judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight, fighting inflation -- the federal reserve hikes interest rates for the sixth time this year in an effort to counteract stubbornly rising prices across the economy. then, the upcoming midterms -- our latest poll reveals the political mood ahead of election day, and we explore how turnout among young voters could sway the outcome. >> a lot of the rights that have been the foundation of our society are under threat in the eyes of young americans. judy: and, iran in turmoil -- students refuse to back down from anti-government protests sparked by the death of a young woman in the custody of the so-called morality police. all that and more on tonight's

"pbs newshour." >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by. >> moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymondjames financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well-planned.

>> the walton family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful wor. 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. stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with newshour west. we'll return to the full program after the latest headlines. the federal reserve has fired

another interest rate salvo in its fight with inflation. fed policymakers raised rates today by three-quarters of a point for the fourth time in a row. and federal reserve chair jerome powell warned it is, quote, very premature to think of halting rate hikes. we'll get details, after the news summary. with the m-term elections six days away, president biden issued a stark warning tonight about threats to democracy and political violence. he spoke at a democratic party event near the u.s. capitol. he condemned what he called ultra maga republicans for continuing to cast doubt on the election system, calling them un-american. the speech comes days after the attack on speaker of the house nancy pelosi's husband, paul. he connected the attack to the riot at the capitol on january 6. pres. biden: my fellow americans, we're facing a defining moment, an inflection point.

we must with one overwhelming unified voice, speak as a country and say there's no place, no place, for voter intimidation or political violence in america, whether it's directed at democrats or republicans. stephanie: the u.s. capitol police today acknowledged they were not watching cameras monitoring the pelosi home in san francisco when the attacker broke in because the speaker herself was not there. they said they've begun a security review. in israel, former prime minister benjamin netanyahu remains headed for a decisive win, with nearly all votes counted in tuesday's national elections. his nationalist/ultra-religious bloc appears to have clinched a firm majority in parliament. that would make him prime minister of israel's most far-right government yet. ethiopia's warring parties agreed today to end two years of fighting after widespread atrocities and thousands of victims.

it followed talks in south africa, between ethiopia's government and tigrayan forces in the country's north. details of the agreement were not immediately available. tensions between the two koreas are running even higher after the north launched a barrage of missiles. the south responded in kind, and the two traded a new round of threats. geoff bennett has our report. geoff: an historic day of provocation overseas that started with north korea firing at least 23 missiles. one of them landing shy of south korea's ulleung island. >> these acts, for any reasons, are unacceptable and north korea is who is responsible. geoff: it's the most missiles fired by the north in a single day. and the closest one has gotten to the south's waters since the countries divided in 1945, just 104 miles northwest of the island. >> today's launch is the first time a north korean missile landed near our territorial waters, and this is unprecedented and unacceptable.

geoff: south korean residents were under an air raid alert, some ordered to move to underground shelters by the military. hours later, that alert was lifted. south korea's military retaliated quickly, launching its own missiles in the same area. the launches follow warnings fr pyongyang, on monday, for the u.s. and south koreao stop their large-scale joint military operations, which began this week. north korea says it views the drills as an invasion rehearsal, threatening the use of nuclear weapons hours before the launch. the u.s. insists the drills are purely defensive and lack hostile intent. national security council spokesman john kirby today. >> we, of course, condemn these missile launches. and we are, of course, coordinating closely with our allies and partners. geoff: and japan. >> these actions by north korea threaten the peace and stability

of japan, the region, as well as the international community, and are utterly unacceptable. geoff: even from the north's closest ally, china. >> it is in the common interest of the region to maintain peace and stability on the peninsula and resolve each other's concerns. geoff: some air routes over the sea between north korea and japan will remain closed through thursday. for the “pbs newshour,” i'm geoff bennett. stephanie: and an update this evening, the south korea military reports the north has fired additional missiles within the last few hours. south korea's national police agency raided local police offices in seoul today in the wake of a crowd crush that killed 156 people. national officials have said officers did not respond quickly enough saturday night. that's despite warnings that the crowd of halloween revelers was growing out of control. russia now says it is re-joining an agreement to let ukrainian grain ships reach global food markets.

