♪ judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on "the newshour" tonight... a new leader -- former treasury chief rishi sunak is set to become the united kingdom's third prime minister this year. then... failing grades -- national test scores fall dramatically as a result of the covid pandemic, erasing decades of improvements in students' math and reading skills. and... the fight to vote -- former prisoners who believed they could legally cast a ballot in florida are at risk of landing back behind bars because of governor desantis' crackdown on alleged voter fraud. >> it seems like we're being not just locked up, but locked out of mainstream society. judy: all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour."

♪ >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions -- and friends of "the newshour," including leonard and norma clorevine, and koo and patricia yuen. >> actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. yes, i'm legally blind, and yes, i'm responsible for the user interface. data visualization. if i can see it and understand it quickly, anyone can. it is exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that is the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo.

>> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at hewlett.org. ♪ >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: the people of the united kingdom are about to get a new prime minister for the second

time in a matter of weeks. and this one will make history just by taking the job. that's after the selection process came to a sudden conclusion today. malcolm brabant reports from brigon, england. [applause] malcolm: he is the first prime minister of color, the first of indian descent. aged 42, former treasury chief rishi sunak is now the youngest leader of the united kingdom in more than 200 years. pm sunak: it is the greatest privilege of my life to be able to serve the party i love. malcolm: he's also britain's third prime minister this year, after boris johnson resigned amid scands, and liz truss was forced out following a catastrophic budget. sunak's perceived financial acumen will be severely tested as he tackles inflation and soaring energy prices. pm sunak: there is no doubt we face a profound economic challenge.

we need stability and unity and i will make it my utmost priority to brinmy party and our country together. malcolm: his two opponents -- boris johnson and penny mordaunt -- couldn't muster enough support from conservative lawmakerand they conceded to sunak, making him prime minister by default. for many tory members, sunak is to blame for johnson's demise after resigning as treasury chief. that political turbulence has caused the labour party to call for general elections. but sunak said today that won't happen. sunak may portray himself as a fiscal savior. but he was in charge of britain's pocketbook at the start of the recent economic downturn. angela rayner is deputy leader of the opposition labour party. angela: rishi sunak was the chancellor where we've seen low growth. families are really worried about the cost of living they face and have heard nothing from rishi sunak. malcolm: at a time of severe

hardship for millions of britons, sunak's personal wealth grates with many. sunak's wife, who was embroiled in a tax scandal last spring, is widely believed to be richer than the king. as treasurchief, sunak masterminded programs like "eat out to help out" to support businesses hurting during the pandemic. but his economic gravitas faces even tougher tests as he moves into number 10. from an international perspective, the most important thing about rishi sunak's appointment is that after seven weeks of bizarre volatility, britain is once again gonna be perceived as a stable nation. the incompetence of his predecessor liz truss was extremely damaging for the british economy. at times, britain was being compared to greece and italy at the height of their financial troubles. and so rishi sunak's prime objective is to restore confidence in brand britain -- in both its economy and its general reputation. although there's unhappiness in the opposition ranks that

there's not gonna be a general election, there is at least recognition that there is now an adult in number 10 downing street. those views were reflected among people promenading in the autumn dusk. jayne: it'll be nice to get a bit of stability back to the country. i think he was a very good chancellor of exchequer, and he did lots of really good things during covid and lockdown. i think he could be a very safe pair of hands. ian: we've gone through so much turmoil in the past year and then to have all the controversy with the conservative party falling apart at the seams, we definitely need a general election. malcolm: his win comes on an important day for hindus -- diwali, the festival of light. a practicing hindu, sunak lit candles outside downing street on this day two years ago. many in india see his leadership as an important milestone. manoj: if a person with indian

heritage becomes the prime minister of britain, the same britain which ruled us for so many years, then it is a moment of pride for the whole of india. malcolm: back in london, sunak is set to meet with king charles, the final formal step before assuming office. for "the pbs newshour," i'm malcolm brabant in brighton, england. ♪ stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with "newshour west." we'll return to the full program after the latest headlines. western allies rejected russia's claim that ukraine is plotting to set off a so-called dirty bomb laced with radioactive material. they called it "transparently false." ukraine warned instead that moscoway be plotting a dirty bomb attack. we'll focus on this later in the program. there's word that myanmar's military launched air strikes on a concert last night, killing up to 80 people. it happened in the country's

mountainous north. the area is a stronghold for rebels of the kachin minority. video showed what were said to be mounds of debris at the site. the military government denied reports of the high death toll. in st. louis today, a former student shot and killed 2 people and wounded 7 at a high school before police killed him. students piled out of central visual and performing arts high school after gunfire erupted. crime tape quickly went up as police swarmed the site. a female student and a teacher were killed. there's no word on a motive. a michigan teenager pleaded guilty today to fatally shooting 4 students at a high school outside detroit last november. 16-year-old ethan crumbley admitted to murder and terrorism. michigan has no death penalty, but parents of other students said they'll oppose anything less than life without parole. >> absolutely not.

