♪ geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on "the newshour" tonight... five americans detained in iran now returning home. the prisoner swap that gained their freedom and unfreezes billions of dollars in iranian assets. geoff: in an exclusive tv interview, turkey's president discusses the state of nato, russia's war on ukraine and why his country might soon end its bid to become a part of the european union. pres. erdogan: for the last 50 years, we have been waiting at the doorstep of eu and at that

moment in time, i trust russia just as much as i trust the west. amna: and... republican presidential candidates descend on iowa, hoping to win evangelical voters' support with their stances on abortion, guns and much more. ♪ >> major funding for "the pbs newshour" has been provided by -- ♪ the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions, and friends of "the newshour," including -- leonard and norma klorfine, and koo and patricia yuan. the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at hewlett.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions -- ♪

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: welcome to "the newshour." five americans held for years by the regime in iran are on their way home tonight, freed after high-stakes negotiations. amna: in return, the u.s. is granting clemency to iranians held in american prisons, and unfreezing almost six billion dollars in assets held in south korea. the u.s. says that money is now available to purchase

humanitarian goods and equipment. for those freed from iran today, it's the end of an ordeal. the five americans flew towards freedom this morning. imprisoned by the iranian regime for years, released in a complex deal between the u.s. and iran. sec. blinken: it's very good to be able to say that our fellow citizens are free after enduring something that i think would be difficult for any of us to imagine. amna: siamak namazi, emad shargi and morad tahbaz were three of the five americans on the flight from tehran to doha, qatar. the other two detainees wish to remain anonymous. each was held on various charges, but determined by the us state department to be wrongfully detained. in a statement, emad shar's sister neda said, "this is my brother, notn abstract policy. we are talking about human lives. there is nothingartisan about saving the lives of innocent americans and today should be a moment of american unity as we

welcome them home." in a deal struck with the iranians, the five americans were released in exchange for grants of clemency by the u.s. government for five iranian nationals -- kaveh lotfolah afrasiabi, mehrdad ansari, amin hasanzadeh, reza sarhangpour kafrani and kambiz attar kashani. and the transfer of $6 billion in frozen iranian assets held in south korea to a restricted account in qatar. iran can only use the funds for humanitarian purposes. two of the five iranians released, kafrani and ansari, were seen in qatar, headed back to iran. mr. kanaani: we are hoping to get the iranian assets under full control today and the funds are deposited into the account the islamic republic of iran announced in a friendly regional country. amna: some lawmakers have been critical of the biden administration for making a deal with iran. sen. cotton: even a simple

prisoner swap would still be grossly unjust, because the americans in iran have done nothing wrong. amna: but u.s. officials have defended the agreement. mr. kirby: when we're trying to bring americans home, we often aren't dealing on a level playing field. we have to use the leverage we have to bring them home. they aren't going to be released for nothing in exchange. amna: in new york for the united nations general assembly, iranian president embrahim raisi met this morning with journalists, and said the exchange may lead to further dialogue between the u.s. and iran. let's hear more from someone close to one of the americans released today. jared genser, a human rights attorney, and pro-bono counsel for the siamak namazi family. he has worked on the campaign for namazi's release and joins us from geneva. welcome, good to see you. jared: thank you for having me. amna: siamak have been held for nearly eight years, have you

spoken directly with him? jared: i have, he gave me a call before they took off to say they would be wheels up. and when they landed i saw on my hotel tv him coming down the stairs it was amazing after advocating for him and his family. he gave me a call and said i am with a huge amount of joy, i am free. this is what we had been waiting for. amna: you tweeted a photo of him with a great big smile. he looks about as happy as anyone could be. we know he will be assessed medically and psychologically and given the support he needs could we remember this desperate , high-risk interview he gave. what can you say about his

emotional and mental state? jared: clients of mine have been hostages around the world and it is overwhelming. obviously this is front-page news, top story around the world. he is living it. he knew it was coming. he'd been under house arrest for a number of weeks with other hostages. we had a lot of conversations about how this would feel and it often feels like an out of body experience. you have been hoping and praying that they would finally come but when it does, it sneaks up on you. there are two aspects of it that are so difficult. one is what he's been through and ultimately having to unclench his fist after years and years of having to withstand the regime to survive. the other is he's lost some of the best years of his life. he wants to get married and have kids and find a job and a place to live. all of these details that you can imagine a person would have to go through. it will take some time for him

