geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett.

amna nawaz is away. on the "newshour" tonight, israeli forces surround gaza city as calls grow for a pause in the fighting to aid those trapped. we speak with an american family who made it out. >> it's a great relief. hot shower, great food. but, it's just an awful feeling knowing that we just left so many people behind. geoff: the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange ftx is found guilty of fraud. what led to sam bankman-fried's downfall and the implications for how crypto is regulated. and, reproductive rights are once again a key issue in several states where voters are heading to the polls for off-year elections. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by the ongoing support of these

individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour, including jim and nancy, and kathy and paul anderson. >> it was like an a-ha moment. this is what i love doing. early-stage companies have this energy that energizes me. these are people who are trying to change the world. when i volunteer with women entrepreneurs, it is the same thing. i am helping people reach their dreams. i'm thriving by helping others every day. people who know, know bdo. ♪ >> the john s. and jane knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged opportunities. more at kf.org. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions.

and friends of the newshour. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: good evening, and welcome to the "newshour." israeli ground forces are still pushing deeper into gaza tonight as the government rejects calls for a ceasefire. video from the israeli military showed soldiers in close-quarter combat today with hamas fighters. the army said it has encircled gaza city, and airstrikes blasted more targets above and below ground. meantime, secretary of state antony blinken arrived for meetings with israeli leaders after president biden had called for a humanitarian pause in the fighting.

>> with regard to humanitarian causes, we see this as a way of further facilitating the ability to get assistance in. we see it as a way also and very importantly of creating a better environment in which hostages can be released. geoff: blinken also warned the palestinians will never be partners for peace if they are consumed by a humanitarian catastrophe. but after meeting with blinken, prime minister benjamin netanyahu rejected any halt in the israeli offensive. >> i made it clear we continue with all the power, and that israel refuses a temporary ceasefire that doesn't include a return of our hostages. geoff: also today, gazan authorities said israel attacked an ambulance, killing and wounding a number of people. israel said hamas fighters were using the ambulance and that the strike killed some of them. in his first speech since the

the israel-hamas war began, the head of hezbollah in lebanon suggested the militant group does not want to widen the war, but left open the possibility of escalating its ongoing conflict with israel. hezbollah is one of the iran-aligned actors allied with hamas. it has ramped up attacks on israel and u.s. troops in recent weeks, raising fears of regional spillover. simona foltyn has this report from beirut. simona: thousands of hezbollah supporters gather to hear their leader speak. they had many in this region hang on every word, carefully listening for warnings of impending escalations. but the tone was relatively measured to call for a cease-fire in gaza and drew a line for hezbollah's involvement. >> there are two goals today. the first is to stop the aggression on gaza, and the second is for the palestinian resistance to be victorious in gaza, and for hamas to be

victorious. simona: he said the october 7 attack was carried out by hamas alone in response to the worsening conditions for gazans and palestinians in the west bank. >> the palestinians have suffered for 75 years. the last years have been harsh for palestinians under netanyahu's extremist government. simona: some are disappointed that arab nations have not taken a stronger stance against israel. traveled from lebanon's southern borders where hezbollah has lost about 50 fighters in cross-border attacks with israel since october 7. >> we came here to stand with gaza and hamas. to help them prevail and that we are the resistance and we stand with palestine. simona: stand with palestine but not fight on its behalf. it was not the call to battle that some expected. in fact, he said hezbollah was

already part of the war, referring to ongoing clashes along the border. there is a sense that hezbollah does not want to escalate the conflict to a regional level and drag lebanon into a full-scale war. lebanon has been at war with israel several times before. he was a child when he was injured in the 1982 war and says his country cannot afford another. >> lebanon is not in a position to go to war. no matter what happens, even if hezbollah wins, lebanon will lose. simona: over recent years, the country has reeled from an economic crisis, leading to an almost complete collapse of the state. >> because there is no state and haswell is instilling itself as the protectors of lebanon, even the lebanese against hezbollah, when they have no other solutions, they say yes, we would rather have them than the israelis. simona: for now, hezbollah has lowered the temperature, but he