no. he murdered four children and changed 1800 kids' lives. i hope that someday he does feel that remorse. i still saw evil. but hopefully in the future. stephanie: crumbley's parents are charged with involuntary manslaughter. prosecutors say they got him a gun, and did nothing to get him mental health treatment. a former minneapolis police officer, j. alexander king, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting george floyd's death. it came as jury selection was set to begin in his state trial. another former officer, tou thao, waived a jury trial. floyd died in may 2020 when police pinned him to the ground. the u.s. justice department has charged chinese agents with trying to obstruct an investigation of telecommunications giant huawei. that's according to court documents unsealed today. the fbi said other agents are charged with harassing and intimidating opponents in the u.s. dir. wray: they try to silence anyone who fights back against

their theft -- companies, politicians, individuals -- just as they try to silence anyone who fights back against their other aggressions. stephanie: some of the accused have been arrested. others are in china, and it's unclear if they'll ever be taken into custody. two out of three california students did not meet state math standards this year, while more than half did not meet english standards. the data, released overnight by the california education department, underscore the pandemic's impact. black, latino and low-income students suffered the largest drops. we will have more on national test scores later in the program. the rape trial of former hollywood producer harvey weinstein has begun in los angeles, with opening statements. weinstein has pleaded not guilty. he's already serving a 23-year sentence for sex crimes in new york. jury selection began in new york today in the criminal trial of the trump organization.

prosecutors say the former president's business illegally helped executives avoid income taxes on apartments, cars and tuition fees. mr. trump himself is not a defendant in the case. and, emmy-winning actor leslie jordan has died in a car crash in los angeles. he won renown on tv's "will and grace" in 2005, and later, on "american horror story." during the pandemic lockdown, he gained a large social media following. leslie jordan was 67 years old. still to come on "the newshour"... we delve into the risk of nuclear weapons being used in russia's war on ukraine... china's president consolidates power by surrounding himself with a group of loyalists... our student reporting lab journalists explore the connection between music and our moods... and 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.

judy: new national test scores are out today, and the results are grim. commonly known as the nation's report card, it offers the first comprehensive look at the pandemic's impact on america's students. as william brangham reports, test scores arat their lowest level in decades, with steep declines in both reading and math proficiency in nearly every state. william: judy, this is the first national report card since 2019. nearly 450,000 fourth and eighth graders from some 10,000 different schools around the country were tested, and the results are alarming. only 36% of fourth graders and 26% of eighth graders were proficient in math, meaning they could demonstrate solid academic performance on challenging subject matter. in reading, it wasn't much better -- just 33% of fourth graders, and 31% of eighth graders were deemed proficient

and above. from 2019, the average math score for fourth graders fell five points with eighth graders dropping by eight. in reading, average scores for fourth and eighth graders fell by three points. not one state in the country saw significant improvement in these average test scores. so for a closer look at these findings, i'm joined by peggy carr. she's the commissioner of the national center for education statistics, which issued today's report. thank you so much for being here. sort of difficult circumstances to talk to you about this. i mean, this is almost two decades of educational progress, nearly washed away. education secretary miguel cardona today called these results appalling and unacceptable. do you agree with that choice of words and that assessment? peggy: what i can say is that these findings represent a defining moment in the history

of education in this country. the pandemic and all of the disruptions that it caused, really has put a whole generation of students off their kilter for success. they have been off tracked and we need to do something about it. we have to act and we have to act decisively to get these students back on track. william: you mentioned that this is largely, seemingly an impact of the pandemic. is that true? is this principally because kids were out of school or doing remote school or are there other factors involved? peggy: the disruptions that we are seeing here today, you can draw a straight line from those disruptions to student performance. we are very careful, though, to outline that there's a number of other factors that are at play

here. social-emotional issues, students are emerging from this pandemic with mental health issues. more bullying, they're having trouble behaving in classes. i could go on. so there are a number of factors. we have to look at the whole child, not just the academics, so it is complicated. peopleant to say this is because students were out of school. well, that m have had some contribution, but it's not the only reason why we're seeing these results that we're seeing today. william: when you look at the data that i cited, a you look at those drop offs with fourth graders and eighth graders, what are the ones that stand out as the most glaring to you? peggy: eighth grade math without a doubt. all of it, of course, is really troubling and sobering.