to get his bearings. i've encouraged him to take it slow, one step at a time. i think ultimately the media will recede and he can return to his life. it's important to remember it was not just siamak who was a hostage, but his father was also held in iran, detained at 79, spent three years in prison, not ever seeing his son but near him, almost dying there. he only got out about a year and a half ago. this has been a extraordinary and horrific ordeal for the family. for the first time in nine or 10 years the family will be together. amna: we read powerful statements from the family today. a wife said "this is the first

time in five years we again have light in our home." president biden was thanked for making the difficult but necessary decision to prioritize citizens over politics. siamak echoed that and said what should have been the best days of my life were stolen from me and supplanted with torment. i want assurance no one else will know the interminable anguish my family and i experienced. did you know there was the opinion that this was not a good deal? jared: i am a human rights partisan and not a political one, and democratic and republican presidents to the beginning of our history have wrestled with this issue and fail to address it. it is worth noting that the families felt no different about the policies of barack obama and

donald trump. he was left behind by barack obama, and from there, senator kerry told the family he will be out in a couple of weeks, and then by the end of the administration, father and son were both held. then president trump comes along and we hope that -- he's talking about maximum pressure and we are like a great, let's see if that works. it turns out the maximum pressure campaign was a zero pressure policy on american hostages. there's not a single action taken by president trump to put any pressure on iran connected to hostages that had any impact. four years later, not only were they still in jail, despite the promise that it wouldn't have an, they were left behind two more times. americans taken later, deals

were struck to get them out, and they were again left behind. the difference is nothing. tragically, no administration seems to take this as a serious priority and i'm very glad president biden got this done. but the reality is it's not a top priority of this administration or any other. the reality is we need to take a dramatically different direction if we want to end the process of state-sponsored hostagetaking. amna: the process has stopped and start many times over the years. what made the difference this time? jared: this is the biggest challenge, a case where you're talking about a hostage in iran, because of the long and detailed -- difficult history. you've got to get both countries to come together at the same time and be willing to talk and there are a thousand things conspiring against you to have that happen. this is the tragic reality we have dealt with. over the course of our country's

history and especially going back to 79, which is we have many higher priorities with iran. nuclear issues, missiles, terrorism and other things. the reality is no administration has really focused on the freedom of american hostages as a priority in the overall iran policy framework for the united states. this is what has to change, in my view. it is wonderful thing for a dictator in a country like iran to be able to take hostages. there are no consequences when they do so and eventually all countries cave and strike a deal could we see this happen over and over again. we need coney disincentives not just by the u.s. but the u.s. working with countries around the world, so that if one hostages taken by one country, 30 or 40 countries come down like a ton of bricks on that country and dramatically change the value proposition of taking hostages. amna: jared, thank you.

good to see you. jared: thank you. geoff: and for the white house perspective, we turn to jon finer, president biden's deputy national security adviser. he joins us from the united nations. welcome back. jon: thank you for having me. geoff: there are questions about what iran is getting in exchange for freeing these five american citizens, namely the release of nearly $6 billion in frozen iranian assets. the u.s. maintains this can only be used for humanitarian purposes -- food and medicine. the hardline president of iran in a recent interview with nbc said the money will be spent "wherever we need it." how does the u.s. respond? jon: first, thanks for having me. the u.s. knows what has been agreed to in this deal, basically the transfer of these funds from a highly restricted

account in qatar -- sorry, south korea, to another highly restricted account in qatar, and iran can only use these funds for humanitarian purposes, things like food and medicine and medical devices and agricultural products could u.s. will be monitoring to make sure it is used for those purposes. if iran deviates from the use authorized, the u.s. has options to freeze those funds again. whatever is being said by government officials in iran -- by the way, i've seen other courts from officials acknowledging they've agreed to these restrictions. we know the purpose that has been authorized and they will stick to that or we have options at our disposal. geoff: can the administration guarantee the money won't end up in the hands of the elite military guard or be used to fund armed militants across the middle east? jon: none of these funds will end up in iran at all, they will be available for authorized