moscow had stopped participating after a weekend drone attack on its black sea fleet. ukraine never claimed that attack, but russian president vladimir putin announced today that kyiv has given new security guarantees. pres. putin: i have instructed the defense ministry to resume our participation in this work. however, russia reserves the right to withdraw from these agreements if these guarantees are breached by ukraine. stephanie: the u.n. mediated the grain agreement in july. back in this country, a judge in florida sentenced the parkland school shooter nikolas cruz to life in prison without parole. he killed 17 people in 2018. today, parents of victims spoke for a second day, with framed photos of lost loved ones. some condemned the jury for failing to impose the death penalty. the two largest u.s. pharmacy chains, cvs and walgreens, agreed today to settle opioid lawsuits nationwide. each would pay $5 billion to state, local, and tribal

governments. walmart reportedly will settle, too, for $3 billion. the companies allegedly filled prescriptions that they should have flagged. but they've admitted to no wrongdoing under the settlement. and cbs and its former president leslie moonves will pay $30.5 million to the network's shareholders and others. it's part of a deal with the new york attorney general's office to compensate for an insider trading investigation and concealing sexual assault allegations against moonves. still to come on the "newshour," the impact young voters could have on the midterms. where the ise of abortion rights is on the ballot this election. u2 singer bono discusses his global activism. 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: today's interest rate hike from the fed was the sixth one this year. it has been decades since the fed has acted this aggressively to slow inflation. it's an approach that has been supported by some economists, but is also being criticized as excessive by other economists and by a number of democratic lawmakers. markets reacted strongly to the comments by fed chairman jay powell. at first, traders and investors were encouraged by a statement suggesting that there could be a pause or a slower pace of rate hikes. but, about a halhour later, the chairman expanded on that idea. chair powell: at some point, as i have said in last two press conferences, it will become appropriate to slow the pace of increases as we approach the level of interest rates that will be sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation down to our 2% goal. there is significant uncertainty around that level of interest rates. even so, we still have some ways to go. and incoming data since our last

meeting suggestshat the ultimate lev of interest rates will be higher than previously expected. judy: the latter part of those remarks about some ways to go and how the ultimate interest rate level could be higher than previously expected seemed to badly rattle investors. all the major stock indexes fell significantly afterward, including the dow jones industrials, which saw an 800-point negative swing after his remarks. the comments also had a mixed effect on the value of bonds. these market swings tied to interest rates can be hard to understand, and it affects people's net worth. our economics correspondent, paul solman, tries to help break down how investors see the impact of higher rates over the long term. >> i have taken a hit of $48,000 to my 401k. >> i fl like, basically, when stocks go down, bonds are supposed to go up. >> it's kind of like a seesaw.

so, you would say, well, one would go up, the other would go down. they would balance each other out. i thought that diversification would be ok. paul: it's been a scary year for those of us counting on our investments, with both stocks and bonds having tanked in tandem. the consensus culprit, inflation and the effort to suppress it. simon: interest rates are going up. the fed is attempting to slow inflation. paul: and thus whacking bonds, says economist simon johnson, with whom i have gone back and forth over the years trying to explain economics plainly. so what's a bond? simon: a bond is a is a form of debt. the way that governments borrow is they say, give us some money now, we will give you money back in the future, and we will pay some interest along the way. and this is in the form of bonds, and you can sell it to other people. it's a tradable debt. paul: so what's happening now that's killing the bond market, making bonds worth less than they were? simon: there's inflation, and investors need to be compensated for that inflation with a higher

interest rate. so, when the government goes to issue debt, which it does on a almost daily basis, it has to offer a higher interest rate. when you offer a higher interest rate on new debt, people look at old debt, they say, well, i can buy that old debt from you, but i want it to match the yield i can get on the new debt. and the way to match it is for the value of the old debt to fall. paul: fall like back in the 1970's, when gradual inflation suddenly sged due to a gasoline shortage fueled by opec. interest rates surged in response. so let's go back in time. i brought with me a facsimile of a bond from 1976, $5000 bond here, and i have got the 1970's, mid-1970's tie. you have got a 1984 bond, right? simon: i do. and i have a 1984 tie. the country has swung to the right, so i'm wearing an adam smith free market tie. paul: ok, but i bought this, and it was an 8% interest rate. so, you have the government, $5000. it's now 1984. i need the money. so i want to sell this to you. so, give me $5000.

simon: well, i appreciate the offer. and i do recognize this is u.s. government debt, and so they're good for the payment. but i'm a little, i'm afraid, put off by the interest rate, because i have one right here that's offered me 12.25% just been issued, brand-new issue. inflation is higher. investors need to be compensated for that inflation. so, interest rates have gone up. so, i will buy your bond, the old bond, from you, but for less than $5000. i'm fine with that. paul: this is why, when interest rates go up, back in the 1970's and 1980's, now, bond values, the bond market goes down. simon: yes. the way to think about it is that the interest rate being offered on new bonds is higher than on the old bonds. so you need the yield to match in order for people to be willing to buy the old bonds. otherwise, they're just going to stick with the new bonds. for that to happen, the price of the old bonds have to go down. paul: ok, but that doesn't explain why stocks also sank as interest rates rose. robert merton won a nobel prize for his work in finance . robert: the king of sweden gives

you the gold medal in a case. paul: he's been teaching about stocks for deces. robert: here's the share of stock. and why does it have value? it has value because you have rights to the current future earnings for the firm. paul: why are stocks going down now? robert: to understand stocks, you have to understand the three elements that enter into their value or their change in value. first, it's the earnings. everything else the same, the higher those earnings, the more valuable. a second factor that affects value is, are the earnings going to grow from here? that would be good, makes it even more valuable. or are they going to decline or stay flat? makes it less valuable. paul: but you said there was a third factor. robert: the future earnings on stock are risky, unknown. the future payments on bonds are known. to compensate people for taking the risk of uncertainty about the future earnings of the stock, they have to be compensated with a higher expected yield or return than on bonds.

