♪ judy: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, vital technology. spacex c.e.o. elon musk threatens to stop funding an internet service that the ukrainian military has been using. then, consolidating power. the chinese president prepares to tighting his grip on authority, emulating his political hero, chairman mao. >> he patterns mao in the way he governs the party. judy: and it's friday. we weigh i on the january 6 committee's decision to s&p --

subpoena former president trump. and what to exact in the upcominglection. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> pediatric surgeon. volunteer, thompsonry artist, a raymond james financial advisor taylors advice to help you live your life. life well planned. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour, including jim and nancy and kathy and paul anderson. >> actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. >> it's exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding them. -- thing.

>> the john s. and james foundation. fosterrering engaged and informed communities. ♪ >> and friends of the newshour. this program was made possible by the corp railings for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: russia's president vladimir put season insisting he has no regrets over the war in ukraine. in the face of international pressure and internal dissent.

he spoke as russian missiles again blasted a ukrainian city. but he said he never intended to destroy ukraine. >> what is happening today is unpleasant but he would have to face the same situation later in conditions worse for us. judy: he also said that his unpopular mobilization of russian reservists should be finished in two weeks. in this country, police in raleigh, north carolina, say a 15-year-old boy is in critical condition after killing five people last night. he alledgedly shot the victims on neighborhood streets and a nearby walking trail. hours later he was cornered and arrested. it's unclear how he was wounded. nicole ellis has our report. reporter: a slaughter in north carolina. the latest chapter in an all-too

familiar american story. in an east raleigh neighborhood, residents were forced to take shedder for hours. by 10:00 p.m., police had captured a white 10-year-old boy accused of killing five and injuring several more. today the mayer called it mindless and needless. >> there are several members of our community waking up this morning without their loved ones. >> the associated press reports thursday's shooting was the 25th u.s. mass killing this year with four or more killed not counting the gunmen and among last month -- night's dead, an off duty raleigh police officer headed to work as the shooting began. in connecticut on wednesday, two officersere killed and another injured after apparently being drawn into an ambush while

investigating a possible domestic dispute. f.b.i. data shows 49 law enforcement officers killed in the first few months of this year. compared with 34 during the same period last year. judy: in a statement today president biden said too many families have lost loved ones tomasz shooting. the u.s. justice department asked a federal appeals court today to end an outside review of couldn't taken from former president trump. a special master was ordered to examine the white house records. today's filing argued that the judg overstepped her authority. in australia, flooding from heavy rainfall has inundated parts of the country's second most populous city. some 500 holmes have flooded in melbourne and other cities

across victoria state in the southeast. crews have rescued more than 100 people in the past 48 hours. the swollen rivers are expected to remain dangerously high for days. climate change protesters in london threw tomato soup today on a van gogh painting at the national gallery of art. the artist attacked the work of art sunflowers and then glued their hands to the wall to protest against fossil fuel. they were later arrested. the gallery says the art work was protected by glass. liz truss -- the value of the pound has plummeted to record lows after she announced tax cuts with borrowed money. today truss dismissed calls that she designed. >> i'm absolutely determined to see through what i've promised,

to deliver a higher growth, more prosperous united kingdom but it was right in the face of the issues that we had that i acted decisively to ensure that we have economic stability. judy: truss took off just six weeks ago. two giants in the u.s. grocery industry are merging. kroger today agreed to buy albertsons. together the companies own or 5,000 stores nationwide. on wall street, inflation fears pushed major stock indexings down from 1% to 3%. the dow lost more than 400 points. the nasdaq fell 327 points. the s&p 500 slipped 87. for the week the dow lost 1%.