uses, just humanitarian purposes for iran to make purchases like food and medicine. taking a step back, you jumped immediately to the funds and i understand why that is, but i think the bigger picture is there are five americans who had been held in iran for varying lengths of time, some going back a number of years, at least one as far back as 2016, who will now be reunited with their families and are on their way to that sort of reunion. the president have the opportunity to speak with the families earlier today to underscore how highly he valued the fact they would be reunited with loved ones. for us that is the most important thing. geoff: there are republicans accusing president biden of paying what they characterize as ransom to a world state sponsor of terrorism. these lawmakers say they are glad when americans are free from cap committee -- captivity, but deals like this only encourage hostage by aggressive

regimes. what is your response? jon: we reject that characterization. for one thing, these funds are not coming out of u.s. accounts, they are not u.s. funds or taxpayer money. these are irani and funds held in one account moved to an iranian account in another country. these funds are not going to iran itself, they are available to spend on humanitarian purposes. i think that characterization seems to be misleading in terms of what these funds are and how they will be used. geoff: on a separate issue, more than year of talks to restore the 2015 iran nuclear deal, which former president trump abandon in 2018. those talks collapsed last summer. i ran in riches you're raining closer than ever to weapons grade levels. is there a hope or expectation that the progress made on this prisoner issue could pave the

way for progress on the nuclear issue? jon: i want to be clear about a few things. the united states did this deal on the merits, he did not do it to unlock collaboration or negotiation on any other topic. we did this to get five americans back home and reunited with their families. second, we been clear we favor a diplomatic solution to the threat posed by iran's nuclear program. we favor direct negotiations with iran and attempts to restore diplomatic constraints on their nuclear program that would reduce the level of threat, which the international community is concerned. the iranians have not been open to those direct conversations up till now. they've been less willing to go back to the nuclear deal made a couple of administrations ago. whether this arrangement creates more momentum, it is far too early to tell but the most important thing is we did this on the merits to get those

americans home. geoff: lastly, amna spoke with the turkish president, and he says the u.s. sales of f-16 fighter jets to turkey should not be linked with turkey's ratification of sweden's nato membership. he says "i believe these two topics should not be related." how does the usc it? -- u.s. c at? jon: this administration has been supportive of f-16s to turkey, a number of numbers of congress had a different view and wanted to see certain steps taken by turkey before they will lift holes or authorize the transfer of these systems to the turks. we are working with congress to do that. in terms of any linkage, is not coming from president biden or the administration, we've been supportive of the transfer. geoff: what is your expectation

for when that will happen? jon: i'm not going to get ahead of ongoing discussions with numbers of congress or their decision-making. our view is the systems should be transferred to the turks. our view is also the turks should complete the ratification of sweden's accession to nato. geoff: jon, thanks for your time. jon: thank you. ♪ geoff: in the day's other headlines -- the auto workers' strike is now in its fourth day, with no bargaining agreement in sight. ford, general motors and stellantis proposed wage hikes of about 20% over 4 years. but that's only half the amount the united auto workers union is demanding. picket lines in wayne, michigan, blocked the entrance to the ford assembly plant. workers and their supporters say the walkouts are long overdue.

rep. stevens: i'm talking to workers and retirees. i'm asking people how they're feeling. they're feeling resolved. they're feeling united. they're feeling solidarity. and they know what they are doing is right to get their fair share. geoff: automakers say the strike's ripple effects are just beginning. ford has already told 600 non-striking employees not to report to work, while g-m says as many as 2000 workers could be temporarily laid off at a kansas plant this week. in libya, the u.n. is warning that disease outbreak could cause a "second devastating crisis" in the country's flood-ravaged northeast. authorities say at least 150 people have fallen ill from tainted water. sanitation workers in hazmat suits have been working around the clock in the hard-hit city of derna to disinfect contaminated areas and prevent the spread of disease. mr. al-qataani: the campaign has continued to its sixth day. since the catastrophe, we've been sanitizing the streets, mosques, shelters where displaced people are staying,