paul: i ask you, why have stock price has been going down? you say to me? robert: concerns over possible recessions in the future. we know that the fed is purposely trying to raise interest rates to cool the economy down. so we know there's a greater chance that we might have a recession, which means lower earnings, and competing rates, greater uncertainty, the impact of inflation, all those things. you put it together, it's not a surprise, but the question is, what will they do tomorrow? it depends on what new information we have compared to what we know today. paul: so there is no simple answer to stocks are going to continue to go up, continue to go down? even you can't give me an answer. robert: no, you can't do it and give a 30-second sound bite answer to, why is the stock market going to go up or down tomorrow? tell us the reason, when there are multiple reasons. it's too complicated. i wish i could tell you other words, but that's just life. paul: i wish he could too, especially to someone who so often relies on 30-second sound

bites. for the "pbs newshour," paul solman in boston. judy: election day is less than a week away and, already, 30 million americans have cast a ballot. our latest "pbs newshour"/npr/marist poll is giving us a look at the landscape and the key issues that are playing out in the midterm elections. lisa desjardins is here to walk through the results. lisa, hello. lisa: hello. i got the results right here. judy: you do. and there's a lot to talk about, a lot to report on. so, here we are, six days out. what are the polls telling us? lisa: who's going to win? that's the question everyone wants to know, right? we asked, of course, in this election, do you prefer republicans or democrats? let's look at where the country is right now in this poll. it does not get closer than

that, 46% of americans in our survey saying democrats, 46% republican. that little, tiny gray space in the middle, that's the 8% who didn't have a preference either way. now, i will say, judy, this looks like a dead heat. when you ask voters who say, i will definitely vote, republicans have a slight advantage, just a little one. but it's really just as close as it could be in this election. so we wanted to know, of course, what's on voters' mind, what's going to affect whether -- who they vote for. and we look at the issues, and here's what we know right now voters are thinking about. if you look by party, republicans say inflation is their top concern, 54%, independents, also 40%. democrats, look at that number there, 42% of democrats now say that the issue that gets the most attention from them, preserving democracy. judy, that is a significant change from just a few months ago, when the top issue for democrats was abortion. now, there are still a number of democrats, i think about a third

of democrats, top of mind is abortion. but that issue was really driving some enthusiasm for democrats that we just don't see in the poll anymore. judy: and it's kind of a negative motivation under that heading. so, lisa, in a close election, it is often turnout. it's who turns out to vote. what are the polls telling us about that? lisa: well, first of all, i should say something that we also noticed in this poll was that president biden's approval rating, president trump's approval rating are the same. so that's a mark of enthusiasm that we usually look at. but they're dead tied right now, both the current and former presidents. when we asked, who is actually going to come out to vote by party, here's what we see right now at this moment. democrats, 82% of them say they will definitely vote, republicans, more, 88%. independents seem the least enthusiastic right now at 73%. now, those numbers don't look all that different between democrats and republicans. but, overall, we asked lee miringoff, who is the director of the poll at the marist institute for public opinion,

what kind of picture is emerging from this, and this is what he told us. lee: the current winds are blowing more republican in this poll than democratic. the republican electorate is more, showing greater interest at this point than the democratic electorate is. and the republican interest has grown. and we're also seeing that when, we look at definite voters, as opposed to the registered electorate as a whole, that has a slightly more republican flavor to it. lisa: so let's drill down on those definite voters. those are really your most guaranteed voters. everyone else, it could be a bad day, they might not show up. here's what we're talking about that is a problem for democrats right now. let's look at some of their key groups that we see vote in highest numbers democratic. black voters, 67% only say they will definitely vote, latino, 69%. of course, we talked about that when we were in nevada last week. generation z, millennials, younger voters, only 65% saying that they will definitely vote

those are key high number voter -- high proportion voters for democrats. let's look at some other groups. on the other hand, white evangelicals, 89% of those who generally do vote more republican are planning to definitely vote. and then the group i'm watching the most, white college graduates. look at that figure, 95% planning to vote definitely. and, judy, in this poll, we saw a shift in their opinion. college graduates in general are moving away from democrats, now just 55% saying they're voting democrat vs. 65 last month. so that also is a problem for the democratic party this election. judy: and that changed just in the last month? lisa: i'm sorry, in the last two months, since the end of august. judy: in the last two months. so, finally, overlaying this, lisa, is something you alluded to earlier, it's the critical question of, how do people feel about the fairness of the election system? what do you see? lisa: well, we will be watching this in real time on election day, of course, as will the whole country. we asked people in this poll, how confident are you that this election will be fair and accurate?