also warned all options remain on the table should israel not de-escalate its bombardment of gaza. i'm simona full team i -- foltyn in beirut. geoff: the biden administration's priorities include preventing the kind of regional escalation that nasrallah warned about and evacuating american citizens from gaza. more than 380 palestinians and dual nationals were allowed to leave today. it is unclear how many were americans but the u.s. state department about 75 of the 400 americans who want to leave have made it out. nick schifrin speaks to one of those american families who were stuck in gaza. nick: americans who woke up in gaza on october 7 found themselves in the middle of a combat zone. the hamas terrorist attack that morning included thousands of rockets fired from gaza into israel, and now, israel has waged war from the air, sea, and land inside gaza for three weeks. one of the american families who managed to get out is emilee rauschenberger and her daughter,

noora abuhamad, who join us now from cairo. thank you very much, welcome both of you to the newshour. emilee, you were visiting your husband's family in gaza. what does it feel to be out? >> it is a huge relief. it is such a struggle. we are happy to be through the gates and it is a surreal experience being out. we didn't know when this day would come. nick: how do you feel? >> absolutely thrilled. great relief. hot shower, great food. but an awful feeling knowing we left so many people behind. we left 20 other members of our family in the apartment. these are the people that have to survive. we split up the daily chores of getting bread and water and finding someplace to charge our devices. we really worked as a team. really awful feeling to leave them behind and not know when and if we will see them again. nick: do you have second thoughts about leaving? >> no, not second thoughts

really because you never know have that opportunity will come back. nick: you have mostly been in southern gaza in what israel identifies as a safe zone. noora, let me show this photo of your room. this is damage from an that was nearby. -- an israeli airstrike that was nearby. what happened? >> this is our family home on the southeast of the gaza strip. if we had been there, my daughter and my four-year-old would have been sleeping in those beds. there is no safe area. i had such a horrible experience, the apartments were bombed right around us. it was just the luck of the draw it was not our building. the bomb that broke my window, it broke not just mine but all the houses on the street. all the windows gone, shattered.

it is a relief to know i am safe now. there is no chance of anything hitting me or my family, but then i think about the millions of people who every single hour, every single minute, every single night, hoping and praying that they and their family will be safe. i know exactly how they feel. it is devastating. nick: do you think the state department did everything it could to get you and your family out? >> i hope so and believe so. it is frustrating that it took so long because we really felt in danger the whole time. for a country the americans are so close with, i would just hope that american lives on both sides of the border would have been equally able to leave sooner than later. it was hard to understand why the border could not be open. literally just how to get there

and allow us to cross. there was no checkpoints or anybody stopping us from within. nick: do you accept the explanation from above american officials that it is a lot more difficult to negotiate with hamas, egypt and qatar as an intermediary than it is to evacuate from israel? >> again, i don't have any insight into the issue other than what i saw, which is no resistance, nothing stopping us within the strip. we were cut off from all communication and hunkered down in an apartment so i wouldn't have any good insight into that. nick: noora is your oldest child. you have four youngest ones. what do you tell the youngest ones about the violence? >> my four-year-old was blissfully unaware except "bomb" entered her vocabulary. my other boys, they were angry and frustrated. you could see their stress in other ways even though they did not show it verbally or go on

about their fears and anxiety. it definitely had a toll. i tried to explain this is part of a larger regional conflict. it is complicated, but we do believe one day, there will be a solution. people in gaza will be easier to visit and will have human rights that all humans deserve. nick: emilee, noora, thank you very much. really appreciate your time. geoff: the morning hamas terrorists launched its attack on israel, there were thousands of innocent gazan civilians inside israel working day jobs or seeking medical care. when the war started and the border crossing closed, they were left stranded. now, they've been told to go back to gaza, but it's not clear how or when that can happen. leila molana-allen reports. leila: displaced and desperate. gazan patients and their families who came to israel for medical care before the war now spend their days begging for

news of their loved ones back home. raji is 11. he came to jerusalem for surgery in late september to give him back the sight in his left eye. he still doesn't know if it worked, but in the meantime, his world turned upside down. his father and siblings no longer safe at home. >> my father was injured and our house was destroyed. they fired a rocket at our house. leila: 39-year-old nisreen was in jerusalem for breast cancer treatment when the terror attacks happened. her treatment is finished, but she's been stuck here ever since. back in gaza, her three young children are still at home. trapped under the bombardment of unrelenting airstrikes. lina and youssef are eight and six. mohammad is just two. >> they are civilians who are not guilty. innocent children. what did they do?

