wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. ♪ geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on "the newshour" tonight -- israeli forces close in on gaza city and deadly airstrikes continue, while the secretary of state travels the region to try

and prevent escalation. geoff: former president trump testifies in the new york fraud trial that could upend his family business. amna: and one of the first formerly incarcerated state legislators reflects on her life's unlikely path, including breaking down barriers for people like her. >> i'm normalizing it for other people who don't have to live in shame anymore about their past and can say, yes, i did those things and i've changed. ♪ >> 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. >> actually, you don't need

vision to do most things in life. yes, i am legally blind and yes, i am responsible for the user interface. data visualization. if i can see it and understand it quickly, anyone can. it is exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward, i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at hewlett.org. 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. amna: welcome to "the newshour." a staggering milestone today in gaza -- the hamas-run gaza health ministry says 10,000 gazans, including 4000 children, have been killed since the hamas terrorist attack in israel on october 7. israel says its ground operation has now cut off gaza city from the rest of the gaza strip. geoff: and secretary of state antony blinken left the region today after rare public disagreements with america's closest arab allies. he described his efforts to secure a humanitarian pause and the release of hostages as a "work in progress." nick schifrin starts our

coverage with another day of funerals in gaza. some of the images in this report are disturbing. nick: the body of a child. the body whose burden falls on four adult men. gazans say one month of war has spared no one. the hamas-controlled ministry of health number, 10,000, is unprecedented, even for a small strip of land that has suffered six wars in 15 years. the latest victims today. israel said it was targeting a hamas commander. >> it was night, they pulled us out from under the rubble. you could see the children, young boys and girls, all martyred. nick: israeli airstrikes continue today, including on a building inside a hospital compound. among the victims, a desperate man trying to save a child. israel accuses hamas of hiding in hospitals and released new footage today of tunnels next to

and underneath gaza hospitals in the north. israel is increasingly focused on his ground operation, approaching closer to gaza city. soldiers in northern gaza also captured what used to be a scouts headquarters for kids where they said hamas launched rockets. israeli forces are trying to encircle gaza city from three axes -- the northeast, northwest and across central gaza, cutting the strip in two. >> the forces on the ground are advancing according to the operational plan. moving forward, increasing the pressure deep in gaza city. nick: across the region, israel's campaign is sparking widespread protest. today it was in turkey, including demonstrators with swastikas. they followed secretary of state antony blinken's meeting with the turkish foreign minister and blinken's efforts to convince the region that the u.s. cares about palestinians.

>> we know the concern about the terrible toll that gaza is taking on palestinians, men, women and children in gaza, a concern we share. and that we are working on everyday. we have engaged the israeli some steps to take to minimize civilian casualties. nick: the visit capped a four-day regional tour that began on friday in tel aviv, where his requests to prime minister benjamin netanyahu for a pause -- >> we see this as a way of further facilitating getting assistance in. nick: were publicly rejected. >> israel refuses a cease-fire that does not include the return of kidnapped hostages. nick: blinken discussed having the palestinian authority take over gaza after the war. the palestinian authority president called it impossible

without a completed two state solution. and in oman, a rare public disagreement between the united states and two of its top allies in their region. jordan and egypt. >> we demand a cease-fire. and into this war and what results from it. we reject the description of self-defense. >> cease-fire now. it would leave hamas in place and they would repeat what it did on october 7. >> the united states needs to understand that it is being seen in the region as complicit. nick: this is jordan's former foreign minister. he acknowledges that public anger does not match private. but he says the range is shrinking. >> a call for cease-fire stems

from the fact that if a cease-fire is not affected soon and if conditions of war allow israel to transfer palestinians into egypt or jordan, that is a real concern for jordan or egypt. nick: israel denies a plan to transfer population, but today in southern gaza, an area israel promised would be safer, gazans say the bombs have not stopped and no one feels safe. for the pbs newshour, i am nick schifrin. ♪ vanessa: here are the latest headlines. ukraine's southern port of odesa came under heavy new russian attacks overnight. local officials said drones and at least one missile targeted the city's grain warehouses and trucks. an art museum that's part of a unesco world heritage site was