here's what we got by party. look at that difference, 62% of democrats say they are very confident, only 30% of republicans. now, when you ask, are you somewhat confident, those numbers get closer. and a majority of republicans have some level of confidence. but, by and large, democrats are more confident. here's the question i want to look at. look at this. should your candidate, if they lose, concede? now, look at that. democrats, 64% say, definitely, my candidate should concede if they lose. republicans, just 39% say definitely, 42% aren't so sure. and i have to say, even that number from democrats saying -- only two-thirds of democrats say my candidate should definitely concede, i mean, that's very different than, t's say, 10, 20 years ago. and it's something that's happening right now. so we will be watching these candidates and voters are going to be watching them closely too. judy: that's an essential tenet of this democracy. lisa: that's right. judy: people concede when they have lost an election. lisa: you see that loss of confidence, based on who wins or loses. judy: yes, very worrying, very worrying. lisa desjardins, thank you. lisa: you're welcome

judy: as you heard lisa say, abortion is not the top issue for most voters in this election. just 11% of americans who say they are definitely voting this year rank abortion as their number one issue. among democrats, it is twice that, 22%. but the question of abortion rights is being put directly to voters in some states. amna nawaz has more. amna: since the supreme court overturned roe v. wade in june, abortions appear to be on the decline. a new study by the society of family planning shows the number of legal abortions nationwide in july and august dropped by more than 10,000. meanwhile, most of the political debate on the issue is taking place at the state level. four states have abortion rights on the ballot this fall. and joining me now are reporters from two of those states. zoe clark is political director

for michigan radio, and ryland barton is managing editor at kentucky public radio. welcome to you both. thanks for joining us. ryland, kick us off here in kentucky. right now, your state has a near total abortion ban. that's being challenged in a lawsuit, right? but, this election, there is an amendment on the ballot, amendment 2. what could that mean for abortion access in kentucky? ryland: right. so what this amendment is seeking to do is to add language to the state constitution saying that there is no legal right to an abortion under the state constitution. so, because at after the dobbs ruling, there was a lawsuit filed in kentucky to try and see if there was some state protection for abortion in the state. legislators had preempted that by passing this proposal to try and ensure that the court would not find any legal basis for a right to an abortion in the constitution. so, if this passed, that really

kind of solidifies that in place, ensures that -- or attempts to ensure that no -- that no right would be found under the constitution. and, yes, there's been a lot of energy among abortion rights activists to try and keep this -- keep this from passing, but also anti-abortion advocates as well trying to get it passed. amna: zoe, in michigan, abortion is also on the ballot, it's fair to say. michigan voters this election are going to vote on a ballot measure, proposal 3. now, abortion is currently legal in michigan, we should point out. so how would this proposal potentially change that access? zoe: right. so, and let's note that abortion is currently legal in michigan, and that's simply because of a court injunction. there is a 1931 law on the books right now that criminalizes abortion that basically would have gone to effect after dobbs but for a court decision. proposal 3 is on the ballot. and what that would do is basically enshrine abortion rights into the state constitution. amna: so, how big a deal is this? ryland, in kentucky, like, how much is this resonating with voters? when you look at some of the key races in particular, right, for

example, the senate race between the republican, rand paul, and the democratcharles booker, is this a big issue? are voters paying attention? ryland: i mean, it certainly is. i mean, it's popping up in every one of these races, charles booker's challenge to senator rand paul. booker is really trying to make this a big issue. and this is something that republicans are just kind of banking that, well, voters have elected so many anti-abortion politicians over the years that ultimately pass constitutional proposals like the one voters are about to weigh in on that they figure that this is just going to kind of go in favor of them. there has been a lot of organizing on both sides of this issue. there's canvassing going on. there are commercials. there's a whole lot of money that's been going into this, and really abortion rights advocates have been winning that fund-raising fight. they're hoping to -- they're hoping for a similar result that ok place in kansas earlier this year, when a similarly conservative state, but with a democratic governor, ended up -- voters ended up rejecting a similar constitutional proposal.