but eighth grade math, that is where we saw the most comprehensive, the most widespread decline, and in some states and jurisdictions across the country, double digits. and it is important, eighth grade math, because that is a pivotal time where students are moving from their math, their regular math to more advanced math in high school. students who want to pursue stem careers -- science, technology, engineering, and math -- they're going to have a tougher time of it without that math under their belt. we need to help these students get back on track. if we want to be competitive globally, this is where we need to start. william: your report shows that these declines fell almost all across the country, but it didn't fall equitably. there were some students in some regions that that fell behind. -- fell behind more so.

who were those most vulnerable students that seemed to suffer the worst? peggy: well, thank you for asking that question, because prior to the pandemic, we were already worried about lower performing students, students at the 10th and 25th percentile on our test. and what has happened here as a result of thpandemic, they are falling and falling faster than their their counterparts, their higher performing counterparts. quite honestly, before the pandemic, the higher performance students were flourishing. they were outpacing the lower performing students and the gap was widening. now, everyone is declining. now the bottom is declining faster, meaning the lower performing students are dropping faster. we are worried about them. but quite honestly, this is a problem for everyone. this is not the other person's problem at this point.

william: iean, i got to imagine that parents and students and educators have to look at these results and just be aghast at how awful these declines are. is it your sense that these can be made up? we know that the federal government put hundreds of billions of dollars towards educational funding this past year. some of that is earmarked for education for academic catch up. can this be remedied? and are we talking about a years long project to do? peggy: well, it's hard to pinpoint exactly how long it will take. because as we just discussed, there were opportunity gaps prior to the pandemic that are now made worse because of the disruptions associated with the pandemic. so it's not an easy answer. but i can tell you, if we want it to be more like months, or maybe year or so, we need to act now rather than many, many years it would take to catch

students up. the good news is that we know what works we have evidence based strategies that have science behind them, proven effects, that if we implement them, we can turn things around, but we cannot wait. william: all right, peggy carr from the national center for education statistics, thank you for joining us various very sobering news today. peggy: thank you. ♪ judy: it has been exactly 8 months since russia launched a full-scale war in ukraine, and today moscow escalated its nuclear rhetoric. russian officials are warning that ukraine is about to release radiation using a so-called dirty bomb. as nick schifrin reports, international leaders are warning the allegation is actually a cover for russia's own plans. nick: today russia told the

world publicly it expected a dirty bomb to explode in ukraine. the top commander for russia's radiation, chemical and biological forces -- lt. gen. kirillov: the ministry of defense has organized work to counter possible provocations from ukraine. nick: russia's top diplomat, foreign minister sergei lavrov -- min. lavrov: we haveoncrete information regarding ukrainian scientific institutes having technologies which allow them to make a dirty bomb. nick: russia's defense minister sergei shoigu made the same allegation in an unprecedented series of phone calls with nato defense ministers. he spoke twice in three days with u.s. secretary of defense lloyd austin, after not speaking at all since may. he spoke twice in two days with british defense secretary ben wallace. and he spoke to defense ministers in france and turkey. in response last night, the u.s., united kingdom, and france issued a rare joint statement -- the world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation. >> we're concerned when we hear

this type of patently false disinformati emanating from the kremlin. nick: in washington, state department spokesman ned price said russia has falsely accused other countries of what it was about to do. mr. price: we have not seen any reason to adjust our own nuclear posture, nor do we have indications russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons. but we've heard concerning statements, and we wanted to send a very clear signal. there would be consequences for russia, whether it uses a dirty bomb, or a nuclear bomb. we've been very clear about that. nick: ukraine responded by inviting un experts into the country's nuclear facilities. foreign minister dmytro kuleba tweeted, "unlike russia, ukraine has always been and remains transparent. we have nothing to hide." and president volodymyr zelenskyy called for pre-emptive action. pres. zelenskyy: if russia calls and says that ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing -- russia has already prepared all this. i believe that now the world should react as harshly as

possible. even the very russian threat of nuclear weapons is a reason for both sanctions and for even greater strengthening of support for ukraine. judy: and nick joins me now. hello and how concerned are the u.s. and its allies? nick: i've talked to have a dozen u.s. and nato officials today, and all are very concerned, some more than others. what you have just heard from zelenskyy is russia has a track record of accusing adversaries of the very actions it itself is planning, so was heightened concern that russia is planning to use a device in ukraine. also, it could lead to a preemptive nuclear strike, threats to territory putin has claimed is russia that is ukrainian territory that he has illegally annexed, and now claims of a weapons of mass destruction threat in that