in previous wars, we were together, they were hugging me and telling me that we are afraid. today, i am not with them. leila: several times a day, she tries to reach them. sometimes, the line connects. sometimes, it doesn't. >> i never know. are they alive or not? they are very afraid. i am their mother. i blame myself. i wish i had died and not come here. leila: this time, she's got through. >> hello, my love. how are you, youssef? are you happy? what are you doing? are you playing, darling? don't be afraid. you are my hero. there, this is our life. over and over and over again, it

comes, and they don't understand what's happening. they're just children. leila: watching the devastation of her home unfold, powerless, nisreen feels she is losing her mind. >> we have reached the point where children write their names on their hands, so that they can be identified when they're killed. how much more can we take? leila: after we visited the hospital yesterday, jerusalem police raided the ward, removing the patients and their families. israeli authorities later announced all gazans in israel would be deported. movement for palestinians from both gaza and the west bank is heavily restricted even in peacetime. they can only enter israel for medical care or for work with very special, limited permits. when the october 7 attacks happened, there were nearly 6000 gazan workers in israel. as soon as the attacks happened, their rmits were immediately revoked.

they couldn't stay in israel, but they couldn't go back to gaza either. their only option was to seek refuge in palestinian cities in the west bank. here in jericho, 1500 workers are taking temporary shelter in university and police buildings. the palestinian authority is doing what it can to help them, but is overwhelmed. gaza's unemployment is among the highest in the world. ibrahim wanted to make a better life for his kids. the morning of the attacks, his work permit was taken away, and his salary not paid. last week, his sister and four of her children were killed in an israeli airstrike in central gaza. >> for more than two days, they were under the rubble. she was holding her children, but no one was able to save her. leila: ibrahim's wife and kids are sheltering near al-quds hospital in gaza city. this week, the idf ordered the hospital to be evacuated, but the wounded and homeless staying there say they have nowhere else to go. >> since yesterday, my children

have not eaten bread or water. they have nothing. our bodies are here but our minds and hearts are in gaza. i hate the night. i pray to god it will remain daytime because the night is a torment for them there. leila: he knows if they survived the war, the road ahead will be long. >> we can all see what's happening. gaza will need 20 years to rebuild. leila: for the "pbs newshour," i'm leila molana-allen in jericho, the west bank. ♪ geoff: in the day's other headlines, u.s. employers slowed their hiring in october, but the labor market still showed signs of resiliency. the labor department reports that overall, the economy added a net 150,000 jobs last month.

that was down sharply from the 297,000 jobs gained in september, due partly to the auto strike. meantime, the unemployment rate rose slightly in october to 3.9%. president biden traveled to lewiston, maine today, where a gunman killed 18 people last week. the president and first lady laid flowers at a makeshift memorial for the victims, and met with families and first responders. afterward, mr. biden appealed again for action to stop gun violence. >> this is about common sense, reasonable, responsible measures to protect our children, our families and our communities. because regardless of our politics, this is about protecting our freedom to go to a bowling alley, a restaurant, a school or church without being shot and killed. geoff: this was the president's latest visit to a city torn by deadly mass shootings.

a white house spokesperson said today, "we can't accept it as normal." the u.s. supreme court has agreed to decide if a ban on so-called bump stocks violates federal law. the attachments allow semi-automatic weapons to fire as rapidly as machine guns. they were banned after the 2017 las vegas shootings when a gunman fired 1000 rounds in 11 minutes and killed 60 people. in ukraine today, russia launched its biggest aerial assault in weeks -- nearly 40 drones across 10 different regions. they spanned border to border, hitting the cities of odesa and kherson in the south, lviv in the west, and kharkiv in the eastern part of the country. the nighttime strikes set fire to commercial shops, homes, and public buildings. ukrainian officials said they expect attacks on the power grid again as winter sets in. a record-breaking storm that ravaged western europe dealt a blow to italy today, killing at least six people. that brought the total death toll across europe to 14.