so, abortion rights advocates, really, they're hoping that kentucky is going to follow down that line. they think that there's a pathway to do it. amna: zoe, ryland mentions that kansas decision. i think a lot of people pointed to that and said, well, this is the real -- first real test of thatsupreme court decision right after that. does that set any kind of precedent for michigan, do you think? are there similarities there? zoe: well, i think we have to remember the issue that, in kansas, right, it was saying we want to continue to have the right, right? here in michigan, basically, it's saying we want to add this right to the state constitution. but, absolutely, when this vote happened back in august, i think supporters of abortion rights and certainly the referendum for -- in favor of getting abortion rights on the constitution were very excited and hopeful that that would be something that could kind of portend the results for the november election here in michigan. amna: and, zoe, what are you seeing on the ground? i mean, when you look at the

money that has been pouring into this fight over proposal 3, you look at some high-profile races, the gubernatorial race, for example, between the democrat incumbent, gretchen whitmer and the republican, tudor dixon, is abortion rights a central issue for michigan voters? zoe: absolutely. absolutely. and poll after poll shows that it really is either sort of abortion, and then economy and inflation, or economy and the inflation and then abortion. and in our gubernatorial race, we have incumbent democratic governor gretchen whitmer, who really has made abortion rights even before the dobbs decision, a centerpiece of her campaign. she continually says she is going to fight like hell to keep abortion rights legal here in michigan. and we have tudor dixon, the republican who is not in favor of proposal 3, what she says is anti-abortion, not rape, not incest, only in life of the mother. but i think she's even reading the tea leaves a bit, because her campaign or her put out a tweet earlier that basically

said, now that proposal 3 is on the ballot, you can vote for me for governor, but still vote for abortion rights. it's a really interesting kind of trying to thread that needle there. amna: ryland, when you look ahead, you mentioned the money pouring in. you mentioned some of the comparisons, some of the similarities between the population in kansas and in kentucky. but it's also been 3 months, right, since that decision -- since kansas voted, rather. do you think -- the democrats, yes, they're banking on it, but is it a big enough issue to make a difference for voters there in kentucky? ryland: i think it's a really great question. i mean, and you talk to the political observers on either side of the aisle, and they're going to give their own take. democrats really feel like, yes, this is something that still is energizing voters. republicans are saying that, no, inflation and other issues are really dominating what's getting people to get to the polls. we're not really going to know the results of that until the ultimate poll there is, which is on election day. but we will see.

and there's really big implications for this. in kentucky, there's a case working its way through the court system that the state supreme court will hear the following week, right after this election. and the justices have said that this, depending on how kentuckians vote, will influence how they end up weighing in on that case. amna: zoe, what do you want us to take away? what should we understand about the michigan electorate and how they look at this issue? zoe: oh, my goodness, that this is really one of these sort of hisoric moments in this state, because, again, this is enshrining a right into the constitution. and it's a right that i think, for many voters, they haven't had top on mind really for decades here in michigan. there have certainly been amendments and questions of vis-a-vis restrictions about abortion, but nothing like this. and it's really going to be fascinating to watch next week as results come in. amna: it will be fascinating, indeed. and we will be watching in kentucky and michigan. my thanks to you both for joining us tonight. zoe clark, political director for michigan radio and ryland barton, managing editor at kentucky public radio, thank you. ryland: thank you. zoe: thank you so much.

judy: despite the fact that, as you heard from lisa earlier, young voters are expected to turn outt a lower percentage rate than other groups, those under the age of 30 are still projected to keep up with or break their own voting records during this year's midterm elections. that is according to a newly released poll of young voters conducted by harvard university's institute of politics. our laura barron-lopez has more on what's motivating the younger cohort this year. laura: our national network of young reporters, part of our student reporting labs, asked fellow students why they're politically engaged ahead of the midterm elections. sarah: it's important for your voice to be heard. adam: i really want to see our community and our country really focused on gun violence. vanessa: an issue i care about the most is mental health. alex: my interest in politics is

health care, just making it more accessible for everyone. moriah: the recent overturning of roe v. wade is a major setback in our country. sophia: you can't even adopt a child before you're 18, but you can be forced to have one? juan: i sympathize for the unborn. i do not think that their lives should be in the balance. bethany: i want to be a teacher someday. so i would like to vote for somebody who is pro-education. grace: climate change is the biggest issue that we're facing right now. josiah: states should have more power to make decisions for their people. the federal government cannot make the best decisions for everyone. hailey: i want to make sure that my community is safe for not only me, but also all of my loved ones. isabel: i want to see more leaders that look more like what america looks like, more young and diverse. patrick: i want to make sure that we have candidates in place who support democracy. nicholas: i want older people to know that it's hard to be able to afford the things that you were able to afford in the past. laura: in 2020, president joe biden won key swing states like georgia, pennsylvania, and arizona by narrow margins. biden's double-digit edge among

young voters ages 18 to 29 helped push him over the top. this year, gen z and millennial voters could again be the difference-makers in races across the country. joining me to discuss is alan zhang. he's the student chair of the harvard public opinion project, a student-led polling group within the university's institute of politics. alan, thanks so much for joining us. so, to start, my colleague geoff bennett was in georgia recentl and he spoke to a young organizer, takia tinsley, who had this to say about the sentiment among young voters. takia: folks 18 to 30, 35, the younger crowd, there's just a lot of ignorance. they don't see -- you know, what's the point of voting? it's a long process. it's not something that is overnight. and young folks like immediate action. they like immediate results. and the sad thing is, it's like, politics is a long game. it's not a sprint. laura: alan, what do you make of that assessment from takia? and what did the recent harvard poll find about youth voter motivation?

