne. men who actually inspire me to become an actor, as i was a young boy in new orleans reading these theater newsletters from new york and watching their careers. >> ♪ nothing ever happened underground in louisiana ♪ jeffrey: clarke is a veteran british stage actor who's also been active in tv and films. she gained a tony nomination earlier this year for her broadway performance in "caroline or change," in which she played a maid in a southern white family. this opportunity, she says, came as a shock.

>> i never ever put myself in this role. i never thought anyone would ask me to do it. jeffrey: iwasn't in the cards? it wasn't even in your dreams? >> i never even thought about it, never thought anyone would approach someone who looks like me to do this role. >> i will make a big breakfast. >> will you let me finish? 4 linda loman has often been portrayed as something of a doormat, trying to bridge the gulf between her husband and their two sons -- biff, played by khris davis, and happy, mckinley belcher. clarke looked for her strength, and found it in her own family story. >> it hono my mom, you know what i mean? it honors all those women. my mom came from jamaica to britain, to a country where she wasn't welcomed. "no blacks, no irish, no dogs." and having to make a way and having to hold the family together. and also, my parents were the first ones from my family that came through. so all of my family came through my house first. so i grew up with my family before they all found their spaces. so for me, it honors them and what they went through and all

the vicissitudes of life that they had to deal with. >> take a seat. you want a drink? jeffrey: class has always been and remains an issue in the play, an economic inequality that now also has a contemporary feel, along with the new dynamic of race. the words haven't changed. but at times, they resonate in the theater in a new way. >> something happened last night that was one of the most cathartic things that ever happened. jeffrey: in one scene, willy had admonished his son biff before a meeting with a prospective boss. >> and if anything falls off his deskhile you are talking to him, like a package or something like that, don't you pick it up! they've got office boys for that. jeffrey: later, though, willy himsf faces the same situation with his younger white boss. >> a woman screamed out in the audience. i knew it was a black woman. she just said, "no! don't!" you could feel the pain that she

had gone through, understanding what willy was going through, understanding what she probably had to through, the indignity, and she could not keep silent. jeffre willy does pick it up. he does lose his job, and his relationship with his sons, and eventually his mind, including in scenes with his long-lost brother, played by tony-winner andre de shields. in this psychological breakdown, clarke says, she found another way into her character. >> my thing is to look after this man no matter what, because also we're dealing with mental illness as well. in a time when we're not talking about mental health. we're basically only just coming to terms with talking about mental illness now. if you kind of think about in that time -- >> so taboo. >> nowhere to turn. you know, you say to someone, i think my husband might be going crazy. the men in white coats might come and drag him off. so it's how you deal with that as well. and for me, what holds her to

that is love. i don't know what to do in this situation where my man is basically losing his mind in front of me and trying to kill himself. so all i can do is love him, love him, love him. because that is the wealth of that family. jeffrey: for the actors, while their version is more specific in its black focus, it remains universal -- the very thing that made this a theater classic in the first place. >> it changes you. and i think back, i wrote this this morning to a friend. all those years ago at juilliard we would say, what are we doing this for? why are we doing this? [laughter] it took me 40 years. jeffrey: the rehearsing, the training, the practicing. >> training, the practice, the real intense sort of conservatory training. and i said, oh, this is what it was for. jeffrey: "death of a salesman" runs through january 23. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown on broadway. amna: and on the newshour online

right now, a new california law is removing a derogatory term that is an offensive slur against native american women from some place names. in one central california community, some are celebrating while others are conflicted about the potential name change. read more at pbs.org/newshour. for more on president biden's chilling nuclear warning, the latest from the midterm campaign trail, and the new supreme court termjoin "washington week" moderator yamiche alcindor and her panel tonight on pbs. saturday on pbs news weekend, after changes this week in the global oil market, a look at ahead at what americans could face at the gas pump. that's saturday on pbs news weekend. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. for all for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you. have a great weekend, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪

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institutions to promote a better world. hewlett.org. 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. >> the pbs newshour, putting questions to those in power. >> we are in the fourth wave, there are not enough tests, is it time for a new approach? providing insight into big issues. >> the speech sets the foundation for democrats as they renew their push for voting rights. >> focusing on underreported

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hello, everyone and welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. >> we made it clear to kim jong un we're wling to sit down with no preconditions. >> north korea test fires missiles. russia ups the ante in ukraine. i get the latest view from the white house from national security council spokesperson john kirby. then -- "5 days at memorial." with ian still wreaking havoc in florida, screenwriter john ridley takes us back to hurricane katrina with his chilling series on a storm-battered hospital. plus -- >> the dissolution of what the american dream is and can be that willy