the nasdaq fell 3% and the s&p 500 dropped 1.5%. in a passing of note. actor robby coltrane from the harry potter movies has chid in his native scotland. he landed a break through role in the british series "cracker" and starting in 2001 he appearrd in all eight of the harry potter films. he was 78. still to come, why gas prices are so much higher in california. we weigh in on the week's political headlines. afghan poets find inspiration in exile. pl much more. >> this is the pbs newshor from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter con

cronkite school of journalism. judy: elon musk said today that his company spacex can no longer fund the satellite system in ukraine. it's helped the ukraine military and civilians stay in touch during the war. it follows backlash that musk received for suggesting a peace plan to end the war that would require ukraine cede territory to russia. john lang has the latest. reporter: since february, more than 12,000 starlink internet terminals have been delivered to ukraine. they've been crucial. operators rely on the service to send live fields to targeting unit. it's also been vital to troops staying in touch with their families. today musk said spacex cannot

indefinitely fund the system. when -- which he says cost nearly $20 million aonth. last month musk asked congress to take over the service. felicia joins us for more. how important has this system been to ukraine in this war? >> american and ukrainian officials have described it to us as a total game changer, super important. as us, it helps drone operators, it helps people stay in touch. it's basically a backup communications network when cell phone and internet infrastructure are down and especially as ukrainian forces are retaking area in the west of the country where there's not a lot of ukrainian cell coverage. >> has musk just been donating this? >> it's been a mix. musk and spacex. the u.s. government and european countries have donated some.

also there's been some crowd funding efforts but he has donated some terminals as well. >> and musk asked the pentagon which if they could take in over. where do things stand with that? >> the pentagon said they are in active conversations with spacex and musk trying to figure it out. they said they've received this communication from musk expressing concern about the pricing. i know american officials i've spoken to made it clear that they see satellite communicationings and these star-dink terminals in particular as being very, very important to ukraine's war effort and said they're in ongoing talks with spacex and elon musk. they also identified some other companies, they would not say which ones that also provide this kind of satellite function and they're looking into that as well. >> given all the military assistance the united states is

providing, could this get wrapped into that military aid? >> i think that's something we're trying to report out and figure out. some analysts suggested to us maybe the pentagon would use the defense production act, for example, to try to fund this but i think some u.s. funding is going to communications and satellite communications, infrastructure and so on so i think it depends on what the da dollar amount is that they work out, how it will be kind of covered with the funds that have been allocated and maybe congress will have to play a role but i think that will play out in the coming days and weeks. >> you and your colleagues at the financial times have reported there have been wild areas of ukraine where in service has gone down, that it's not operating anymore. any idea what caused this shutdown and how has that affected ukrainian military operations?

>> beginning blast last month, ukrainian troops started telling us what they described in some places as catastrophic outages. i think we're still trying to get to the bottom of what's going on. ukrainian officials abc they suspect there might be gio graphic limits that spacex is imposing. some of these outages kind of came as elon musk was tweeting about a peace plan for ukraine, and ukrainian initials and lots of observers see as quite favorable to russia. would involve annexing territory that ukraine has made clear they don't want to give up. what might be known as gio fencing or limits in some areas might be one explanation. officials have said russian jamming might account for some of it as well.

perhaps musk and spacex don't want russian forces to be able to use the system so they're being cautious about turning it back on in places where ukrainian troops have arrived. and since we wrote that original story. we've heard that some of these affected united states have been turned back o but i think it will be crucial in the days ahead that these troops can stay connected as they're making gains in the south. >> you mentioned that peace plan that musk floated that got a frosty reception from the ukrainians. i think it's fair to say it's often hard to determine musk's motivations. is there a connection, do you think, between that sort of failed trial balloon and what he's saying now? >> i think it's hard to know and i definitely wouldn't want to speculate. there are definitely some people we're talking to who thinks that's the case.

others have pointed to what musk said, he fears escalation and wants to avoid a quiter war. obviously musk is tweeting a lot about what he's doing and his intentions and we're talking to others in touch with him and trying to figure out what's going on there. >> felicia schwartz of the financial times, thank you very much. >> thanks for having me. ♪ judy: china is set to hold its most important political meeting in decades. the communist party's 20th national congress, which kicks off sunday, will see a shakeup of the country's leadership but the top job is all but secured with president ping expected to remain at the helm, paving the way for him to mintz his status as china's most powerful leader

since maotse tung. our special core point begins his report in a rural province with xi lived as a young man. >> the ride is bumpy but the surroundings are pristine with fields brimming with cops. -- crops. this is the village considered a living shrine to china's leader. as a teenager, xi ping was sent here to reeducate united states. he spent years living in caves carved out of the hills and one of them a case of books he's said to have read. in another, post-- poster's modern china's founding father. >> it was very hard time. >> he's an author of "inside the

mind of xi jinping. >> it's used in his political career. you can say he's a man of the people, a down to earth man and not only the son of revolutionary red arisk accurate. >> xi's father suffered as a sult of tung's purge of potential rivals and the younger xi encured -- endured hard maybe but far from turning against the communist party, he embraced it. >> it's the first leader since the death of mao in 176 to escalate the leg say of mao without reservation. if he follows him in the way he governs the party. the -- is very mao style.