"russian" territory. russian strategy is escalated to de-escalate, and this is an example of russia escalating with a radiologil device to try and convince ukraine to come to the negotiating table. they are also worried, according to one official i spoke to, is that a dirty bomb is "easily concealable, could be very small, and we should be humble about whether we would know whether it is coming." a couple notes of caution, it is not clear if russia has a radiological device on the shelf ready to use, and every u.s. official has been clear today there is no physical evidence at all that russia has decided or taken steps to employ this dirty bomb. judy: given all that, what does russia mean when it talks about the possibility of a dirty bomb exploding? nick: really important question.

dirty bomb is relatively simple, the use of conventional explosives to spread radiation. generally the west has associated a concert with terrorist groups that have threatened to use a dirty bomb in the past and tried to obtain or create a dirty bomb when it comes to al qaeda. these are relatively rudimentary, and depending on the size and design, affects a relatively small geographic area, even just a few hundred feet across, according to a senior researcher at the u.n. institute for disarmament research who talked to us earlier today. >> the bomb is really not efficient for dispersing radioactive materials, which is the point of a dirty bomb, the point is to create an atmosphere

of fear and uncertainty, and to some extent it has been successful because people are worried. nick: and because we are talking about that fear and uncertainty tonight. it is hard to know, according to western officials, why the defense minister of russia made this threat in these calls to nato defense ministers, calls we have not seen since the beginning of the war. possibly to deflect blame if russia does decide to use a dirty bomb, possibly to course or pressure the west, to push ukraine to the negotiating table, possibly to test nato unity. judy: striking phone calls from russia's defense minister. what is it believed the potential consequences would be if there were a dirty bomb in russia was behind this? nick: u.s. officials are not going to lay out exactly how they would respond, it requires a little ambiguity, they only

repeat the threats they have made in the past, that a russian nuclear strike would lead to catastrophic consequences. other officials tell me it depends, how many people would die, and does radiation spread into nato, aoss ukraine's borders, and could someone talk about article five? but a senior official told me the response would probably not as significant as would be if russia launched an actual nuclear weapon and the response were probably near the kind of response the u.s. would have following a chemical or biological attack. judy: certainly sobering. nick, thank you. ♪

this weekend, china's president xi jinping secured a third term as general secretary of the ruling communist party. xi and the newly appointed members of the very top of the chinese government, the politburo standing committee, received a standing ovation at the 20th party congress. the seven person committee is now filled with xi loyalists. also this weekend, security officials escorted out china's former president, hu jintao, in front of the world's media. for more on all of this, we turn christopher johnson. he had a 20 year career in the u.s. intelligence community where he focused on china. , now runs his own consulting firm, china strategies group. welcome back. first of all, how does -- what does this new leadership lineup in china tell you about how much power xi jinping has? christopher: i think it tells us that xi jinping is basically unbound in terms of his power inside china.

we see a situation where all of his allies dominate not only the politburo standing committee, the top seven men in china, and unfortunately for now they are all men, and the full politburo. so suggestions that representatives from other factions inside the chinese leadership might make it into the senior posts turned out to be untrue. i think what we see here is a loyalty and what we might call virtue-ocracy have replaced meritocracy, and all of the new leaders are very close to xi jinping, very loyal to him. and do not have any blemishes on their record. but also in terms of corruption. we saw some indications that some of the other candidates that might have been considered for the top leadership, including a new premier candidate for china, his daughter had been working for a foreign private equity firm for five years before suddenly quitting about a year ago. this amounted to what some chinese officials have called a

stain on his shirt, which in xi jinping's eyes show a bad luck -- a bad look in terms of the officials he wants to surround himself with. now we see him with a cabinet, a top leading core under his rulership, that are completely dedicated to his agenda going forward. judy: what did you make of the purge or removal of several individus who were at the top of the party? christopher: my sense is what we have seen is xi jinping has demonstrated that the raw exercise of power is back, as the fundamental driving force within chinese politics, rather than these norms or conventions that have been followed in previous party congresses. in the past, there have been conventions that were followed with regards to age restrictions for poliburo members, where individuals who were 67 years old or younger on the current politburo could be moved up to the next politburo.

