♪ 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 tonht's pbs newshour. ♪

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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 hiri is cooling? >> so i would say it's not cooling. i would say it is normalizing. it'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: but 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.

paul: 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 want peop 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 r 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 rean 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 themill 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. ♪ stephanie: i'm south -- i'm

stephanie sy with newshour west. hurricane ian is now the second deadliest storm to hit the mainland this century behind hurricane katrina. the associated press reported at least 101 people have died, 90 two in florida. and the harst hit areas, all that remains are piles of debris from destroyed homes and businesses. some residents struggling to come to terms with their new reality. >> i was born and raised here and have seen devastationbut not of this level. this was enormous. stephanie: 99 thousand customers in southwestern florida are still without power more than a week after hurricane ian made landfall. the uvalde school district suspended its entire police force over criticism to their response to the gun massacre in may.

they requested more texas troopers on campus and at extracurricular activities. 19 students and two teachers died when a gunman opened fire atrobb elementary school. reinstating on injunction blocking a near-total abortion ban which will allow abortions in arizona to restart unless the state supreme court steps in. last month the judge upheld a pre-statehood law that nearly criminalized all abortions. columbia university announced a $165 million settlement with 147 patients who accused a former gynecologist of misconduct, following a $71.5 million last year. the doctor was convicted in 2019 on sex related charges.

mayor adams in new york city declared a state of emergency over the number of migrants being bussed there. the city expects to spend $1 billion to help new arrivals. it has been a strain on the city's homeless shelter system as it struggles to take in asylum-seekers. >> more people are arriving a nuclear -- in new york city then we can accommodate, including families with babies and young children. although our compassion is limitless, our resources are not. stephanie: overseas in ukraine series of explosions rocked the city of kharkiv saturday morning , triggering secondary explosions after russia pounded zaporizhzhia with missiles and explosives. meanwhile the death toll from an earlier russian strike on apartment buildings in the city rose to 14 people. 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 prices. the 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 coordinatofor 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. stephanie: still to come on the newshour, or prosecutors with

tax charges against president biden's son, hunter. jonathan capehart and jason weigh in on the headlines. and, a broadway revival of "death of a salesman." >> this is the ebs 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 dails. 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 damas. a previous jury in texas orded he pay $50 million to a sandy hook family. during this trial in connecticu 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 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 mysf. 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, 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 bfuneral, ravie th found alissa, efemily'o's mothe, 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 harasent. alex jones, how much of this testimony was he forced to listen to, and what 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 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: 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 conspiracy theories? elizabeth: yeah. i mean, really what the families

are doing here is standing 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 the 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 kling of a young woman named mahsa amini by the -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 last

week, schoolgirls in iran drove out a paramilitary officer, calling him shameless. high school girls are off with their hijabs, 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 respected, 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 hardline regime. >> we were 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. zeba: another woman spoke to us from her home. >> the situation is so ridiculously messed up that they are literally checking people's phones, the people that are passing by in the street 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 moth 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 battle, no matter where we live. it is the 21st century and other people do not understand the horror and instability iranians face on a daily basis. >> 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 -- abducted 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 french actresses to belgian lawmakers cutting their hair in solidarity. but for the iranian diaspora, it has brought back hunting memories and sparked fear for family 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 istill going on. you know, very simple, easy things in other parts of the 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 burst into public view in a very unusual way just before the 2020 election, when republican operatives and 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, an investigation has been quietly going on. we know the federal agents who have been doing that investigation have reached the point where they believe they have enough evidce 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 has not been a charging decision yet. it is with the agents have found, but it is up fo 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 materiazed? 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 gog 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 investigations, including the ones concerning former president trump. how is attorney general merrick garland responding to this? devlin: even before he became attorney general, he was under pressure from republicans to appoint a special counsel to handle this. on the theory and accusation that a democratic administration could not fairly investigate the son of the sitting president. but what merrick garland kept 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. garland has vowed not to allow any interference with that work, and that is where things stand now. laura: can you explain what

would ultimately happen? in your report, you say eventually criminal tax charges 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 approved when it comes to tax cases 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 tooon 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 priding this information and they are unhappy this information has gone into the public. laura: one piece of your report

that when a subject lies on a gun purchase form, it is pretty rare. how did this get mixed in there. will it be attached if it is criminal versus civil charges? 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 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 -- politically 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's abortion in 2009 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 in that race. but they are tight. the question becomes, maybe scandal doesn't matter. why? somebody in nevada and 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 play that game. they just decided, 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 -- candidate quality issues, yet leadership is standing firmly by herschel walk. what does that tell you? jonathan: it says a lot about the republican party right now. to your point, david, i think it was dana los this week put her finger on what is happening. she said basically, i'm paraphrasing, who cares about the children? who careabout 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 said. [laughter] it is bad enough, the character issues. he is not even close to being qualified to being a senator.

he hasn't done 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, we saw a republican senator 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 public 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 this. 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 sse, nobody likes being in the senate right now. being an educator is where his heart is. i lead a life where you can have -- he can lead a life or he 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 worried about it. that is in part because the russian military doctrine is different than ours. 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 the 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, and i 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 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 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. the europeans have done a good job stockpiling energy. things are looking very good for the ukrainians, all of which has to look menacing for vladimir putin. amna: at the same time, the global crises keep piling up. you also saw the opec plus countries 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 th could be an epic victory for the forces of liberal democracy if ukraine does is. 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 sending migrants to martha's vineyard, that he did not play politics with their lives. 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? and then it all was over, 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 rare occasions when they get together there is more. >> i don't think we can do enough to remind people that this moment exists. david brooks, always good to see you. thank 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. it is 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 clark for our arts and culture series, campus. >> in death of the salmon willy loman is a proud but beaten- down man. the agent traveling salesman laughing at allusions of his own success and that of his sons. >> a man is not a piece of fruit. >> he is not the finest character that ever lived. he is a human being. >> his wife linda desperately tries to save him. >> attention must be paid.