drone footage over tuscany showed streets awash with standing water. many people said they lost everything in the floods and some took rescues into their own hands. >> last night, the water started flowing from there and it was quick like a flash. my neighbors took my mother and her wheelchair and brought her to their house. they picked her up on their shoulders, took her wheelchair, and rushed her away, and with the help of a tarp, they carried her down the stairs. geoff: the storm dumped eight inches of rain on tuscany in just three hours. india's capital city was shrouded in a thick, toxic haze today. the seasonal blanket of smog sent the air quality index in new delhi to severe levels, and officials closed schools and banned some vehicles and construction work. it made venturing outdoors hazardous to the health of locals and tourists alike. >> it's quite foggy, and of course, the smog you can feel, you can feel the dirt, the pollution of the cars. so, for me, it is actually quite hard to breathe deeply. so, we are saying it's like, a

little bit, you have to cough the whole time. geoff: the smog is caused by farmers burning crop waste coupled with a lack of wind. a judge in new york barred lawyers in the trump civil fraud trial from making statements regarding his staff. judge arthur engoron said former president trp's attorneys have falsely accused his law clerk of bias. the ruling came after mr. trump's son eric finished testifying. he said he relied on accountants to ensure that trump organization financial statements were accurate. and on wall street, stocks finished their best week of the year. the dow jones industrial average gained 222 points today to close at 34,061. the nasdaq rose 184 points. the s&p 500 added 40. still to come on the "newshour," how reproductive rights are playing in this year's state elections. david brooks and jonathan capehart weigh in on the week's political headlines. families navigate the difficult task of talking to their kids about the israel-hamas war.

>> 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. geoff: ftx founder sam bankman-fried has been found guilty for fraud and for his role in the collapse of the now bankrupt crypto-currency exchange. john yang looks at the significance of this case. john: geoff, it took a jury just over four hours to convict sam bankman-fried on one of the biggest financial frauds in history, investors lost nearly $10 billion. afterward, federal prosecutor damian williams said crooked financiers should take note. >> it's a warning, this case, to every single fraudster out there who thinks that they're untouchable, or that their crimes are too complex for us to catch. whether they're too powerful for us to prosecute, or that they could try to talk their way out

of it when they get caught. those folks should think again and cut it out. and if they don't, i promise we'll have enough handcuffs for all of them. john: the maximum prison time in the seven charges that bankman-fried was convicted totals 110 years. crystal kim is a new york-based crypto reporter for axios who covered the trial. the big moment in this trial was when sam bankman-fried took the stand. always a gamble for a defendant to testify in his own defense. how did he do? did he help or hurt himself? crystal: well, you are right to say that former federal prosecutors say the best thing a defendant can do is take the witness stand to explain in their own words what happened and why they are innocent. i think sam did more damage than good. he was evasive. he could not remember key events or things he said, including congressional testimony, which

the prosecution was only too happy to check him on. his behavior only added fuel to the u.s. government closing statement. they counted up and found that sam's memory failed him more than 140 times during cross-examination. john: how effective was the prosecution in your mind? crystal: the u.s. government had a solid case against sam. they had the testimonies of his three lieutenants, caroline ellison, gary wong, and rashad singh. they all pled guilty. when they were asked who they committed the crimes with, they pointed the finger at sam. the prosecution had a mountain of evidence to support what they were saying. john: there were some 6 million emails, slack messages, other digital messages. this trial, for a complex white-collar financial fraud case, it moved quickly. 11 months between arrest and conviction. how do you think the government

was able to sift all that evidence and present a case so quickly? crystal: i think the testimony and the cooperation of the three key witnesses helped. john: what does it mean for the crypto industry? crystal: as mentioned before, this is what u.s. prosecutors called one of the biggest financial fraud cases in history. it was a black eye to the industry that ftx, once the third largest crypto exchange in the world, collapsed. that someone had finally been held accountable. and the people burned in its process should be cathartic. i think some folks are taking victory laps. john: what about potential regulations or laws to regulate the industry? will it give impetus to that? crystal: it may. there are a couple of crypto bills in circulation but we will see if they see any progress in the months coming. john: this is not the last time that sam bankman-fried will be

sitting at the defendant's table in a courtroom, right? crystal: right. same was taken into custody and he will likely stay at metropolitan detention center until his next trial, slated for march 11, 2024. this relates to the bank fraud charge and bribing a foreign government official. though, reporters at the trial have been debating whether the case gets dropped before then given the prosecution's victory yesterday. john: crystal kim, thank you very much. crystal: thank you for having me. ♪ geoff: in the year and a half since the u.s. supreme court overturned roe v. wade, abortion rights have been front and center in elections across the country. and that will be true again on tuesday as races in several states could alter the abortion landscape. in ohio, voters will decide whether to enshrine reproductive rights in the state