>> now having scrapped presidential term limits in 2018, he paveed the way for an historic third five-year term as leader and xi's quest for power could extend well beyond that with many political analysts belief, li mao, he intends to rule for life. but it comes as the country faces mounting challenges under the 69-year-old's leadership. ongoing and frequent lockdowns and his zero policy on covid have taking a heavy whole. the growth report is its weakest in nearly four decades, excluding the initial your of doved in 2020. there are plenty of signs of people cracking under the covid policies. this covid testing booth was spotted recently sprayed with graffiti saying give me freedom

or give me death. alfred wu is an associate professor at the national university of singapore. >> lots of people were locked at home for months. there were lots of mental health issues. now the unemployment rate is very, very high. almost 20% so basically it's some sort of failure in china but chinese leadership, particularly under xi jinping insists this is the approach he wants to adopt. >> china's two-term limit was started in 1992 to avoid the kind of -- that can occur under a leader. >> they're knew that mao made a lot of mistakes. >> there were more than mistakes. tense of millions of people died

result of mao's economic manualses. he was china's unchallenged revolutionary leader for more than three decades. as part of the shakeup of the party's leadership of the political congress, it's expected xi loyalists will give him a level of control unseen since the days of mao. >> a dstic change is happening with c.c.p.'s ruling approach, turning from an authoritarian system of market economy and globalization from 1992 to a totalitarian system. this totalitarian system is a new change for china's future and for the world. it's a fundamental change. >> under xi's china's relationship with the west has become particulay fraud. a partnership with russia's

vladimir putin just weeks before his invasion of ukraine drew international criticism. it's raised questions also at ho. this is a senior three of the p. >> it's like a respect for territorial integrity so some of the policies of russia is not really in line with the chinese principle. >> rising national i'm has also -- nationalism has also changed china's image. some 85% of americans now have a negative view of china. >> china's distrust towards international society results from international society's suspicions and mills trust of china. as china closes itself borders, it ends up with a contradictory

relationship with the international community. >> meanwhile, china's ambitions for nationalism and some say global supremacy have been dealt a fresh blow at the biden administration rolled out sweeping regulations to limit china's access to accept conductors. it's seen as the most aggressive action by president biden yet to prevent china from developing techlogy that could pose a threat that prompted an angry response from beijing. >> in order to maintain science and technology, the united states abused ex port control measures and maliciously blocked and suppressed chinese interprizes. that dive vault from the principle of fair competition and violate federal economic and afraid rules. >> event without that, the economic gathering has fueled

debate over whether one man should rule this massive country. for the pbs newshour, patrick faulk in beijing. ♪ judy: gas prices in much of the country have dropped substantially this fall but in california, the price per gallon has remained much higher this afternoon other states. the costs are pushing some residents to the edge and raising concerns about whether price gouging is to blame. william has our report on what's behind the spike and the toll it's taking on the golden state. reporter: this month, consumers in california were playing -- paying roughly $2 . 61 per gallon more than the national average. the average there is about $6.15

a gallon now but in some parts of the said it's been $7 or more. we'll look at what's behind the spike in a moment. first, we spent the last week talking to people across the state. >> my name is crystal miller. i live in los angeles, california, and i work in social media in marketing. right now the gas prices are $6 or $7 a gallon. >> i'm a semirelieved agricultural economist. we're being more thoughtful about what -- where we drive and what the value proposition is for the drive. >> i'm living in northern california. and i work for a major health care organization. i'm originally from oklahoma. proud member of the choctaw nation of oklahoma. it's kind of terrifying to see gas prices where they are.