mortuary refrigerators, and bodies using healthy materials. we also toured undamaged neighborhoods and sanitized them. geoff: elsewhere in the city, another wave of much-needed humanitarian aid arrived. the overall death toll from the floods now stands at 11,300 people. the red crescent estimates some 10,000 more are still missing. ukraine's defense department reshuffled its leadership today, firing all six deputy ministers. the dismissals come amid corruption allegations related to purchasing equipment. a new defense minister was appointed earlier this month. that's as heavy fighting continues in the east. ukrainian troops held onto liberated villages along the frontlines, while blasts in russian-occupied areas damaged government offices. taiwan says china flew 103 warplanes toward its territory over a 24-hour period. their defense ministry called it a recent high, even as china has increased military drills around the self-governing island that it claims.

today, taiwan's defense ministry urged china to stop its "destructive military actions." hunter biden sued the internal revenue service today for violating his right to privacy. the lawsuit alleges that two agents tried to embarrass mr. biden by disclosing confidential information about his tax matters. this comes amid an ongoing investigation by house republicans, and days after an indictment on separate charges related to a handgun purchase. and, trading was light on wall street today. the dow jones industrial average gained 6 points to close at 34,624. the nasdaq rose 2 points. the s&p 500 added 3. still to come on "the newshour"... our politics monday team breaks down the republican candidates' campaign stops in iowa... and stock markets for artwork -- the pros and cons for investors and art itself. >> this is "the pbs newshour" from weta studios in washington, and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university.

amna: the nation of turkey sits at a crossroads of the world, and its president, recep tayyip erdogan, is its preeminent leader. reelected to office earlier this year, erdogan has now been in power 22 years. both a nato and u.s. ally, turkey's connections to the west are important and vital. but erdogan will go his own way when it suits him, as he told me yesterday. we sat down for an exclusive interview at the turkish house across the street from the united nations, where he will speak this week. president erdogan, thank you for taking the time to sit down with us, i appreciate it. i want to ask about recent comments you made. you said yesterday that your country may abandon its bid to join the european union, previously cited concerns about an aquatic ask lighting and human rights.

-- tim aquatic backsliding and human rights. you've been seeking this since 1999. pres. edogan: if the eu would take such a step forward, we would welcome it. turkey has been lingering at the doorstep of the eu the last five decades and we were always self-sufficient. we never relied on contributions or support from the eu so it's not even necessary for us. amna: in july, you suggested the you should at it turkey into the eu if it wanted to see sweden in nato. do you see those issues as linked? pres. edogan: first and foremost, sweden's position and our current position in the eu a session negotiations are different things. -- accession negotiations are different things. sweden is supposed to rise to the occasion and keep promises, because on the streets of

stockholm we still see terrorists wandering freely. amna: you did agree at the nato summit in july two forward sweden's nato bid to turkish parliament. do you expect them to take that up when they reconvene in early october? pres. edogan: sweden's bid to join nato is being assessed by the turkish grand national assembly and that's where it will be eventually ratified. amna: when you say eventually it will be considered, do you think that will happen when they reconvene in early october? when is your expectation that parliament will vote on that? pres. edogan: this is part of the agenda of the turkish grand national assembly. they will see the situation in the framework of its own calendar. the proposal will come to a vote by the parliamentarians. amna: to be clear, i don't hear you're committing that this is something you see them taking up anytime soon. pres. edogan: for that to be happening, sweden should keep its promises. terrorist organizations should

delete stop demonstrations on the streets of stockholm and stop their activities because seeing this happening will be very important for the turkish people. sweden seemingly carried out legislative amendments but it's not enough. amna: what about the u.s. sale of f-16s to turkey? do you see that as linked to turkey supporting sweden joining nato? the day after you agreed to forward sweden's nato bid to your parliament, the u.s. national said washington would forward with the f-16 sale. in your mind are the two issues linked? pres. edogan: i believe these two topics should not be related. because primarily while present biden said this issue was tied to congress, we would always say we have the turkish parliament. if the parliament doesn't make a positive decision, there is nothing to do. amna: as you know, there are skeptics in the u.s. congress of that f-16 sale, and among them,