constitution. and in virginia, control of the state legislature could decide the future of access. here for an on-the-ground look are ohio state house news bureau chief karen kasler and charlotte woods with "the richmond times dispatch." karen, this amendment goes beyond abortion access and seeks to protect contraception. what else does it do? karen: it does. it goes beyond just abortion rights and also contraception, but also guarantees access to fertility treatments. it guarantees access to miscarriage care. and continuing one's own pregnancy. that has gotten some pushback from people who are opposed to this by saying that there's already miscarriage in the law. the amendment uses the term individual instead of woman which they say opens the door to problems of parental rights. the backers of this amendment said parental rights must be protected. the attorney general's legal

analysis also said parental rights are not addressed. geoff: i know abortion rights supporters are winning in the money race. they have far outraised opponents. what is the expectation for tuesday's vote? karen: $39 million raised by the supporters of issue 1, and they translated that into a lot of ads. there's a lot of interest on that. the no side has raised about $27 million, so fewer ad s. we are seeing a lot of interest in early voting. much more than we might expect in an odd year election. i think there's a lot of excitement about deciding these issues because it is not only just abortion rights, but also marijuana legalization and regulation and taxes. that is important for a lot of people as well. geoff: charlotte, the entire state legislature in virginia is up for grabs this year. republicans are looking to flip control of the state senate.

and democrats warn that could give the gop the power to pass abortion restrictions. is that what this election is turning on? what are you hearing? charlotte: abortion is one of the top two. inflation and abortion are very much on voters' minds. we are all feeling the weight of inflation. abortion, virginia is the least restrictive state, southern state when it comes to access. our current laws allow abortion up to 26 weeks, with some rare exceptions on later term abortions. most republicans are proposing a governor glenn youngkin's back proposal to allow abortions up to 15 weeks with exceptions afterwards. there is some nuance with what they will go with. although all 140 seats are up for election, about only a dozen are competitive. it is one of the most expensive off election years. virginia has an election every year and always tends to garner national attention, but this

year with abortion at stake, it is definitely a big one. i spent some time down at the tennessee border, the north carolina border. abortion firms are talking about out-of-state coming in for care. geoff: virginia is the last southern state without a gop abortion restriction. what are the bigger implications for this race? charlotte: i think it will also determine how much of an appetite there is nationally for restrictions because we had 49 years of roe v. wade saying this was a federal issue. most states that had restrictions like virginia is 26 weeks, north carolina used to be it is a case-by-case basis that doctors make and it usually falls between 20 and 26 weeks. we were member when roe fell, lindsey graham was reposing a federal 15-week ban. in virginia, you have a spectrum of support from republicans, although most are acting the 15

week proposal. democrats are pushing back saying look at what ohio is trying to do, enshrine protections into the state constitution. that will be a long process and that ends up being the case. yeah, this is one of the top issues on voters's minds. it will determine the political landscape around abortion access and restriction. i think the same story that every other state has been telling the last year. geoff: karen, how will this ohio amendment serve as a testing ground for statewide abortion fights expected next year in 2024? karen: what's interesting is that ohio has no statewide candidates on the ballot, only these two issues, abortion rights and recreational marijuana along with local issues. also, ohio does have a ban on abortion after six weeks. it is currently on legal hold. right now, the ban is at viability. there has been a lot of talk about what might happen with the six week ban. it would almost certainly fall if this issue does pass. there are some promises being

made by republicans, including governor mike dewine, that if this issue fails, they will go back and revisit the six week ban because it includes no exceptions for rape and incest, which he acknowledges a lot of people don't support. geoff: based on your reporting, are there any takeaways that democrats and republicans nationally could learn from what's happening in virginia right now? charlotte: i think some of it is the messaging. it is the "b" word, ban. it describes an action but also being used as a label on these proposals. democrats are hurling the word ban at republicans. republicans really don't want that word attached to their proposal. the reality is karen law -- current laws ban abortions after 26 weeks. it is interesting seeing the political messaging. at the voter level, it is a little more simplistic. i think people really care, hey, if i support this, do i want to make sure myself, my family

member, my friend can get this procedure if they need it? hey, i don't support this, what can i do to make sure there are less abortions happening? geoff: charlotte and karen, we appreciate your reporting and your insights. >> thanks. ♪ geoff: we're going to take a deeper look now at the political divides over the war in gaza. on that and more, we turn to the analysis of brooks and capehart. that's "new york times" columnist david brooks and jonathan capehart, associate editor for "the washington post." good to see you both as always. the biden administration continues to push for humanitarian pause in gaza, but israel said they will not stop its strikes on hamas. jonathan, what is your assessment of the administration