also hit. but officials said the collections were unharmed. kyrylo: some rooms close to the facade side of the building didn't hold up to the explosion, the ceilings and walls sustained damage. fortunately, none of our exhibits were damaged. the windows were covered from the inside with shutters and additional shields. vanessa: nobel peace prize laureate narges mohammadi began a hunger strike in iran today. the women's rights advocate is in prison for allegedly spreading propaganda against the islamic republic. an activist news agency reports she is protesting a lack of medical care. it says she was denied heart and lung treatment for refusing to wear a head scarf. in nepal, aid is slowly reaching areas flattened by an earthquake friday night that killed more than 150 people. the epicenter was in a mountainous district 400 miles northwest of kathmandu where many villages are reachable only by foot. survivors spent another day

clearing debris, despite a new aftershock. nirmala: most of our belongings are under the rubble, all our beds, clothes, whatever jewelry and money is all under there and we have not been able to get it out. finally, we got a tent and some food last night, we had not had much to eat until then. nasa: a second denver area police officer has been acquitted of homicide in man's -- homicide and manslaughter in the death of elijah mcclain. mclean died in 2019 after being put in a neck hold by police and injected with ketamine by paramedics. a third officer was convicted of homicide in an earlier trial. an illinois man pleaded guilty to misdemeanors after his son allegedly killed 7 people at a fourth of july parade. robert crimo junior admitted to reckless conduct for getting the teenager a gun license despite his threats of violence. the younger crimo is accused of opening fire at last year's

parade in highland park, outside chicago. he faces murder charges. a federal jury today found a scuba boat captain criminally negligent in the 2019 deaths of 34 people at the santa barbara coast. police said the captain never trained his crew in firefighting. the victims perished after a fire engulfed the boat. it's the deadliest u.s. maritime disaster in recent history. still to come on the newshour, young gazans describe how the ongoing war has upended their lives. also, tamara keith and amy walter break down the latest political headlines. a war photographer discusses her new book offering a personal look at the impact of conflicts. plus much more. >> thiis "the pbs newshour" from weta studios in washington, and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university.

geoff: a major player in palestinian life is largely sidelined in this latest and bloodiest conflict -- the palestinian authority. since it was evicted from gaza by hamas in 2007, the p.a. has governed the parts of the west bank it controls. leila molana-allen sat down with the palestinian authority prime minister for a rare interview, and asked him about the state of the israeli ground invasion of gaza. pm shtayyeh: israel is launching a comprehensive war against the palestinian people. this war is not against hamas. this war is against children, women, university professors, priests, chefs, you name it. look at the list of palestinians who have been killed. they have names. they have their mothers. they have fathers. they have dreams. there are more than a thousand palestinians who are under the rubble in gaza. we don't have the equipment. we don't have the bulldozers to remove the rubble at this stage. so it is a catastrophic situation. and the israelis are the

occupiers. so when people speak about self-defense, a self, an occupier is not in a self-defense situation. an occupier is an attacker, an aggressor. leila: the hamas leadership is sitting there saying there will be a second and a third and a fourth, october 7th. how could israel possibly step back and say, okay, we're going to lighten off on the invasion? pm shtayyeh: i don't see things that way. i see things in a totally different perspective. the israeli intentions has never been to really reach an agreement with the palestinians. palestinians are angry, frustrated. they don't anymore believe in what israel claims that it is ready for peace. look what is happening today. this israeli government is the most aggressive government in the history of the conflict. some of them are thirsty for palestinian blood and they are calling for killing palestinians. leila: prime minister netanyahu has been very clear that after this war, israel has no interest in governing gaza again.

they obviously are not willing to have hamas in power in gaza. what's your attitude to that, to going in and taking control of gaza? pm shtayyeh: palestinian authority has never been away from gaza. we have been providing electricity. we have been providing water. we have been providing education material. we pay the salaries for the teachers. we bear the salaries for the doctors. we have been in charge of every single day. we issued the passports for gaza. so our relationship with gaza never stopped for the last 17 years. now, we are not going to go to gaza on an israeli military tank. we are going to go to gaza as part of a solution that deals with the question of palestine, that deals with occupation. so for mr. netanyahu to say that he doesn't want to interfere or control gaza, he is already controlling the west bank and he is already -- his army is in

every village and every city and every refugee camp. leila: we have seen in the last few weeks since this war began a huge escalation in violence in the west bank. we're seeing daily raids into palestinian towns, cities, camps by the israeli defense forces. lots of young people dying, also a lot of violence with settlement communities as well. pm shtayyeh: the main goal for israel to achieve is to kill every future possibility of a palestinian independent sovereign state. that is the what netanyahu wants and that is what the israeli government wants. so the israeli attack in the west bank is in parallel with what has been happening in gaza, i.e., putting gaza under siege. land in palestine, like in any other word, is a zero sum game, is a zero sum game. every single acre of land that the israelis take is one acre of land that the palestinians lose. that is what the real suffering of people. you have 68 different checkpoints.