alan: what we're finding is that young voters are continuing to be motivated to vote at levels that we saw which broke historic turnout records back in 2018 and 2020. what we have seen is, young voters wanted a lot of policies from the biden administration, such as climate actions, such as student loan debt cancellation. young voters understand that politics is a long game. in fact, i would say that young voters are far more pragmatic than the older generations would give us credit for. one of our recent polls found that, by a 2-1 margin, young voters preferred politicians to meet in the middle and compromise, rather than pursue their own policy priorities, at the expense of compromise. and so what we're seeing is, young people understand how the political process works. and they're willing to engage and they're motivated to engage because they are seeing tangible results now. laura: and those that are motivated to engage, by a near 2-1 margin, again, likely voters prefer democratic control of congress, 57%, to 31% who prefer republicans, and 12% remain undecided.

so have republicans made sizable inroads with millennial and gen z voters this election cycle vs. past ones? alan: no. and i think what we have seen is, compared to 2018, the republican vote share among young likely voters is essentially stagnant. it's hit a ceiling at around 30%. and one of the reasons this might be is because the policies of the biden administration, again, such as the inflation reduction act, such as student loan debt cancellation, such as the bipartisan gun law passed over the summer, are overwhelmingly popular with young voters. and what republicans stand for, it simply isn't aligned with the values of young voters. now, i will mention that young people, young americans, young voters vote based on values. and we see issues such as school choice, school voucher programs, which cut across partisan lines and have broad support among young voters. the problem is, the issues that republicans are running on, the kinds of values they're running on, aren't connecting with young voters. they're hitting kind of a ceiling.

laura: on other issues affecting young voters, my colleague judy woodruff recently was in pennsylvania and spoke to drake smith, a sophomore at lincoln university, and he cited roe v. wade as a motivating factor. judy: and so a lot is on the line. drake: everything's on the line, really. i mean, it's kind of played out, kind of cliche. each election is the most important election of your lifetime. but it is, because, as we have seen, you're oy six months away from them taking everything away, right? 10 years ago, you told me roe v. wade would have got stripped away, i would have said, what are you talking about? it's been here, it's on the books since the 1970's. but here we are in 2022, no roe v. wade. laura: did young voters raise abortion access in the harvard poll? alan: absolutely. for young voters, abortion is one of the top issues, especially for young democrats. and we feel it might be affecting the vote choice as well. democrats increased the vote margin among young female voters nine points compared to the spring. and we see that they have made inroads. one of the reasons that might be is because young voters are concerned that their rights

might be taken away. what he said was correct, in the eyes of young voters. we're seeing a succession of political crisis after crisis. young people see our democracy, and they see that it is failing. they see that it is in trouble. and they see that their basic rights are being threatened. so -- and one of those is the right to the -- the choice for an abortion. laura: alan, we can't talk about young voters without talking about social media. president biden and other politicians have started to use it more frequently to reach young voters. and, recently, the president had tiktok influencers over to talk about policy issues. are you seeing that also in your research, that young voters get their news through tiktok? alan: absolutely. the media landscape of today is not the same media landscape that existed 50 years ago, 20 years ago, even last year. compared to our poll conducted last year, a lot more young americans now regularly receive political news from tiktok. our poll which was released just this week has young -- about 21% of young americans regularly receiving political news from

tiktok. yes, young voters are still getting their news, getting political news from traditional media, such as cable news, such as local tv news, but social media is at an equal standing now. it's in the playing field. and if politicians want to connect with young voters, they will have to enter that arena. laura: anxiety also seems to be high among young voters. in the harvard poll, more than seven in 10 young americans, about 72%, believe that the rights of others are under attack. and 59% believes that their own rights are under attack. what exactly is driving that fear? alan: this fear is rooted in the rights that they have that we have taken for granted for a long time. for example, with the overturning of roe v. wade, a lot of young people see that as an attack on their own rights. we also see that young lgbtq people have even higher rates of feeling that their rights are under attack. they -- again, they see this as a threat to democracy. they see this as a threat to our society. a lot of the rights that have

been the foundation of our society are under threat, in the eyes of young americans. and this is one of the reasons why young americans are so politically engaged and why they're continuing to turn out at record numbers in 2018 and 2020 and, again, we expect in 2022. laura: alan zhang, thank you so much for your time. alan: of course. thank you. judy: today, the u.s. called for iran to lose its position on a u.n. commission that promotes female empowerment as punishment for iran's ongoing crackdown against protesters. nationwide demonstrations are now in their seventh week sparked by the death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody. nick schifrin and producer zeba warsi have been speaking to students in iran and report that, despite iran's attempts at suppression, the national protests persist.