>> i'm linda randall. from penn val, california. i'm an ex-financial analyst and not a wealthy person by any means so immingled my pennies. >> is it worth driving 20 miles and burning a gallon of gas to push gas line or -- can we buy the ice cream closer and save in this case $14? >> it's so much easier and convenient and cheaper now to order online. >> i saw $6.79 a gallon on friday. i didn't have to get gas so i didn't stop but i saw it and i was like what? it was a real double take moment to see that here in my little town. it was like, what? where am i right now? >> one of my hobbies is singing and i sing with the san francisco symphony choir, which

is a big deal but that's 150 miles. it costs me between $70 and $0 to go round trip depending on the price so the calculus i'm making is that's a lot of money. >> the higher gas price comes into play when we do things like support a local beef producer. local, 35 miles watched we've been buying directly from him and we rethink that we would like to support him but with 5, 6, $7 gas, you put that added cost into the price of the product you're picking up. >> my parents live towards the long beach area and i live more towards the airport so i'm the one who drives out to see them every week. the gas affects me so i only go out there about once a week. >> i drive an economical car

that gets about 32 miles per hour per gallon. i could fill up for $30. it's almost $70 now to fill me -- my 13-gallon tank. >> now to drive to albuquerque, the cost of gas to do that, that makes that trip almost impossible for me. that means i don't see my family as much. reporter: the state has started to give out inflation relief payments of just over $1,000 to 23 million californias and governor gavin newsom has called for a new wind fall tax on oil and gas companies but it is still a difficult time for many. i'm joined by the professor of business and public policy at the university of california berkeley. professor, thank you so much for being here. we heard some gene win impacts

on people because of these high prices. people will look at what's happening in california and say aha, it's california's fees and regulations and environmental rules that are driving up the price of gas there. how much of that is true? >> that's definitely a part of it. california has higher gas taxes than the rest of the country. it has some environmental fees from a cap and trade progr and a low carbon fuel standard and it uses cleaner burning gasoline that costs a little bit more to make but when you add all that up right now, that accounts for about 85 cents a gallon. that's a wig difference but that's only a part and less than half of the differential we're seeing right now between california and the rest of the country. reporter: so back in 2015 you saw a similar spike that went up and never went back down. and you referred to this as the mystery gasoline surcharge.

what is that? >> what happens is we had a refinery fire. the price spiked up and the wholesale price of gasoline spiked up first and then the price came back down. we've had this happen since we went to a different blend of gasoline in 1995. and usually the retail price comes back down and the differential is back down to that basis of taxes and environmental fees in 2015 that didn't happen and since then, california's prices have averaged an extra 35 cents an gallon from the rest of the country. overall since 2015 that amounts to over $40 billion for california drivers. reporter: that's a huge amount of money out of people's pockets. is that a function of oil companies and gas companies and refiners making a profit? >> we're not exactly sure what's

gog on. i have been arguing for the last seven years that california needs to invest some money into a serious investigation to find out because this is a huge amount of money beyond what you could normally explain with just the taxes and fees. it is clear that that differential over the last seven years is not at the refinery level. because that spot price for gasoline, the price for giant shimments of gasoline is about in palestine of where it should be. the distribution and marketing and retailing sector have very complex contracts with the refiners. the refiners and a lot of influence over what they charge and it's unclear who's actually collecting the money and why that is so resilient. one thing worth noting is that california has a much smaller share of offgrand brand statios

than the rest of the country so we're not seeing the discipline enforced than we would in other parts of the country. reporter: some of the critics of the oil and gas companies say this is price gouging. the prices are up and they have no incentive to bring them back down regardless of the economy. any evidence that that's true? >> i haven't seen evidence that they're colluding. sort short of that, these firms are going to try and make as much money as they can. we rely on competition to keep them from driving prices up and carr definitely has a less competitive gas market than the rest of the country. partially because we use this special gas formulation that we can't trade with the rest of the country. partially because two controllers control about half of the gasoline market.

they claim the real problem is various regulatory barriers. unfortunately the politicians get very interested in which this when the price spikes and when it comes back down they move on to other issues. it's time we really dig into this and not lose focus. >> thank you so much for being here. >> thank you. ♪ judy: we are in the final weeks before the midterm elections and nearly 1.million americans have already cast a ballot. in washington, the january 6 committee has voted to subpoena former president trump as part of itself investigation into the attack on the u.s. control. 245 is nimes david brooks and jonathan capehart.