calling for this pause to allow aid in and hostages out, and netanyahu's response? jonathan: it is the right thing for the president to do. he has been clear that the u.s. stands squarely behind israel, but israel has a right to defend itself. and especially after such a horrific attack as was committed by hamas. at the same time, the president also said privately and publicly to the israeli government, but remember, you are a democratic nation. you must abide by the rules of war. over the past two weeks now -- three weeks, over the last three weeks, the humanitarian portion of that conversation has gotten louder as we have seen the death toll in gaza rise. a story last week about how the administration privately was urging the prime minister to be more surgical. don't do the ground invasion.

as we have seen today, the prime minister is saying no to the cease-fire. and i am not sure what more the president and the united states can do to impress upon the israeli prime minister that the road they are going down is not sustainable. geoff: how do you see it? david: i think the biden administration is doing the right thing. the long history of wars against terror organizations suggests the smart thing to do, but also the humane thing to do is to separate the terrorists from the population. i think a series of pauses would be a sign that israel is at war with hamas, not the population. we are going to take the steps we take even if it will hurt us military to get the humanitarian relief in. that is the first thing. the second thing the biden administration is right is that a cease-fire would be a disaster and would lead to more bloodshed long-term. hamas has said we are very proud

of october 7. we would do one million october 7's if it led to the extermination of israel. if you have a terror group that will keep attacking, your only mission is to take out that terror group. the third thing which the administration is thinking about is what comes after? that is a very tricky situation. somehow, they cannot be the u.s., israel, but someone has to organize, probably an arab-led intervention force to administer gaza. that force has to do counterterrorism which will be calling upon a lot of. we don't want israel to be doing counterterrorism in gaza after this. these other ways you can separate the population from hamas. that has to be the strategy. geoff: the house passed its own israel aid bill this past week. $14.3 billion that does not include aid for other foreign requests the initiation has, including assistance for ukraine. this bill is dead on arrival in

the senate. president biden says if it never reached his desk, he would veto it. what do you make on this divide on the republican side over foreign aid? jonathan: and makes me wonder if speaker johnson is serious is he serious -- is -- does he realize he's a constitutional officer? now that he speaker of the house, he has greater responsibilities and that is to the nation's national security and its defense. or is he going to continue operate like a back venturer from an extremely safe district? his only job is to throw bombs and introduce legislation that will go nowhere. great for a back to venture, not great for a speaker. if you are republican speaker of the house and sent a bill to the senate, or even the republican senate minority leader says no

and there are a bunch of republican senators that agree with the minority leader and you sent it anyway, what is your goal? especially with the government shutdown looming in a couple of weeks. i just don't understand. i don't think he's taking this seriously and i hope he starts taking the job seriously sooner rather than later. geoff: what is your view of speaker johnson's first full week in office and this debate? david: i think he's doing the right thing. i will start with going back in history. franklin roosevelt thought we had to go to war with the nazis and the country is not there yet. he did a whole things to maneuver the country to the spot where we need to to go to war. comparing fdr to mike johnson is like comparing the philadelphia eagles to peewee football, but he has said he supports aid to ukraine. he knows how important it is. he said important -- private meetings with lindsey graham, for example. so, i interpret the gestures as

i am giving this to my caucus, giving that to my caucus, and we will take a series of steps, probably with is really a first, but then it seems like the ukraine southern border, somewhere down the line. i'm hopeful all those packages of eight will eventually get over the finish line. geoff: this assistance was already delayed because of the drawnout speaker battle and now it is turning into a partisan fight and intraparty fight. what kind of presidents does that set? david: we are in one of the most perilous moments in our history. the hezbollah could attack, iran could get sucked in. if you read the run up to world war i, how did the world stumble into this war that nobody wanted? we are not too far off. when you consider the downsides of what could possibly happen in months and years ahead, they idea we are stumbling and fighting over this stuff is going to look insane. geoff: what do you make of the

stumbling and potential unintended consequences of it? jonathan: that concerns me. also, i don't know -- i hesitate to put too much trust i speaker johnson's maneuvering his caucus into giving aid to israel and then giving aid to ukraine when he still has an even bigger challenge and that is getting a continuing resolution passed so e vernment does not shut down on november 17. he still has that one person motion vacate hanging over his head. he's talking about either a continuing resolution through january, which some in his caucus say no way. then, there is this laddered shutdown or cr, which looks great on paper but makes no sense in practice. folks in his caucus are like what does that even mean? how is that going to work? look, i want the guy to be successful.