they were retained and individuals who were 68 or older were dropped. we saw that xi jinping decided to retain several people who were older than 68 and drop some members who were 67, the sitting premier, and another individual, while retaining another person who was 67. the first two gentlemen were from another interest group from inside the party. whereas the other has been xi jinping's loyal ideologist. judy: what about the removal, as we just said, on camera, in front of the media, of the former president? what do we believe is going on there? christopher: it was extremely awkward. there is no two ways about that. the official response from the regime has been that he suffered a health issue. upon watching the video, he does look confused and seemed to be stammering slightly. then we see him leave on his own power and with quick pace. he seems to be being dragged along hesitantly by these minders. my sense is just what we were discussing, that all of a sudden, all of his loyalists,

all dropped from the politburo. obviously this was something that upset him. perhaps he had suggested he was going to spoil the punch somehow and xi jinping, in a demonstration of raw power and perhaps ruthlessness, decided to have him removed. judy: the question everybody has is, what are the consequences of this consolidation of xi jinping's power in terms of china's approach to the rest of the world and domestic policy? christopher: in terms of the restf the world, i think xi jinping sketched out for uin the political report that he delivered to the congress a week ago what he sees. which is an external environment increasingly hostile toward china, is increasingly chaot because of the russian invasion of ukraine, the hostility he perceives from the biden administration towards china's rise. this is a system where xi is increasingly saying the likelihood of controversy is going up. his response seems to be, on the

economy for example, to portray a fortress economy where china will be self-sufficient in technology. food security, energy security, hardening that system to respond to what he perceives to be a threatening external environment. in terms of the economy itself, as i said, this fortress economy idea more than a quarter of the , new politburo members are either former officials in chinese defense firms or scientists that have served in chinese state firms. this is perfectly suited to this agenda of technology upgrading with the state led approach. judy: but about with regard to taiwan? we did not hear a lot about that the last day or so. how do you read what you see there? christopher: there has been a lot of speculation that xi jinping perhaps menaced taiwan more with the inclusion of this about china not promising to renounce the use of force. that certainly was not in his last political report in 2017. that said, if we look at it carefully, the words that

followed were that this threat of military force on taiwan was directed at interference by external forces, the united states, and what china considers separatist elements on taiwan. likewise, the two to top military leaders that have been chosen, many have speculated because one individual had combat experience, one of the few people in the chinese military that does and also a , former commander of the theater opposite taiwan, suggested that maybe we will see more activity and possibly an invasion of taiwan. my own sense is that this is a demonstration of them hardening the system in preparation for that, but they still see a war with taiwan as a crisis to be avoided rather than an opportunity to be seized. judy: a quick final question -- justice department today, as i know you saw, has charged two chinese intelligence officials with seeking to extract the -- to obstruct the criminal prosecution against the giant chinese telecom firm, assumed to

be huawei. what should we read into that? christopher: most definitely it is huawei. i think what it does is it gives the lie to not only huawei's suggestions but the chinese government's suggestions that huawei is a private enterprise and has nothing to do with the chinese government. what we see in the indictment is the full capabilities of the chinese government being used to foster huawei's interests internationally. that is something that huawei's international competitors in the global telecommunications race do not have access to. it also demonstrates a big counterintelligence when for the fbi, but it also shows there was someone who was working prior to being turned as a double agent. judy: chris johnson of the china strategies group, we thank you. christopher: thank you. ♪ judy: two-thirds of prisoners are rearrested andalf re-incarcerated within three years of their release.

addiction, poverty, and a lack of housing all play a role. but as amna nawaz explains, in florida, voting could be what ultimately lands some back behind bars. it is part of our series, "searching for justice." amna: miko atkinson is no stranger to the hostile. miko: i have been an elementary school and having my parents buy a bag of lollipops, and i gave it to my best driver to sell to everyone on our routes. amna: that sweet start turned sour. 15 years ago, convicted of identity theft, atkinson served two years in prison. miko: i was not really a bad person. maybe took a few turns the wrong way or in the wrong direction. amna: now, he is launching his own culinary business in lauderhill florida, building on , a lifetime of experience. and a pilot program started by