>> in a new broadway production there is an additional reality. the loman family is black. >> attention must be paid to a person. a new richness and depth to the story. >> it is not change. the delusion is augmented. the pursuit of this american dream. this idealism. it becomes an impossibility. it is an intangible thing. he refuses to accept that. >> i think if we will do this through that perspective and that lens, for me it is important. >> a juilliard conservatory trained actor. >> those two are definitely straight up drug executions.

>> as detective bob morlan on the hbo series the wire. he has gone on to many other powerful tv film and stage roles. 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 of the who's who's renowned actors. lee j cobb and george c scott and dustin hoffman. philip seymour hoffman. all great and all white. in theater tradition this was a white family. it has been a dream role for pierce. in a recent talk he thought first of others. >> i think of all the men who wanted to play it before because of the times and the ignorance of prohibitions of who could and could not play

it. i wanted to do it in honor of them. black actors that did not get the chance. i think about some of my heroes. specifically ozzie davis. men who inspired me to become an actor as i was a young boy in new orleans. reading these theater newsletters from new york. >> a veteran british stage actor who has been active in tv and films. he gained a tony nomination for his broadway performance in caroline or change. this opportunity, she says, came as a shock. >> i never even thought about

it. i never thought anyone would approach someone who looks like me to do this role. >> i will make a big breakfast. >> linda loman has been pretrade of something as a doormat. bridging the gulf between her husband and their two sons. clark looks for her strength and found in her own family story. >> my mom came from jamaica to britain. to a country where she was not welcomed. having to make her way and hold the family together. alo, my parents were the first ones for my family that came through. all of my family came through my house first. i grew up with my family before they all found their spaces. this honors them and what they went through. >> it is always been an issue

in the play. and economic inequality that also has a contemporary feel. along with the new dynamic of race. the words have not changed. 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. >> if anything falls off his desk why you are talking to him, like a package or something like that, don't you pick it up. they have office boys for that. >> later willy himself faces the same situation with his younger white boss. >> a woman screamed out in the audience, i knew it was a black woman. she said no, don't. you could feel the pain that she had gone through. understanding what willy was going through and what she had to go through. the indignity. she could not keep silent.

>> willy does pick it up and loses his job and his relationship with his sons. eventually his mind. including in scenes with his long-lost brother played by tony winter and andre deshields. in this psychological breakdown, clark says she found another way into her character. >> my thing is to look after this man. no matter what. also we are dealing with mental illness as well. in a time we are not talking about mental illness. if you think about it in that time where there would be nowhere to turn. it is how you deal with that as well. for me, what holds to that is love. i don't know what to do in this

situation where my man is basically lose my mind in front of me and trying to kill himself. all i can do is love him. that is the wealth of that family. >> 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. i think back. i wrote this this morning to a friend. all those years ago at juilliard. why are we doing this? it took me 40 years. for training and practice. the real intense conservatory training. i said this is what it was for. >> death of a salesman runs through january 23. i am jeffrey brown on broadway. >> on the news hour online right now, a new california law is removing a derogatory term that is an offensive slur against native american women from some places names.

in one central california community some residents are celebrating while others are conflicted about the potential name change. read more about that on our website. pbs.org/news hour. for more on the nuclear warning, the latest from the midterm campaign trail in the new supreme court term. join michelle's indoor and her panel tonight on pbs. saturday on pbs news week and after changes this week in the global oil market a look ahead at what americans could face at the gas pump. that is saturday on pbs news weekend. that is the news hour for tonight. for all of us at the pbs news hour,. have a great weekend and we will see you soon. >> moving our0

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spoke as a surgeon i'm in the business of taking care of patients with difficult cancers. the research component is critical. when we have protocols that may be making a difference we often are able to push the envelope. the tumors now become removable. we take high-resolution ct scans and sometimes we do 3-d modeling to see the subtleties and anatomy. it is important for preoperative planning. we see complicated patients. if they are dealing with diseases that are rare they need to be at a major medical center. or the entire center is taking care of them. being able to restore a person to their health, that's why we do it. the idea they can live long and watch their children graduate from college. all of those things. that's the gold nugget. >> here is the lineup. úimpossi.

tonight on kqed newsroom. mayor london breed announced a new push to end open air drug dealing in san francisco. oprah book club offer author join us to talk about the east bay stories they are bringing to light. plus a close-up look at a 30 foot oakland mural. honoring the women of the black panther party. coming to you from kqed headquarters in san francisco this friday, october 7, 2022.