the chairman of the senate's powerful foreign relations committee. i spoke with him last week and he cites a number of reasons he's opposed to the sale right now. you threatening greek security, the jailing of journalists and opposition politicians, not going the western alliance and sanctioning russia. he said turkey has to show us and the rest of nato it is part of the team. what do you say to that? pres. edogan: bob menendez is not very familiar with turkey and doesn't seem to be familiar with erdogan either. we are friends with greece for many decades. we've never been fighting against one another. it seems he has taken a hostile approach to turkey and is trying to pull us toward discussions of his choosing but we will not be part of this. our friendship with greece is not what they make it out to be. amna: what you make of the senator's concerns, especially in light of russia's war in ukraine, of turkey not joining and sanctioning russia to the

degree other nato members and the eu are? pres. edogan: are we supposed to do with the eu members are doing? turkey has a different position in the world and the human for states have their different positions. russia happens to be one of my closest neighbors and we have a common history. similarly, this is how the current process is continuing. we have launched the grand corridor, and grain was exported using the black sea. we did not do this because the eu asked us to do so, it was a humanitarian obligation we assumed. amna: moscow did renege on that deal earlier this month, and after your september meeting with putin, he did not agree to renew the grain deal. can you tell us why that failed? pres. edogan: we requested this from him and he said he was going to send one more million tons of grain. amna: do you know when that will

happen? those experts -- exports have not restarted. pres. edogan: he said it would be released soon and we are following the development. amna: do you trust him that he will make good on that pledge? pres. edogan: i have no reason not to trust them, to the extent the west is reliable, russia is equally reliable. for the last 50 years bee -- we have been waiting on the doorstep of the eu and at this point i trust russia as much as the west. amna: what is that based on? a number of critics will look at the leadership of president putin and say he's not to be trusted, that evening continuing to hold back on the grain deal allows him greater leverage for his war in ukraine. pres. edogan: i don't agree. half of my natural gas supplies come from russia, which means we have solidarity. we are taking mutual steps forward and cooperating in the defense industry as well. we can do these things with russia. amna: what about the continuing

war in ukraine? did you speak about that, do you have an understanding of how he views it? does president putin believe he is winning that war? pres. edogan: i can't say, we didn't talk about this but i need to be very clear -- it's obvious this war will last a long time and for the war to end as soon as possible, we would like to be very hopeful. mr. putin is on the side of ending the war as soon as possible. amna: what made you believe he would like to end the war? nothing on the battlefield have seen indicates that. pres. edogan: i'm just taking into account the words of the leader in mr. putin is on the side of ending the war as soon as possible, that's what he said and i believe his remarks. amna: do you think ukraine will be successful in expelling russia from ukrainian territory, including crimea? is that a goal you support? pres. edogan: back in 2014, i have certain discussions and talks with president putin on crimea and i was not successful

in my deliberations and i can make them withdrawal from crimea. i don't think it's possible for the time being, either. i think time will only tell. amna: how long do you see this war going and how do you see it ending? pres. edogan: it is impossible for me to give you a calendar about when the war will end. amna: do you see more of a benefit to your nations relationship russia or the u.s.? pres. edogan: this question cannot be asked to a political leader because the way i engage with politics is establishing context with nations around the war based on a win-win scenario. i have good relations with the u.s. and similarly i will have good relations with russia. i will continue to have relations with eu member states based on the same. win-win. amna: there's been a number of

high-profile arrests i wanted to ask you about that have gained international attention. a former journalist who was charged with insulting you in tweets. an activist who was in april sentenced to life in prison. another opposition politician has been serving jail time since 2016. your critics would say jailing many of these people give the impression that you want them silenced. that they are in some way threatening you. are you threatened by these people? pres. edogan: why are you so interested in this? turkey has a state of law and such decisions can only be made by the judiciary. if this is what they have decided to do, but the judgments of the judiciary be respected and executed. i am not in a position to serve in the name of the judiciary. during these protests --