nick: it is iran's civil rights movement, and it's led by students. they break through the fear that kept them compliant, break through the wall that separated men from women, and chant one word -- "freedom." at iran's most elite universities, they vow never to give up. they don't want reform. they want revolution, this university student told us, asking to be kept anonymous. >> change the regime. women. life. freedom. nick: female students fuel the demonstrations by burning what was once a regime pillar, the mandatory headscarf. they are leaderless and mostly nonviolent, which they contrast with the crackdown. "you are amoral," they chant. "i am the noble woman." but the regime fights back. across the country, police exhibit no restraint. students run for their lives. two weeks ago, the family of

16-year-old nika shakarami accused the police of detaining and murdering her after she protested. at her grave site, the crowd chanted, "death to khamenei." >> the government agents shot directly to those who came to participate in the funeral ceremony. they use any method to find the protesters in our schools and universities. forces in military uniforms attacked the students with batons and guns and threw tear gas. nick: students post blurred videos to protect protesters' identities. many of the students who spoke to us did so on the condition we don't show their face and alter their voice. >> some of them were chanting, and the police officers, the men with motorcycles came. there were like 20, 30, and they started to shoot us.

what did we do? they don't care. they just started to shoot us, and a lot of people got shot in front of me, including me. i got shot, but it was just paintball. nick: students and teachers told us protesters have been expelled, and teachers are pressured to rat student demonstrators out. the u.n. and human rights groups say hundreds, if not thousands of students have been detained and dozens killed. >> from one side, they were shooting us. from another side, they were waiting to arrest us. we experienced all these moments because of what? what was our fault? we we just asking for our basic human right, for the freedom of our friends, who did nothing wrong. nick: today, in a photo-op, supreme leader ali khamenei met students in tehran. he later said he had no issues with student protesters, but call them emotional and negligent in their understanding and manipulated by the west.

another student told us, he's missing the point. >> we're protesting for a better life, of course. a lot of choices were taken away from us, especially women, under this regime. it's not just about hijab. it's about the choice of living however we want. we want to choose our own religion and we want to wear the clothes we want. nick: this student says the protests are the only thing anyone discusses. they help each other to avoid internet censorship and to keep the faith. >> i guess we're kind of hopeful, too, because, before these protests started, a lot of students my age were planning on emigrating. and i guess -- at least i'm speaking for myself -- that i'm kind of hopeful that i can stay here. we are fighting so we don't have to leave our country behind, we don't have to leave our family behind. and we're fighting so we could build our lives here. a world without islamic republic is a better world for everyone.

sanam: this was a generation that hasn't been politically very active or hasn't mobilized, and their response is quite fierce. they're very angry. and they're looking to push back, not just on social issues, but clearly political ones as well. nick: sanam vakil is a middle east analyst at chatham house. she says previous protests have lasted longer. the 2009 green revolution went on for nine months. but none of them had demonstrators as diverse. sanam: and we have seen dient emanating from students, labor activists, as well as ethnic groups. so it does bring together really critical cleavages that, should they over time continue to cooperate and organize and mobilize, will be important and put pressure on the regime. nick: iranian universities have long hosted calls for democratic change. in 1979, university students

played a crucial role to evict the monarchy and create the islamic republic. in 2022, it's not only students. it's also their teachers. >> they are destroying iran, yes. so, we want them to go. that's what we want. nick: and have you felt this way for a while, but are only now willing to speak out, even give this interview? >> as long as i remember, i always want, and i couldn't do anything because i was alone. now i feel we are united. nick: she teaches at a high school, where her students write "death to the dictator" on classroom walls. but management is divided. >> principal called police upon all the students to be arrested. nick: and do you encourage your students to protest? >> i did. and it was so dangerous, because maybe some of them go and call other ones, and security will come for me if they do such.