they take our water. they use our skies. they kill our children. 5200 palestinians are in israeli prison. that is why the cycle of violence will repeat itself. every day, every week, every month. they need a solution. leila: there's always a call for something. there's always a call for something to change, for an end to the occupation, for a future for a palestinian state. the calls don't go anywhere. whenever there's a u.n. resolution, people don't pay attention to them anymore. what practically do you want from your arab partners, from your other partners, to make something happen? pm shtayyeh: you are right. palestinians are really fed up with the statements and palestinians are fed up with the united nations resolutions. more than 800 united nations resolutions. not one single one has ever been implemented. now there is no room for more negotiations.

we are sick of these negotiations. palestinians there want israel to say that israel is ready to end occupation. that has occurred on the palestinian territory and then put a time frame for ending this occupation. and i think united states should not continue to give israel the green list of the green light, to continue its colonization, to continue its atrocious atrocities, to continuous genocide against them. leila: what should america's role be right now in this war and moving forward to any kind of peaceful solution after it ends? pm shtayyeh: the only country that has leverage over israel is the united states. and i don't think that the united states is using that leverage. the united states has to come up with a solution, have to come up with an initiative. this american administration is the only administration that does not have a peace initiative. secretary blinken is here, but that is not enough. it's not only when you have a

bloodshed, then the whole international community come to palestine and try to calm the situation and instead of us avoid another round of bloodshed, we need to end this conflict. leila: in between the immediate pain and chaos of this war and the long term political goals of a solution is the everyday lives of palestinians living here. gaza has one of the highest unemployment rates in the world. in the west bank, it's not that much better. there and when palestinian workers can work, it's by these very limited permits given by israel. how can young palestinians living everyday cope in the meantime? pm shtayyeh: my main concern since i took office was to gradually disengage from this colonial dependency, create jobs for our people rather than them working in israel. palestinians have the highest university graduates in the region.

illiteracy rate in palestine is zero. palestinians are successful entrepreneurs. very vibrant private sector. all what they need is not to wake up in the morning and be faced with a checkpoint that does not allow their goods to move from hebron to gaza or from hebron to jerusalem. leila: the peace process has been stalled for nearly 20 years. not much has developed. everyone i speak to, the one thing they say is out of this horror that's happening now, there has to be afterwards a solution, some progress. where are we in terms of the possibilities for a peace plan for a palestinian state with the realities on the ground? pm shtayyeh: to be very realistic? things are extremely complicated, extremely difficult. we are facing a situation in which two state solution is fading away. with this israeli government, there is no solution.

so we don't have a partner. palestinians are eager. we are the party to benefit most from any serious peaceful negotiations. so israel has to face the following reality. to kill us. they are doing that. to deport us. they are trying to do that. the only thing that israelis are not trying is to live with us. they are not trying that. and i think for them, not for us, the only thing that israel should try is to make peace with us. leila: prime minister, thank you so much. there amna: before the hamas terror attacks against our israelis, life in gaza was not easy. now, it's immeasurably more now difficult, and deadly. for the last two weeks, producer zeba warsi and i have been talking to people in gaza whose lives have been upended by this conflict. we hear now from several of them, some from whom we still

receive messages, and others whose whereabouts now are unkown. that beautiful coastal city is gaza. it's charming port, peaceful beaches and life, both everyday and extraordinary, pulsating through his people. all that was before the war. captured by 32 year old gazan photojournalist motaz al araj. that gaza lives only on his instagram now. when his home was hit by an israeli airstrike, motaz lost his life's work. >> i have thousands of shots for gaza, for the sea, for the people, for the markets, for all thing. i lost all thing. i don't have anything to show people what the gaza like before. amna: now, motaz documents the war for dc based charity group project hope. the dire conditions in hospitals.