vice mayor melissa dunn. >> what's new? what's going on with the business? amna: the aim teach ex offenders , how to run their own companies in hopes of keeping them out of trouble. mayor dunn: you are more likely to care for your neighbors if you feel connected to them. when you are disconnected, when you are separated, i believe that puts you at risk and it puts the community at risk. amna: income and housing offers stability, but to truly feel connected, atkinson said he needed a voice, a vote. : -- miko: when you go behind the wall, you are pretty much told your future is done. you will no longer be part of the future. it will take place without you. to get those rights back and reclaim those rights and to have a mark or have an input in the future, think that is amazing. amna: a 2018 constitutional change, florida's amendment four offered most felons in the state a chance to restore their voting rights. over a million more floridians

could potentially cast their ballots. figuring out who was actually eligible turned out to be much more complicated. voting right restoration used to be on a case-by-case basis in florida. amendment four streamlined the process for anyone excluding , those convicted of sex crimes or homicide, who completed their sentence. an estimated 1.4 million people. the florida legislature added more terms. all fees and fines must be paid off, bringing some eligibility estimates down to half a million. d they required voters to legally swear to their eligibility before the county and state rechecked their status. but there no database or surefire way for those in reentry to know their debts are paid in full. >> i didn't do nothing to nobody. voter fraud? what is voter fraud? amna: 20 arrests this august, what florida governor desantis called a crackdown, laid bare

the confusion and failures in the system. >> voter fraud? i ain't commit no fraud. amna: all 20 voters received registration cards from the county, despite being ineligible due to the nature of their crimes. [indiscernible] a miami judge recently dismissed one of the cases on jurisdictional grounds. but back in august, desantis warned there could be more. gov. desantis: this is the opening salvo, this is not the sum total of 2020. chris: i think this has a chilling effect. amna: chris is a professor of sociology, law, and public affairs at the university of minnesota. his research suggests people who vote are less likely to be incarcerated again. but high-profile arrests are also likely to dissuade even those who can vote. chris: if somebody tells them they have the right, they are going to be skeptical. i think this is one of the reasons observ turnout rates

tend to be low, even when rights are restored. because people do fear prosecution, as i think any of us would. amna: are you worried you could end up incarcerated again? >> yes. i am worried. because of the fact i voted in 2020. amna: this woman, who we are calling colleen, spent retirement years advocating for reform in the state's prison system. formerly incarcerated herself, she applied to restore her voting rights under amendment four and received this registration card in 2019. she cast her ballot in 2020. >> walking into the polling place was awesome, because i actually just stood there, when i first went in, and just breathed like i can do this. this is so good that i can do this. amna: watching the governor announce the august arrests, colleen said she felt compelled to double check her own records online, and found outstanding fees the county clerk and state did not catch.

if someone like you who knows the systems got it wrong, what does that mean for the rest of the population? >> that is a very scary thought, because most people don't know how to navigate the system. i did. and i took the word of the clerk, rather than navigating it myself. amna: days later, colleen sat out the primary, even though the county sent her an updated voter registration. a state representative, a former chairman of the florida gop, backed the legislature's additional terms to amendment four and the creation of the governor's election police force. we asked him if someone like colleen should face prison time for voting in 2020. >> you are saying you know all of your rights have been restored and everything has been paid, and they are testifying and testing that it is a yes.

in that instance, it is on the person who is filling out that information, to have that information and know what the correct answer is. amna: you believe that person should go back to prison? >> i think we should really fix the system, so it becomes easier for them to get that information. amna: colleen's story is not unique. in reporting this story, our team spoke with several offenders who applied to restore their rights, were issued voter registration cards, and voted. only after speaking with us did they realize that they may be ineligible. giovanni: it seems like we are being not just locked up, but being locked out of mainstream society. amna: giovanni cyrus finished a 17 year prison stay in may of 2020. he has devoted himself to help the formerly incarcerated navigate reentry and working to restore his right to vote. as best as he can tell, there are about $1400 of outstanding

fees still in his way. giovanni: we have made mistakes like everyone else. and we do deserve a second chance. and a second chance should not come with a hefty poll tax. amna: he is determed to one day cast his first vote. and urges otr x offenders to fight for their right too. giovanni: don't give up. this is an essential right. amna: with another election looming, colleen teeters between following her heart and the letter of the law. >> as of right now today, i'm seriously considering voting in the election. amna: you would consider casting your blot even if it means you could end up back behind bars? >> that is big brave colleen saying that right now. [laughter] but honestly, when the day comes, i don't know. my head will go back and forth with it. but the reality of being reincarcerated scares me very much. amna: as our conversation ends,

colleen decides against taking that risk, but adding to her frustration, she says, is the flood of political mail she still receives urging her to vote. for the pbs newshour, i am on a nevada -- on the nevada in florida. ♪ judy: there are two weeks until election day and more than 7 and a half million americans have already cast their ballots. here to break down what they're watching during these final days is our politics monday team, amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter and tamara keith of npr. hello to both of you. to be exact, 14 days, after tomorrow, until election day. as we just heard people are , voting. the two of you are watching this full-time.