but they didn't. otherwise, i would be arrested by now. and i'm proud of them. i won't stop doing that, stop protesting and fighting back until i get my rights, and, also, the regime, the regime will change. when the regime change, i will stop. nick: but, for now, analysts say regime change is unlikely. and so this moment has become a movement. for the "pbs newshour," i'm nick schifrin. judy: and now, part two of our profile of rock star and activist bono on his new memoir, "surrender," which details his early life, the evolution of one of the biggest rock bands in

history, his own spirituality, and his quest for purpose in life, as well as in music. as jeffrey brown reports, bono's activism has led to the cancellation of some $130 billion of debt in struggling countries. that part of the u2 front man's story picks up here, as part of our arts and culture sies, canvas. jeffrey: bono credits the 1983 song "sunday bloody sunday" about the 1972 massacre of irish protesters by british troops with helping give u2 a sense of purpose, connecting the music to their needs to give it and their lives a larger meaning. bono: that song taught us what to do and told us what to do, how to dress. we went out on tour, the "war" album. it's -- songs are like that. songs are not like your children.

they're much more like your father and mother. they sort of -- they boss you about. they tell you what to do. jeffrey: millions responded. with 14 studio albums, u2 has sold an estimated 170 million records. songs like "one" have become generational anthems. and the band's spectacular live shows have attracted loving throngs for decades. this is a band that takes its mission seriously, to some critics, too seriously, pointing to bono's christ-like onstage poses and lyrics that reach her heavenly light. bono pleads partly guilty. for decades, i think critics, audience, a kind of debate. u2 is either the most honest and committed band out there, or the

most pretentious and self-righteous. bono: both. both. jeffrey: both? bono: no, not self-righteous. that's definitely -- an hour in our company, and you will be rid of that. but the pretentious, well, yeah. grandiose? sometimes, for sure. and, also -- yes, also earnest and kind of -- yes, in -- still in pursuit of those early beliefs, to be a man of e world, but not this one. jeffrey: that pursuit led bono to become a highly visible activist. bono: so, red is about -red is the color of emergency, yes. jeffrey: we met recently at red, an organization he co-founded to raise funds to treat and prevent aidsn sub-saharan africa. bono: this office is -- these are salespeople for the idea that where you live should not decide whether you live.

jeffrey: red partners with major corporations and has helped distribute some $700 million to date. it's part of his 20-year-old one campaign, which enlist pple from all walks of life, individuals, philanthropists, celebrities, to lobby world leaders to support programs to fight global poverty and diseases. bono: you have got fame, it's a kind of currency. spend it well, not just getting a nice seat in a restaurant, which is also ni, but see what you can do with it. you have got a spotlight, and see where you can shine it. so we started to learn that activism can really lead to actions. and i have come up with this term in the book, which i thought i'd made up, but it's in the dictionary, actualism. i said, i'm not -- i'm not an idealist. i'm an actualist. i want to get stuff done.

i'm pragmatic. i work with the left and the right. you don't have to agree on everything, if the one thing you agree on is important enough. jeffre earlier this year, he and guitarist the edge performed in a subway station in kyiv, at the invitation of president zelenskyy. ♪ and, this past spring, he accepted the fulbright prize for international understanding. bono: you see rock and roll, if it's anything, it's the sound of liberation, political, spiritual, sexual. it's liberation. jeffrey: and tied the power of music to the very idea of freedom. bono: you might swap out the word freedom for the word liberation. i think we're all agreed on the concept. and we're all agreed that it's

not just under siege in ukraine, now, is it? democracy, did you ever think in your life, jeffrey, that democracy would be in the dark having to explain itself to a jury that's not sure? the world is now dividing into autocracies and democracies. freedom is on trial. and we have to demonstrate now what freedom can do, what it can accomplish, that we are with these amazing countries in africa there will be -- i think a third of all the world's youth will be in the continent of africa by 2050, innovative, smart, genius, brilliant people. we want to show them, this is the direction, not the direction of lies and propaganda and autocracies. jeffrey: freedom in political life, freedom in rock 'n' roll. in his book and in conversation,

bo, a son of dublin, makes it clear how much he's learned from his experiences in this country. but when i asked about his own motivations, he cited the great irish poet seamus heaney. bono: heaney, i think he used to speak about, it's in the republic of conscience, creeping privilege. creeping privilege, ooh. jeffrey: what does it mean? bono: we have been given this life, and that just the only way through the privilege is to give thanks for it, to be grateful, but just not to expect it. challenge it. and people have this relationship. they have given you -- you don't have to have the same worries as them that are buying your albums, buying your tickets, buying your book. in return, their angle is, just do -- make sure that you give us the best of you. and i feel kind of haunted a little bit a hunted, you might say, by that feeling of just not wanting to blow this.

jeffrey: in the meantime, he says there's plenty more music to come for u2. and bono himself is on the road singing and talking of his new memoir, "surrender." for the "pbs newshour," i'm jeffrey brown in new york. judy: you heard what he said. don't just use your fame for a nice seat in a restaurant. 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, csumer 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

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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. >> this is the "pbs newshour" from weta stios 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.] >> you're watching pbs.

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