the brutal impact of airstrikes. and the worsening humanitarian crisis. >> i found sara under the car. under car. i have video for this. amna: he's living through the same war he's documenting. last week, capturing his neighbor's 16-year-old daughter, trapped under a car after an airstrike. >> i can't do anything for her. this is near my home. amna: motaz is sheltering with his extended family and 50 others who fled their homes. every day, he says, is a struggle to survive. >> it is very hard. yeah. not all days i can found water and bread. maybe i joined the line six hour or seven hour. and don't take anything. go to home empty and no food. >> you're seeing so many people around you die like every single day. you hear about a person, your neighbor or, you know, your friend.

to be honest, i wonder a lot. when is my turn going to be? that amna: that is 19-year-old one's rawan shaheen, motaz's not rawan shaheen, motaz's niece. she's a second year college student studying pharmacy at the university of palestine in gaza. before the war, her life revolved around her friends and school. >> i had a plan for this year laid out. i had a plan for each module. i think everyone had plans and all their plans were canceled and none of us expected this. my brother ibrahim is 12 years old, and when he talks to me, he talks like he's kind of, you know, very sad at the moment because he feels as if we're not going to make it. i think there is a feeling of numbness, that we don't feel like we are sharing our emotions -- honestly, it's kind of sad. but what's happening, it shouldn't be normal. but because we're seeing so much death, it's almost becoming some sort of normal, which is not normal. amna: we spoke to rawan in a video chat last week when she had an internet connection. since then, we can only text,

and even then, sporadically. her story is one of many. >> completely disconnected from the outside world. amna: including 20 year old shaimaa ahmed. and her younger siblings malik and du-aa. they live in north gaza, and have been posting about life in the war on instagram, under @gazanvoices, whenever they're able to get a connection. >> to be honest, my biggest wish now isn't even to go back to my university to how it used to be. but for my professors, and for my friends and the people i know to stay alive and for me to be able to see them after this whole chaos is over. amna: with limited connectivity, shaimaa and i have been limited messaging whenever she can. on october 25 -- >> our neighborhood is being severely bombed as i am texting you. we were thinking of leaving, but we have no place to leave to. amna: on october 29 -- >> my sister and i had recently

saved up to redecorate our room. my house has been reduced to rubble. everyday is worse than the previous one. amna: that night, shaimaa recorded this audio of the israeli bombings around her. we've since lost contact with shaimaa. her last messages to me from tuesday, october 31. >> it feels terrible. we hear so many sounds but have no idea what is going on. i get connected for exactly one minute and then it cuts off. the tanks are moving closer. the living situations are unbearable now. amna: we were able to confirm she and her family had fled south after this and were still alive as of november 3rd. for these young gazans, who've grown up online and connected to the rest of the world, they say all they want now is to be heard. >> i feel like it's very important, especially if you're living outside of gaza, outside of palestine. your voice makes a huge difference to us, and it really helps us. and in fact, the reason they cut

out our communications, internet and electricity and all of that is because they don't want our voice to be reached out to the world. but you have a voice, so you could use it to help us. ♪ geoff: former president trump took the stand in new york defending himself in the $250 million civil fraud trial brought by state attorney general letitia james. the former president wasted little time sparring with the judge, sounding off repeatedly from the witness stand. the judge largely ignored the barbs directed his way but warned the former president's attorneys to keep their client on topic, stating, "i beseech you to control him if you can. if you can't, i will. i will excuse him and draw every negative inference that i can." andrea bernstine is the author

of " oligarchs: the kushners, american the trumps, and the marriage of money and power." she has been in the courtroom, covering the trial for npr, and she joins us now. so the judge asked him to keep in his or marks brief, and at one point said this is not a political rally. what was it like in the courtroom today? andrea: not like a political rally, we were in a much smaller room than many people saw donald trump in and he did not control the discourse, he had to stand when the clerk said all rise and swear to tell the whole truth. it's something we haven't seen from donald trump since he has been president, since he was president, since he has not testified under oath in real time and that's what we got to see today. geoff: the judge has already decided the trump organization's financial statements were filled

role with fraud and that is central to this lawsuit the new york attorney general letitia ramble james has brought. here's what she told attorneys today. >> he rambled, hurled insults, but we expected that. in at the end of the day, the documentary evidence demonstrated that in fact, he falsely inflated his assets to basically enrich himself and his family. he continued to persistently engage in fraud. the numbers don't lie. geoff: how did donald trump explain and defend his business record in court today? andrea: he did hurl insults, and insulted both the attorney general, he said at one point the fraud is her. he repeatedly criticized the judge, who said wasn't giving him a fair trial. but when pressed on the contents of these statements of financial conditions, donald trump had a few responses. one was that he barely a member them because they were so old and so long ago, one thing he