amna: you're speaking of kabbalah? what about kavosh? should someone be jailed for insulting you in between? pres. edogan: no, i'm not getting involved in this, the judgments are made by the judiciary and the same thing applies for others. he is a terrorist who caused the death of more than 200 people and the judgment was given by the judiciary again. amna: i will say -- pardon the interruption -- the european court of human rights disagrees with that assessment. pres. edogan: don't interrupt, you have no right to interrupt, you will not interrupt me and respect me. you respect the judiciary as well. the american judiciary is a full-fledged judiciary and so was the judiciary of turkey. you have to respect that. we are a state of law and inside that state of law, this is how

we lived and how we will keep on living. amna: the committee to protect journalist says turkey is the fourth most prolific dealer of journalists in the world. why are so many journalists in jail in your nation? pres. edogan: how many journalists are currently in prison, do you have information? amna: i do, the number doubled from 2021 tp 2022, 18 and 2021 and more than 40 in 2022. pres. edogan: if they were supportive of terrorism, those supporting terrorism, where would they live or rome freely around the world? they have been supportive of terrorism, and the judiciary made judgments. amna: i appreciate you answering those questions. what would you like the american people to understand about the current relationship between the u.s. and turkey? pres. edogan: the american people i believe are following turkey, and so long as you produce healthy news and healt n

people will have access to healthy information flowing to them. amna: president erdogan, thank you for your time. pres. edogan: thank you. ♪ geoff: republican presidential hopefuls took center stage in iowa over the weekend making their case to a key voting bloc in the state -- white evangelicals. the candidates touched on various issues important to religious conservatives, abortion in particular. laura barron lopez has more. laura: this week in iowa, a focus on faith and guns. >> as president, i will make sure the second amendment is protected. laura: as most of the republican presidential hopefuls courted voters four months before the state's first-in-the-nation caucuses.

one critical voting bloc -- evangelicals, who made up nearly two-thirds of republican caucus-goers in 2o16. most candidates made their pitch saturday at the annual faith and freedom dinner in des moines. >> there is a debating in the party today and it is important. laura: on display, divides inside the gop on a critical issue for conservative voters, abortion. florida governor ron desantis touted recent 6-week bans enacted in iowa and his home state. >> i think the states have done the better job thus far. congress has really struggled to make a meaningful impact over the years. laura: while former vice president mike pence pushed for a 15-week national ban. >> it's a 15-week minimum ban. i believe it's an idea whose time has come. laura: a proposal former south carolina governor nikki haley dismissed as unrealistic. >> tell people the truth. you go and you put this ban of 15 weeks and what does it do?

it has everybody running from us. what about if we got people running to us? laura: and former arkansas governor asa hutchinson said he would sign a national ban with reasonable exceptions. he also took aim at comments made by former president donald trump, who skipped the event. >> both sides are not going to like you. this is going to be a fight for life, and we've been doing that for 40 years. you take a stand, you state your position. laura: during an interview on meet the press, trump, who leads his gop opponents by more than 30 points in iowa, dodged specifics about the abortion restrictions he would support. >> we're going to agree to a number of weeks or months or however you want to define it. and both sides are going to come together, and both sides -- both sides -- and this is a big statement -- both sides will come together. and for the first time in 52 years, you'll have an issue that we can put behind us. >> at the federal level? >> it could be state or it could

be federal. i don't frankly care. laura: as president, trump appointed 3 justices to the supreme court which led to the overturning of roe v. wade, and cleared the way for republican states to enact laws restricting abortion. for republican voters in iowa, however, their support for abortion restrictions is clear. in a recent emerson college poll, 38 percent of republicans said abortion should be banned at all times. another 26 percent support a ban after 6 weeks. for the pbs newshour, i'm laura barron-lopez. geoff: for analysis of the 2024 campaign and how voters are reacting to the impeachment inquiry house republicans are launching, we turn to amy walter of the cook political report and kay henderson, of radio iowa and iowa pbs. great to see you both. let's pick up where laura left off. donald trump nominated three of this up import justices responsible for overturning roe, now says republicans speak in

articulately about abortion and criticize those who pushed for abortion bands without exceptions. what do you make of the message and messenger? amy: i saw two things. one is he was looking -- sounding all most like a pungent, looking back at the 2022 elections and ballot initiatives put forward and how badly republicans have done in the wake of roe v. wade inc. overturned. -- being overturned. how this has energized democrats. i also see someone looking past not just his past positions on this issue but past the primary. he's trying to set himself up for the general election. this question about whether this is the kind of issue republican voters are going to punish donald trump for, i don't know how he ended up after that