columnist for the new york post. hello to boast -- both of you. very good to see your smiling face. the january 6 committee, david, ninth public hearing and they did vote to system the former president. we don't know whether he's going to come. first of all, do you think he will and if he did, would it make a difference? >> if he did, i think cows would fly. [laughter] i don't think he's going to do it. first, would it make a difference? in the apology, nothing would make a difference. the public opinion is exactly where it was when this committee first started going. the reason i don't think he's going to do it ask even though he says he wants to do it, he's being investigated by the justice department for the same thing. no lawyer lets their client clients go under over and he's being investigated over here.

he's willing to take the fifth, as he did in the new york investigations so i just think that's spectacle is one we'll have to just dream about. judy: cows flying? what do you see, jonathan? >> i would love to see cows flying but i know i'd be disappointed. [laughter] judy: we just started here. >> he's not going to testify and i don't think the january 6 committee had any expectation that he would. however, i do think that the january 6 committee felt it was important, given all the evidence that they have, given all the evidence that they're had presented to the american people over nine hearings that it was the logical thing to do and i think it was the right thing to do, whether he shows up or not. they're investigating an attack on the united states insurance city gated by the president of the united states and these

hearings and the report that will be released later in the fall is as much for the american medium right now as it is for the american people and the world decades down the road. there needs to be an accounting and what the committee has done is part of that. judy: about history? >> about history, yes. judy: and you were saying that earlier today but david, we don't know what's going to happen in the midterm elections, clearly. but if this committee wraps it up in a few weeks and democrats lose the majority in the house, what in sum will this committee have accomplished? >> i don't think it will have much political affect on the mid terms. but it surprised me. there was a lot more to investigate and a lot more to reveal than i knew about and i think a lot of us knew about. we all saw january on january 6 but there were a lot of behinds the scenes things. a lot more planning and plotting than we knew about and then just

to get the memrs of the trump administration, some of his alleys, some of the proud -- allies, some of the proud boys, very incriminating it will. -- testimony. it will a, be a part of political history and b, be a ground work if the justice department decides to do something. judy: what do you think the accumulated contribution or not will be when this committee wraps up? there is some speculation republicans will completely disband it. >> they're totally going to disband it and shift their focus. if they continue anything related to january 6, it won't be what the select committee is going now. they'll turn their attention to speaker motiony. which is what i heard in the hearings yesterday was interesting. the behind the scenes video we saw of speaker pelosi and leader schumer pleading -- all the

phone calls they were making behind the scenes to do something at the capitol, contrasting that with what the president of the united states was not dirk. judy: david, as you look at the sum total of all of this that was a pretty dramatic thing. there they are on the phone begging the parse of government that can do something to do something. >> yeah, i think the video that is the committee has thrown before us is the highlight of what they've done. it brings you back and even thiy their calm under pressure. pelosi, schumer. mcconnell was in there. steny hoyer was in there. i was also a little depressed that they were freelancing. let's call the governor of maryland, the governor of virginia. it's like there's no plan on what to do in this wild of emergency or any kind of emergency. so there was not a set of procedures. they were freelancing.

i thoht they did impressively but in the future we should have like, if this happens then this will happen -- >> but they were freelancing because this unimaginable hasn'ted. the president of the united states was not stepping in and doing what is his constitutional duty, which is to protect and serve the constitution and a branch of the government was under attack. yeah, they were freelancing, trying to figure out where to step in to save the situation. judy: and clearly didn't see it coming. today is october 14th. david, i look the -- looked at the calendar. we are about three and a half weeks away from the midterm election. congress hangs in the balance. i was in wisconsin last weekend. republicans are very much pushing crime and public safety and democrats will take us down a dark road. democrats are pushing they're too far to the right and

abortion. what is this campaign, this season look like you to right now? >> if you're democrat, the happy thing is a lot of these races are closed. in a lot of states like wisconsin joe biden has an o-- approval rating of low 40's. in a normal year that would be disaster for a lot of democrat candidates. but the polls are closed. if you're republican i think there are two things that would cheer you. the first is that the democrats had a swing in their direction two, three months ago. it seems in the last month republicans have had a bit of a swing in their direction and could -- second, if you look at where the campaigns are spending their money and where they've given up. the democrats are spending a lot of money in places they should not have to defend. districts where biden won by seven, by 1 and republicans are pouring munch into those direct and that suggests that both