remembered clearly isn't there was what he called a worthless cause, a declaim or -- disclaimer that the bank should be checking his work and he wasn't responsible for the content of the statement of financial condition. we have seen during trial that they were laboriously put together. he was on the one hand saying they were not important, and also saying they were done by his accountants, for whom he wanted to make it clear, they were very expensive, he paid a lot of money and they came at a high price. geoff: donald trump also spoke to reporters upon exiting the court and here's what he had to say. >> i think you saw what i had to say today, and it was very conclusive. everything we did was absolutely right. to think that we're being sued, and spending all this time and money, and you have people being killed, all over the world, that this country could stop. with inflation, and all of the other problems this country has,

i think it's a disgrace. geoff: he's effectively saying there are more important things to focus on. how do his calmest to the media, his behavior inside the courtroom today affect the eventual outcome? this is a bench trial decided by a judge, not a jury trial. andrea: the judge has said he can -- trump can say anything other than criticizing his staff. during the testimony today, he kept asking the attorney general if he wanted to let trump go on. he was not answering yes or no, he was answering with mini speeches. he would go off on various things. we did get to a point where he was saying the statement of financial condition were something he stood behind, sort of. he also said they were actually undervaluing his properties. when showed repeatedly by the attorney general his attestations that they were true and used as a basis for big

loans from deutsche bank, trump said yes, he stood by those statements. he also sort of threw in that the banks had done well. under new york law doesn't matter. new york law says you can't repeatedly lie in the course of doing business and if you do so you can be forced to pay back the state. that is at issue in the trial, how much the trumps will have to pay back to new york. the ag wants 250 million dollars, a sizable amount for any person, especially donald trump who doesn't like to play anything he feels he is required to pay. geoff: how does donald trump's testimony today square with what his sons told the court last week? they were saying they had no idea what was happening, it was all the accountants and lawyers, and donald trump is saying what

was provided was accurate. andrea: i do want to say that donald trump did say they were undervalues, he felt his properties were beautiful and worth far more van came up in appraisals. one thing that was interesting is how he pointed to his younger son eric trump, who was essentially running the company while he was president and has been doing so. he said eric was making the decisions. there's a little tension there because eric trump was saying this was on the accountants and lawyers. that's also what donald trump, jr. said. but somebody is running this international company, somebody is making the decisions, and that is ultimately how the judge will have to determine it, whether it was a conspiracy by donald trump and is older sons, as well as some other trump employees, to create these repeated and persistent lies about the value of their assets over the years, which they then used it to certify bank loans and insurance claims.

why that new york law is what the law says you cannot do. geoff: our eyes inside the courtroom today, thank you. andrea: thank you. ♪ amna: for analysis on the 2024 race for president as well as some critical elections happening tomorrow, i'm joined by our politics monday team. that's amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter and tamra keith of npr. great to see you both, there is a lot happening on the 2020 -- 2020 front. another republican debate, ron desantis is picking up a key endorsement. i want to ask you about the poll numbers from the new york times and cnn, they show president biden trailing former president

trump in five out of the so-called six battleground states. you can see them there, or biden still has a slight lead in wisconsin. take a step back for a moment and put the numbers into context at this moment in time and what they mean for the republican contest. tamara: this moment in time is very early. a lot is going to happen between now and the election. head-to-head polls are not always the best and this far out it can be challenging. this is a moment in time and not a reflection of what will happen year from now. in terms of what it remains for republicans, there are other polls out there, and nbc pull out of iowa that showed that caucus-goers really prioritize being able to beat joe biden. they prioritize electability, the way that democrat primary voters prioritized this in 2020.

this poll tells republican voters you don't have to worry, donald trump is electable. that is something certainly the trump people will be touting and already are. it creates a challenge for these other people who will be on stage this week sort of begging and pleading for attention and beating each other up but sort of a sideshow of what trump is doing. it is a challenge to make the argument that you should pick one of us. amna: nikki haley and scott has said trump can't beat biden and we can. does this undercut at? amy: caucus-goers is that electability was the number one issue but by a significant margin they picked a donald trump is the one they think and be joe biden. another important thing about these polls, to me what it showed was the central challenge for 2024, which probably won't change much as long as it is trump versus biden, biden has an