conversation, but he came out specifically and when after ron desantis and said six weeks -- i can't remember exactly -- geoff: a terrible mistake are the words he used. kay, you spoke to governor desantis about this, what was his response? kay: he's saying it puts donald trump's pro-life credentials in question. i would also add trump has had a sort of ongoing feuds with iowa governor kim reynolds, the most popular republican in the state who will host the iowa caucuses. she also signed a six week abortion ban this summer and he called it terrible. geoff: amy, you mentioned the pivot to the former president is making. is there a risk in doing that too early or is he so far ahead it doesn't make a difference? amy: he doesn't seem to be worried. i thought was interesting.

i was just reading reports of what was going on at the conference this weekend. one woman they interviewed to me sort of summed up how this issue plays with a lot of republican voters who defined themselves as pro-life and may have told pollsters i support of complete ban but when you ask them specifically what you think that really means, they kind of sound less certain. she said yes, abortion is my number one issue into the reporter followed up and said how about a federal ban? she said i don't know, i could go either way on it. i heard this and focus groups as well, for 2020 two, republicans who said i consider myself pro-life but i think we should have certain exceptions. so i think the issue is more muddled and donald trump is feeling confident enough in that and his lead that even in a

state like iowa things will not catch up to him. geoff: kay, in iowa, the republican party is driven and dominated by white evangelicals, who are loyal to donald trump. the question is why, especially when they have other options like mike pence, known for his devout faith, who has roots in the conservative christian movement. was his decision to not act donald trump's effort to overturn the election, is that a deciding factor for people? kay: it is. donald trump is popular with iowa republicans and mike pence is not popular with donald trump. back to amy's point about trump, i think iowa republicans in general see trump as a man besieged with indictments, critics and they feel compelled to support him, especially

evangelical questions -- christians, who make the argument that they are being tarnished or targeted because of their religious leaves and so they feel a kinship with donald trump in that regard. amy: the interesting thing and watching him try to make this pivot is ok, we need to win back some suburban voters, women voters, swing voters we've lost since the midterm elections. but the problem for donald trump isn't abortion, it's a donald trump, what he's said and done, starting with january 6 and the indictments. that will not be fixed for him in a general election by moderating on abortion. kay: the other thing is, if you are talking to iowa voters who are going to candidate events and seen candidates who are not donald trump, they are looking at other candidates, but when you ask them who are you inclined to support at this

moment, i am a trump supporter but i am holding my options open. that is really telling of what control donald trump has on the nomination and it is really donald trump's race to lose. geoff: criticism from democrats about kevin mccarthy's biden impeachment. but also from some republicans. one says this is a flimsy excuse for impeachment. what is the risk for kevin mccarthy right now? amy: we know the risk is he loses his conservative flank on something like funding the government, which it looks like he doesn't have right now anyway

, so this is an ongoing fight and i don't know each meant salsa. the moderate republicans have to take an uncomfortable vote on this issue. there's something else, somewhere in between, this is making this issue of hunter biden, questions about corruption, keeping that in the mix so it muddies the water when we get into the general election. donald trump has indictments and who knows what legal outcomes there will be. there's also this, there was all this stuff about hunter biden, whatever happened with that? it's hard to believe you can go through an inquiry and not end with an impeachment, it is a slippery slope, but i think for some of those republicans, that is the ideal, muddy the waters as much as possible without having to actually take a vote. geoff: is that strategy working

among the republicans you speak to in iowa? how is this issue resonating? kay: well, among elected republicans, the thing they keep saying is this is a fact-finding mission. none of them say at this point they are supporting impeachment or even expecting to vote on impeachment, number one. number two, among prospective caucus-goers, this is sort of ok, go do it. they've all been talking about hunter biden for months and months and months. this is not essentially big news for the rank-and-file. geoff: kay henderson with the perspective from iowa, and amy walter. great to see you both. ♪ amna: the global art market

totals nearly $70 billion, with returns in recent decades that outpace bonds, by some estimates. that growth has spawned new investors looking to make some money in what is a booming sector. economics correspondent paul solman takes a look at the prudence of investing in art for our arts and culture series, "canvas." [no audio] ♪