parties have internal polls that suggests there are places republicans are threatening that would seemingly lean or be safe democratic districts and that may be that there's a sign of a republican surge we're not seeing in the public polls. judy: what do you see? >> well, i agree with david that in the summer the wind was at democrats' backs. they were almost euphoric about their political prospects but as with everything in politics, the pendulum always swings back. what i foresee is that we could be looking at two waves. not a tsunami but a red waive where you have races determined by crime, inflation, fierce of a recession or you could have a blue wave where the iss of abortion, threats to democracy

reign supreme. i think where democrats are able to make the economic link between -- and economics, maybe they can eat into some of that advantage republicans have on the economy and inflation and recession. look, we've never been -- this is some place we've never been. even the pollsters are saying we don't know what's going to happen. judy: who benefits if it's two waves? we don't know? >> we don't know. judy: there could be a wave in each direction. and they crash against each other. [laughter] we don't know. >> advanced physics. i did see a poll of what issue are you voting on most? in this election the number one reason that is making people go to the polls is making shoo you are the other side loses. it's not even the economy or abortion, it's just i don't like those guys. that's why the two parties are

locked at even and not a lot as changed. judy: that means these two neighbors we interviewed in columbia county, wisconsin, who are trying really hard and still friends but disagree completely on everything, including who to vote for but they're still friends. >> good fences make good neighbors. [laughter] judy: david, you had a column today about what's going on in los angeles with the city council but it was about more than that now there have been resignations but before that it got really messy and you talked about how this could be the racial future of this country. what did you mean? >> managing diversity is hard. diversity is fabulous but politically manage it and staying together as a country when we get increased diversity, when there's no majority group, which is where we're headed, that's a political challenge.

so what disturbed me by the comments by the los angeles city council members was not only the raw raci but listening to their tame conversation was their assumption first that they were -- we were all on either anything -- ethnic teams. the black team, the korean team, the hispanic team and that these teams are currently at war. there's office been ethnic politics. there's always been negotiations but this was game of thrones so if we enter a world with all this great diversity but politics is ginned up by politicians using ethnic and racial appeals to fight political battles, then you get a already -- very ugly atmosphere. it's obviously happening to some degree with donald trump but it's how hard it is to manage diversity going forward. judy: what -- where are you coming down on this? >> i read your column, david.

i should have written down the headline but this idea that because there's something about this is what happens when everything is viewed by race. right, this is what happens when race is everything. and i got your argument. you know, it's very utopian and i am one of those people who wishes we could live in that place but we can't and we won't. the best we can do is strive to get there. i listened to the recordings of the comments and what struck me was that they sounded like old-school politicians having a back room conversation and when politicians get behind closed doors, the conversations can be pretty rough but when you're talking about the spoils of power and in this case it was redistricting. it gets ugly and what these tapes do is bring us on the inside. i don't think those types of conversations are new.

it's just that we're hearing them now with our ownars and this is where i take issue with the headlines which -- i write my own headlines, i don't know if you do. but the idea that black people or people of color are the ones whoer foisting race on the country is something that is -- as something that needs to be dealt with, it's problematic because it ignores the history of this country. i have here a picture that i took at t legacy museum in montgomery, alabama and in the old location there was a huge wall with all of these horrific "seinfelds." no negroes allowed after suown. no n-words, puerto rican, mexicans allowed. we want white tenants in our white community. it's not that black and brown people are so focused on race because that's all they care about. they focus and are paying

attention to race because they have to because of signs like that and that's just one example. we also have to remember that we are 57 years after the civil rights and voting rights act. that means we are on the 57 years of truthful being a democracy and that's within the living lifetimes of people. >> i said exactly that. ics white supremecy created these categories. are we content with these categories or are to w mill story them? judy: we may continue this conversation. thank you both. >> thanks, judy. ♪ judy: poetry has a special place in the heart of afghans. it has played a prominent role from the country's ancient history to now. but when the taliban took over,

many of the most popular poets had to three and they're figure out how to find inspiration in exile. we talked to several in the art in "canvas >> in post-taliban afghanistan, the new constitution was written in prose. but the idea of the new afghanistan, peaceful, pluralistic and democratic was cloaked in poetry. ♪ starting with the lyrics of the new national anthem, written in 2006. >> this is afghanistan and this is the honor of the afghan. this is the home of the soul and this is the home of the peace. >> it's such a hopeful message. >> thank you. >> was that intentional? >> yeah.