enthusiasm problem, especially among younger voters and voters of color and donald trump has a ceiling problem. even in those numbers, he has a head, yes, technically, of joe biden, but his overall vote share is basically the same vote he got in 2020. he's not a 50% in any of those states except nevada. it feels like what we are going into is a replay of 2020 where a few thousand votes in these very close states will determine who the president is. i tamara: i would just say that biden world totally disputes this poll. they also acknowledge they have a lot of work to do with young voters and voters of color. they are building an infrastructure to try to reach those voters. if you look at the campaign as they are running in a state like north carolina, and they are running a lot of ads in north

carolina already, they are very much focused on black voters and young black voters. amna: i want to talk about what is happening tomorrow, we have a number of key elections that could be indicators for what we see ahead in 2024. a test for the kentucky governors race, big one in ohio. what are you watching and why is it important? i amy: i'm in virginia so i have a preference for virginia legislative elections, more than that is is test of the message could the message is the republican governor saying republicans have to stop running away from the abortion issue. we did that in 2022 and we were defined by democrats and we need to do the defining. he has talked actively, that if republicans win back the senate we will have total control of the government and we would like

to have a 15 week ban. this is a reasonable position he says, with exceptions. what democrats want is unreasonable. they want abortion until the very end and that's not what virginians want. this is a test whether this message resonates, this idea of being reasonable. i'm also looking at some of the districts based on whether they have a significant african-american population, especially in the tidewater area. those folks, is the turnout issue something that democrats need to still be very concerned about? amna: what about you? tamara: i've been reviewing tabs -- ads in virginia about abortion and i found basically one republican candidate who was proactively running on the 15 week abortion ban and i found more democrats than i can count

who were running saying look what republicans want to do, look at this republican incumbent, they voted for a total ban now they want 15 weeks. democrats clearly feel this is an issue that can run on. one of the republican ads focused on crime. in a lot of ways it feels ago replay of the 2022 midterms messaging, but it's probably a preview of the 2024 presidential campaign messaging and all the congressional races. i will add to, i am also watching ohio. this issue would enshrine a right to abortion access in the ohio constitution. ohio was a purple state, in 2004 it is a -- into thousand four, but now it is a red state. this is a more proactive measure

in support of abortion access than we've seen in other initiatives up to now. it's very much abortion on the ballot in a red state. we are further away from the dobbs decision there we were the last time this was on the ballot. this is something to watch. if ohio ends up passing issue one, democrats will be like all right, we've got our message. similarly that is what they will be watching for with virginia. amna: we saw the impact of the abortion issue had on the midterms in 2022 and you believe it will carry through as a mobilizing issue into 2024? amy: that's the question. of course there is a big caveat, these are off year elections so turnout will be higher in a presidential of course. amna: amy and tamra, always great to talk to you both. ♪

geoff: tarra simmons is the first formerly incarcerated state legislator in washington state. she went from teen mother to felon to lawyer, and now a state representative. as special correspondent cat wise reports, she overcame barriers that she and many other people face after serving time in prison. this story is part of our series, "searching for justice." cat: in a courthouse in kitsap county, across puget sound from seattle, tarra simmons recently shed a title that's burdened her for more than two decades -- convicted felon. >> i have signed the orders vacating the felony convictions. and so the relief you're seeking is granted. congratulations. tarra: it is like a true liberation. everything that i do in my life going forward, the opportunities i have, are based on my own merit. and i can't wait to have grandbabies so i can volunteer

in their schools. cat: all of these things you couldn't do before. tarra: yes. cat: today, simmons is a state representative, a lawyer, mother of two adult children, and the of two adult children, and the founding director a nonprofit. i but her journey to this point was long and difficult. tarra: i was exposed to a lot of violence when i was young, i was sexually abused. i grew up in poverty. by the time i was 13 years old, i i was dropped out of school completely i was homeless. i was trafficked. i i ended up pregnant at 14. cat: as a teen mom, simmons was connected to social services, graduated from high school at 16, and enrolled in community college. she went on to get a nursing degree. but just a couple years later, but just a couple years later, simmons pled guilty to second degree assault for her involvement in an attack on a man she had been involved with. tarra: my first felony conviction was related to

meeting a gentleman who sexually assaulted me. and then three days later, my friends and family beat him up. life and that really, really changed the course of my life. all cat: years later, an injury from a fall led to a prescription for painkillers, which led to a substance use disorder, and an addiction to meth. tarra: within ten months of itarra: within ten months of trying the methamphetamine, i had been arrested three times. i had left my family and lived homeless. and i completely ruined my life entire life. cat: simmons was eventually charged with five felonies, including for theft, drugs, and having a gun in her car. she served 20 months in prison. tarra: incarceration really added another layer of trauma because i already had no self-worth, no self-esteem. cat: but it was in prison that simmons decided to set out on a new path after being released, thanks to thanks to a group of volunteer law students who encouraged her to become a i lawyer herself.