tam, you have been on the road. tell us what you are seeing. tamara: the thing that stood out to me, i was just in north carolina in a swing district, the only swing congressional race in the entire state of north carolina, one of fewer than three dozen swing races in the entire country, and yet, in a swing district, i'm not sure there are a lot of swing voters. even people who are registered as no party preference had very strong feelings basically that the party they were not vong for was not just wrong, but bad. or evil. or a danger to society or america. we talk a lot about polarization. it was shocking to hear it repeated again and again and again. amy: i was in bucks county, pennsylvania the weekend before last. it was not as quite vitriolic as that. we were going door-to-door. but it was clear that people

were not voting for someone. they were voting against someone. i'm for this candidate because, fill in the blank, is terrible on fill in the blank issue. judy: this is not unique to what tam saw in north carolina. amy: that's right. i think what we are seeing is again, especially in the midterm election, but unfortunately, with politics now overall, the biggest motivator to get people to show up and vote is anger. and getting people engaged and enraged is an easier way to prod your supporters to the polls. but it has significant consequences. if year after year the only way you are getting people to show up is to say you are doing this because the other side is terrible, guess what? by the time we get to where we are now, nobody trusts anybody. judy: it is not just the other side is terrible, it is that you need to be afraid of them.

tamara: the ads -- judy: the ads i was watching, i was covering the senate race in pennsylvania, it will air tomorrow night we hope, but you look at the ads and you would think, you need to crawl under covers because life is going to change drastically. if this person gets elected. tamara: every cycle, voters in places with competitive races, get sick and tired of the ads and think they are terrible. some of the ads in the race that i have a story airing tomorrow about on npr, are so toxic, it is almost comical. just how over-the-top scorched earth they are. the other thing i will say is we have been wondering how the abortion issue would play out in the field and it has fallen in terms of polling as a top issue. what surprised me in talking to voters -- i w in a suburban part outside of raleigh, north carolina.

so a suburban area. but how many voters said, i am concerned about the economy, but i am voting on abortion. judy: that is interesting. really interesting. amy, i was good to ask you, we have heard negative ads work, and that is why the campaigns keep doing them. what else are you looking at? two weeks out, we are -- opinions are getting solidified. amy: that's right, that's right. what we are watching for is to see where is the narrative? what are voters talking about in these last two weeks of the election? when it is true, many are still making up their minds, maybe not so much of who they will vote for, but whether they show up at all. if you think about what we were talking about over the summer, it was abortion, it was donald trump, it was january 6. now, we e back to talking about the things that put democrats on the defensive. inflation continues to be a top issue for swing voters, independent voters, that is the

issue that keeps coming back. we keep coming back to. earlier in the year, the question was whether or not the abortion decision was enough to turn what was a typical midterm election referendum on the president and his party into one that was more of a choice. what we may end up getting is a little bit of both depending on where you live. i think there is some issues, like aboion, where if you are in a state where the issue is going to be decided, clearly decided by that ate's legislature and governor like michigan or pennsylvania, that may be more of a salient issue. in a blue state where the voters there are not worried that abortion access will be limited. judy: then you have the tug-of-war in states with a republican legislature and democratic governor, as you have in north carolina. in these final days, what i was

finding is people, they sounded like they are going to vote, they certainly would raise issues, they raise the economy, but they also raise the issue of crime. we had several people say to us, i live in a rural area but i know people in t cities are facing a frightening time of this and we need to have somebody ipower or somebody in office that will do something about it. amy: if you are looking for issues that put democrats on their back feet and where republicans want them to be focused, crime is one of those issues. that is why they have spend millions and millions of dollars on ads accusing democrats of being soft on crime. and tying them to the idea of defending the police. judy: what about who is campaigning for whom? at this president biden is doing point, some of that, there are certainly democrat members of the senate out there campaigning for their friends and whoever. how much of that is making a difference? amy: i learn a lot by who campaigns, choose to ask to be