i want the speaker to be successful because if he's successful, that means the government won't shut down, israel gets aid, ukraine gets aid, taiwan gets aid. america get back into the business of being a stable leader in the world as opposed to what we are now. geoff: in the upper chamber, it appears republicans have headed with senator tommy tuberville's nine month blockade of literary promotion. senator dan sullivan of alaska, a colonel in the u.s. marine corps, says his bloc it will be remembered as national security suicide mission. you can see the full quote. david, it also raises questions about whether the senate confirmation process is broken. that one person can wield so much power and gum up the works here. david: as a big pbs fan, i used to watch "thomas the tank engine." there is a phrase, "it isn't

wrong, we just don't do it." that is the kind of unofficial norm that every official needs to survive and thrive. we don't have rules about everything, but there are certain things we do around here. all those norms, most have been eviscerated in the u.s. senate. i think back even, ted cruz came to office and he was in the senate for weeks and already tearing the place down. tuberville is able to tear the place down on his own, that leads me to believe we are no longer in a place where we can allow single senators to block everything. that was the norm, the unofficial way of doing business, but only because people were basically responsible with it. now if you can turn in to a stick of dynamite and make the whole senate network and make the whole military work, we are not in a spot that allows rules for senators to stop everything. geoff: is it time for a rules change? jonathan: absolutely. can i just say that senator tuberville -- i don't know if

you showed the clip but cnn asked him about his holds on these promotions and the fact that the marine commandant had a heart attack because he's doing the job under him as well? two super full-time jobs. the senator, former football coach, not a member of the military, not a retired reservist or anything like that said, well, he's got people that work under him. he's already working long hours. so, what's the big deal? i had to do the same thing. i'm sorry, but coaching a football team, even if it is college football, is not the same as leading troops in battle. it is not the same as sending men and women overseas to protect other countries, protect our national security and freedom. the idea that that guy can stand in the way of professionals,

real people doing real jobs, not that football isn't real, but lives are not on the line in the way that the marine commandant -- it is offensive. it's wrong. i want to say morally repugnant but i think i may have gone overboard but you get what i mean. geoff: despite all the pressure, tuberville is entirely unmoved. david: it is a rare person that can be hated by his entire workplace and still keep going. i think the big philosophical difference is most of the senators think americans are ruling the world. if he's putting a minor issue ahead of that, he does not really believe that. that idea that america has a role in the world and if it doesn't, the jungle will grow back. the movement away from that idea is the undercurrent of all of this. some people believe it does and an increasing share of republicans not believe in that.

geoff: have a great weekend. >> thank you. ♪ geoff: in the last few weeks, horrific images have emerged from israel and the gaza strip, many involving children and young people. here in the u.s., jewish-american and palestinian-american parents and their children are grappling with the mental toll of a war thousands of miles away. i recently sat down with some of those families. how important is family? >> it's, i mean, family is everything. literally, the first thing i do when i wake up is i check if everyone's alive. geoff: palestinian-american mother and journalist laila el-haddad says she constantly worries about her relatives in the gaza strip. >> they're human beings and they're terrified. and it feels overwhelming. and we all feel kind of helpless

because it feels like it's right now, the way they describe it, it's them against the world. geoff: at home with her own children in clarksville, maryland, she says their understanding of what's happening in gaza and the broader israel palestinian conflict varies by age. you have four children. how do you help them deal with what you describe as this collective trauma? >> it's absolutely collective. it's generational. the older ones now get that there's this is sort of understood not just as a palestinian struggle, but an anti-colonial struggle. the younger ones, of course, want to know why no one is doing anything to stop this. it's part and parcel of this, what we expect to be a very long struggle for freedom. it doesn't mean that they don't feel hurt and pain, but that's how they understand it. geoff: laila's 15-year-old daughter noor grew up going to protests in support of palestinians.

she says she paints to express her identity, and still remembers her trips to gaza. >> i would swim in the ocean in the middle of the night, horseback riding. there's something special. and having all those memories with those family members and not knowing if they're going to live for me to visit them and have those memories again is just like, really concerning. geoff: 20 miles away in rockville, maryland, clinical social worker orly zimmerman-leizerov has spent most of her time the last few weeks counseling other jewish and israeli-american families like her own. what have the last few weeks been like for you? >> a nightmare. a nightmare. i think i can safely speak for all israelis that we're not ok right now, we will never be the same.