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>> i have always believed that people are at the heart of every story we tell. >> any story or interview who makes people who watch it say i hadn't thought of it that way, that for me is gold. >> i like to leave the viewer with some sort of emotion, whether it is outrage, whether it is someone overcoming long odds. telling a big story through an individual story. >> what makes the newshour different is we have time to be thoughtful about the stories we tell, the voices we intend to elevate. >> i know the role good journalism plays in making us all feel more connected to each other and helping us all understand each other a little better. i see this as a mission and a service. ♪ amna: apologize, we had

technical difficulties. we will bring you some more news right now. geoff: luckily with us, amy walter is still here. fantastic. one of the things we did get to talk about but now we do have time, is the ruling funding fight on capitol hill, where house speaker kevin mccarthy has apparently forged this deal among members of his own caucus. that the house republican leader, he's able to get an agreement among his own members, that that is news in its self, it's really remarkable. amy: it is, and to see the number of republicans, he can only afford to lose four republicans and there are some very vocal republicans who are sitting there saying i'm not voting for anything, daring the government shutdown. kevin mccarthy saying to them, i've been through shutdowns before, you never win a shutdown, you think you will win this fight but you will not.

even if he does get the votes he needs, this is for a short-term funding. this is just to get us through the end of october. we could see another fight going into november. that's why, the twin challenges for mccarthy, he's got impeachment, keeping the government funding. if you are a republican running for reelection in 2024 thinking great, i'm just going to focus completely on biden and democrats and what they've done wrong, now you have the challenge of saying i have to defend my own record if you are a republican member, on the fact we were not able to fund the government or however this may turn out, and actual shutdown. amna: each one of these interactions seems to reveal more about how kevin mccarthy leads this conference and how much influence exactly the freedom caucus, the right wing caucus has with republicans.

what you take away from this latest exchange? the way we sell kevin mccarthy rise up and basically say no ahead and try to remove me and it ended up where it is now. amy: that's the leverage he has now, which is they can take a vote and remove him and replace him with who? this has been a challenge for republicans who don't like their leadership for some time now. they wanted to go after john boehner, paul ryan. they go after their leadership saying -- it's called the motion to vacate the chair. there is nobody waiting to take the leadership. you have a handful of members who seemingly like to come up the works. they are really not interested, they are not leading another faction of the republican party. they say we have a different vision for how we want to take the party and we will implement this with this person as our leader. it's just we don't like it, we like the attention we are

getting. they basically can be one member of the house and have an incredible amount of power, more power even then the speaker. geoff: in the couple of minutes we have left, is this a new normal wear congress over and some via a manufactured crisis? amy: doesn't this feel exhausting? for regular people out there. they have to look at this and say there has to be a better way to do things around here. and yet the short-term incentiv for so many members of congress is the opposite of what people in america want, which is they want government to actually work, do basic things. geoff: why then do people elect members of congress seem like they don't want government to work? amy: i know. many people were elected in

primaries where 5% of voters turn out. in some cases we have elected leaders who are essentially voted on by maybe five or 10,000 people in the district they represent over 750 million people in a district that is overwhelmingly red. that's the bigger challenge for our country going forward. we made these lines in the sand where we say i would rather be on the side of something that is dysfunctional but my team than allowing compromise with the other side, who i see as an enemy. amna: you alluded to this group earlier and i wanted to get your take, these republicans, with mr. mccarthy announcing their moving forward with an impeachment inquiry. what position does this put them in? amy: very awkward, especially if

there is not a lot of there there. showing that they are not focusing on issues that districts care about, some that joe biden carried. it looks like they are not doing what they went there to do, which is govern, versus support for joe biden the person. geoff: amy walter, thank you so much. that is the newshour for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire newshour team, thank you for joining us. ♪

hello, everyone welcome to amanpour and company. here is what is coming up. president joe biden observes one year since the death in custody of b,22 -- -- first and last minister of women's affairs whether his legacy has spurred progress on women's rights. thank god devastation in libya i speak with the head of the norwegian refugee council about getting in desperately needed relief.