the surrogate for them. the people they don't ask, for example, the president is not getting invited to a lot of democratic states, he is pretty much underwater popularity wise. you know who else is not getting invited? donald trump. who did a lot to make sure any of the republicans who are on the ballot this year made it through their primaries. i think for both parties, they would like it to be less about the person on their side who is polarizing, much more about the person on the others who is polarizing. president obama will be on the trail in some of these states working to turn out democratic voters. judy: georgia. amy: georgia, i think pennsylvania probably as well. judy: yes. amy: and you know who has been very popular? pete buttigieg. for good reason. he is the secretary of transportation. remember we have an infrastructure bill, a lot of money going to a lot of states. here is a opportunity for a member of congress to say, here

is the money at work, the treasury secretary is coming in here is the new road we are going to build. judy: who doesn't love infrastructure? we love it. [laughter] amy walter, tamara keith, thank you both. amy: you're welcome. tamara: you're welcome. ♪ judy: have you ever wondered why a piece of music makes you feel a certain way? as part of our student reporting lab's ongoing look at youth mental health, student journalists john barnes and brigitte bonsu explore the connection between our brains, music and our moods for our arts and culture series, canvas. >> hey brigitte. how was your day? >> i don't know. i feel like i never have time for self. ♪ >> haven't you been playing the cello? >> no.

how about you? >> my day wasn't too bad. ♪ i was actually playing this really peaceful and calming song last night. ♪ >> i know how that feels. i always felt that way when i played the cello. >> wait, you're there the whole time? so how does rhythm affect our mood? that is, why does me talking like this feel different emotionally than me talking like this? >> that probably starts in utero when the little fetus is developing. there's this rhythmic input, our maternal heart rate, the aorta and the heart sort of tap on the diaphragm. and so three different sensory routes, vibration, touch and sound have this syncopated rhythm that is continuous. and so the brain essentially comes to connect pattern,

repetitive, rhythmic, sensory input with being safe and regulated. >> that may be why we pace around before giving a big speech or tap our feet to a rhythm when we're nervous. >> so, what about lyrics? how do they affect us? >> when i work with clients to write songs, i often start with the words first with them before we get into the music. >> this is dr. webb and dr. thomas, music therapists i spoke to about the significance of lyrics. >> you know, when there's a song that's like, i am so sad right now, i don't have words for it, but this singer does. reminding us we're not alone in whatever we're feeling. >> so how do we use music to make us feel better in our daily lives? >> try taking breaks to do little rhythmic activities throughout the day. >> calligraphy or doodle in a lecture, graphic use of your hands. it's rhythmic, and it has the same rhythms as conversation, the same rhythms as being rocked as a baby. >> and you can also try what dr.

thomas calls the tunnel playlist. >> a lot of times in our like anxiety spirals or depression episodes, there's a moment when you know you are going into it. then we think about, ok, when you're in the tunnel, when you're in those deepest, darkest moments, what music can help affirm where you are and not make you feel like there's pressure to get out of it, but just sort of be with you? >> our last tip try playing some , music yourself. >> when the pandemic happened, i spent a lot more time learning guitar and songwriting. music can help us make sense and relate to events and when we know that other people are going through it. so it kind of helps us feel seen. when everything comes together perfectly, it's just euphoria. [applause] >> thank you, thank you so much. >> when i play and i really focus on a note or a section and a piece, i feel like actually i play ten times better and i really like that experience and it just makes me feel more empowered. music lets me know that i can

get tter. judy: some of us would never play an instrument but it is so inspiring to watch these young people. and that's "the newshour" for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for "the pbs newshour" has been provided by -- >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no contract plans and our u.s.-based customer service team can help find one that fits you. to learn more, visit consumercellular.tv. ♪ >> the kendeda fund, committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendedafund.org. ♪ supported by the john d. and

catherine t. macarthur foundation, commted to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org. ♪ and with the ongoing support of these institutions- ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> 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. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

♪♪ -"cook's country" is about more than just getting dinner on the table. we're also fascinated by the people and sties behind the dishes. we go inside kitchens in every corner of the country to learn how real people cook, and we look back through time to see how history influences the way we eat today. we bring that inspiration back to our test kitchen so we can share it with you. this is "cook's country." ♪♪ today on "cook's country," lawman makes transylvania goulash, jack takes a deep dive into heirloom beans, i talk all about a favorite bitter green escarole, and christie cooks a pennsylvania classic -- beans and greens. and that's all right here on "cook's country."