there is no way for us to kind of really go back right now and be what we were before. we all know people that have been murdered, that have been captured and are still very much -- we don't know what's going on with them. geoff: what are some of the questions you get the most from parents about how to help their children understand what's happening? >> parents ask how should i share that somebody lost their life, that died? in most cases, we help children understand that this is part of the natural cycle of life. and that's not the case here. helping children see themselves as safe, as protected. we have the privilege here to talk with our children about being safe. that's not something that, unfortunately, people in israel

have very much. geoff: the ongoing war has led to difficult conversations within families here in the u.s., and fear given the rise of anti-semitism and islamophobia, especially after the murder of the six-year-old palestinian-american boy wadea al fayoume. >> our son has told us that he heard this story and he himself fears for his safety and wonders why anybody would do that to a boy. and, you know, as he watches the news, he wonders why many children in gaza as well have been killed. geoff: in portland, oregon, palestinian-american riyad fares and his wife krista say since the war began, their three children have sometimes struggled to feel accepted in school. >> my son came home from school and they had a long conversation on the playground about this. and he's been struggling about talking with his friends and

trying to reach out to them for support and not really getting the support that he wants from his friends, because some of his friends believe that the palestinian people are bad, and that hurts him to know that. so, i tried to listen and understand and be supportive and tell him that's not the case. >> i got an email from my kids' school principal here in west philadelphia. kids are talking about this in the hallway. and she's overhearing kids say, you know, whose side are you on? geoff: rabbi ari lev fornari is the senior rabbi at kol tzedek synagogue in west philadelphia and parent of a seven and nine-year-old. he says while his congregants grieve the hamas attack, he asks them to also think critically about the decades-long israel-palestinian conflict, and start those conversations with their own children. >> children can handle complexity and they can think critically. you know, if we can teach them the scientific method, we can teach them to think critically about world events and politics and power.

there's no question that in this moment what hamas did is an atrocity. and at the same time, there is still a power imbalance, and israel has more power over the people of palestine than palestinians have over their own lives and certainly over israelis. and so, i think we can teach critical thinking. we can teach people to hear multiple truths. geoff: in albany, new york, orthodox jewish-american mother and cellist laura melnicoff says her two oldest are curious about the war, and she tries to ease their growing concerns. >> one of their babysitters that they had last year was visiting israel at the time of the attack for the holidays. and so, when my six-year-old has a specific concern about his babysitter, i just address that. i say that we know that she's safe right now. i don't tell him things like, you know, from the monday that

we heard that she was still there and knowing that she had to wait until thursday for a provisional flight home. geoff: still, melnicoff says, it was important her children learn to distinguish between the actions of hamas and other palestinians. >> we wanted them to know that it was done by a terrorist organization and that israel was getting ready to respond. we wanted to make sure that they knew that the palestinian people were not, you know, we didn't want to hear them coming home from school and talking about whole swaths of people being animals and things like that. we wanted to make that distinction for them. geoff: back in rockville, maryland, zimmerman-leizerov says the lack of a clear end to the war makes it harder for both children and adults to cope. >> usually in trauma situations or tragic losses, the event happens, there's an end in sight, you know, and then you can start the healing process. in this case, it's so unpredictable and there is so much uncertainty that that

really makes it very hard for us as adults to support children in this. geoff: for el-haddad, she relies on faith and patience. she says she's telling other families to channel their emotions into positive action. >> to be patient, but to have these conversations with them and to frame them in a context that they can understand, that is humanizing. geoff: conversations she says she's also having with her own children. since our interview, el-haddad learned her aunt, three cousins, and another family member were killed in gaza city. ♪ geoff: be sure to watch "pbs news weekend" tomorrow for a look at how hamas and other terrorist groups are using cryptocurrencies to fund their operations. and tune in to "washington week" with "the atlantic" later tonight.

jeffrey goldberg and his panel will discuss house speaker mike johnson's controversial approach to israel funding and the unique set of challenges facing president biden's re-election bid. and as always, remember there is much more online, including a story about a congressional committee's recommendations for reducing how much patients pay for an ambulance. and that is the "newshour" for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. have a good night and a great weekend. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ >> moving our economy for 160 years.

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