>> abdul is one of afghanistan's most prominent contemporary poles. he's spent most of his adulthood life in the united states, fleeing afghanistan aer the soviet invasion in 1979. since then he's wheedled his most powerful weapons, his pen and his voice. >> this is what the poles and the wrirs were doing their part in the jihad or in fighting against the occupiers and the same role they played against the civil war after the soviet withdrawal. poets were opposed to the taliban too. >> above all, he wrote about the need of afghans of all either niceties to units. a theme that the new president karzai wanted to promote in the new anthem. >> it's about the pride we have

taken in our country, in our history, in our present. >> karzai's choice of a well known -- language pelt was delicate. poetry is central to afghanistan's past and present, not just as a storytelling method but as part of the story. one of the most famous examples, the namesake of pakistani activist malali. in 1880, afghans were fighting their seconds war against the british. during the battle the soldiers grew demoralized. malali energized them with a stirring short poem. >> young love, if you don't follow in the battle, by god, someone is saving you as a symbol of shame. >> these types of verses, usually written by women are what drew her to poetry. >> it's our part of the history.

>> but patriarchy was part of the taliban. when it came to power in the mid 1990's, women were largely erased from public life. so, too, were modern music and poetry, except for the taliban's own, which fix stated on war and martyrdom. when the taliban fell, she flourished. in 2014, she recited a poem at the presidential palace, paying tribute to another symbol of afghan national unity, the flag. >> i kind of floorified the -- glorified the flag as a land where there was love, that is free, pros prose -- prosperous. floshishing, youth, beautiful.

the taliban said it was a very erotic poem and disrespected the afghan life. >> the poem, "my flag is made of colors," became a surprise hit, catapulting her to fame. >> i was not expecting it. i think it was one of the most important events of my life. >> in thoseears, the poetry scene that she was part of embodied modern a.f.c. -- afghanistan. men and women took part in a traditional game that's a mix between a poetry slam and a rap battle. like this one at kabul university in may 2021. just three months later all those forms of expression and the gender equality were lost when the taliban took over and

the americans withdrew. she is now in kan. one year on, she feels no more settled. >> i'm not only exiled from my country but myself. >> for now she has put down her pen. >> we've been so -- it's like an ocean. it's drowning me and i don't know how to swim. ♪ >> sometimes, though, grief inspires as it did for this poet and singer. now living in pakistan, he wrote "o homeland" after celebrating his first holiday away from loved ones. >> we had lost our homeland so in a very disturbed and crying state, i wrote the poem. and then i was able to sing it with music. >> back under tiban rule, popular music is once again considered sinful.

his -- the national anthem no longer plays nor does the flag fly. bu he says this is afghan history rung its course. >> this is when the -- party comes to power. they changed the flag, they changed the coins, they changed the bank notes, they changed the constitution. >> what remains is the desire for knowledge and freedom. some women have on the parted unofficial schools to teach girls beyond grade six, when is -- the taliban says they gnus stop learning and a favorite public protest, gathering to read. >> do you think that will continues despite the taliban being in power again? >> of course, this is how we survive. and we will survive. >> those who think they can destroy our identity, cultural,

and music by removing artists and poets should think again. no one can take afghanistan from us and each of us can work for our people in our professions from any part of the world. >> the taliban may have reconquered the country but in afghanistan, history shows that the pen always outlives the sword. judy: it's an enduring reminder, the pen does outlive the sword. thank you. and before we go, don't forget to join yamish and her panel on tonight's washington week and a look at two rations in georgia that could help decide control of the u.s. senate and the direction of the country. that's the newshour for tonight. i'm st. jude. from all of us at the pbs

newshour -- judy woodruff. from all of us at the pbs newshour, please stay safe and we'll see you next time. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ >> moving our economy for 160 years. basf, the engine that connects us. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the newshour, including kathy and paul anderson and camila and george smith. the walton family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change.

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