here's tarra: i always thought where the that lawyers were these super elite, like untouchable people, you know. i but they reassured me and said no, you can be like us, be like social justice lawyers. i'm like, what? please role cat: after being released, simmons enrolled at seattle university school of law. she graduated with honors in 2017, but soon after hit a major snag. the washington state bar association ruled that she couldn't take the exam to be a lawyer because of her criminal background. tarra: the volunteer character and fitness board thought that i felt too entitled to take the bar exam and that i was too proud of my accomplishments. cat: they actually said those things? tarra: yes. cat: how did that feel? tarra: well, at the time, it felt completely traumatizing. i had taken out, you know, over $200,000 in loans to go to school. i had done everything right.

cat: simmons appealed the bar association's decision to the state supreme court. >> if rehabilitation is the touchstone of present character, which i think this court should hold, then ms. simmons, really makes her record of rehabilitation an easy case for the court. cat: she was represented by shon hopwood, himself a formerly incarcerated lawyer, and within hours of hearing the case, the court unanimously ruled in her favor. tarra: i just started crying. i could not believe it. and the fact that they did it so quickly. and it was unanimous was really validating. cat: simmons became a fixture in olympia, the state capital, as an advocate serving on the state reentry council, and supporting legislation to ease barriers for formerly incarcerated people. in 2020 she was elected to the state legislature. tarra: there always had to be one person that went first to break those ceilings, right. to make it more normal. and so that's why i live my life so transparently, because i feel like i'm normalizing it for

other people who don't have to live in shame anymore about their past and can say, yes, i did those things and i've changed. >> it really matters to have at least one person in the room when you're making decisions who has lived the life. cat: senator drew hansen worked closely with tarra simmons when she was advocating for the very bill that allowed her to recently vacate her convictions. they became colleagues in the state house after her victory. >> her perspective on drug treatment and drug policy is extraordinarily valuable because she's in long term recovery. you're making a decision about what is going on in the prisons, she spent time in prison. it is transformative and it changes the entire conversation. cat: simmons also continues to work with the non profit she cofounded in law school, civil survival, which supports people impacted by the criminal justice

system, including helping vacate or clear past convictions. >> how are you? cat: sarah eichhorn is one of her clients. they met in prison when simmons was incarcerated and eichhorn was volunteering to help people with substance use issues. eichhorn had been incarcerated herself after an altercation during a supervised visit with her son when she was a teenager, a time when she was battling drug addiction. sarah: i got sent off to prison and was just there for like five or six months, not too long. but yeah, so i got out. and that's really hard to get a job. cat: for the last 18 years, eichhorn has not had any run ins with the law, but her felony record has been a big obstacle. sarah: i feel like i have to kind of live on the fringe a little bit still. i would love to not have to explain my worst day ever, my son's worst day ever to anyone again. you know.

cat: simmons is helping her friend apply for a pardon, to erase that record. tarra: you know, you make one bad decision, make one mistake, and that does define you. and it's unfortunate because you can make hundreds, thousands, millions of good decisions since then and still be discriminated against to meet your basic human needs. cat: eichhorn says she's still a bit amazed that she's seen her friend go from prison, to law school, to the state capital. sarah: i used to think they were all aliens, you know what i mean? like politicians and stuff. but she really is a normal person. and people don't know what they don't know. cat: for simmons, imparting what she knows to help others like herself has become her calling. tarra: not everybody's going to get into law and politics like me or even into advocacy. but i just want people to have the opportunities to do whatever it is that they want to do. and, you know, fortunately, my job today allows me to break down some of those barriers for them. cat: barriers that tarra simmons very hopes will continue to fall in washington state, and around

the country for formerly incarcerated people. for the pbs newshour, i'm cat why wise in bremerton, washington. ♪ amna: a new book of photography offers a unique lens on the impact of war on fighters and civilians alike. the author, corinne dufka, formerly led the west africa division at human rights watch, where she spent more than two decades documenting human rights abuses through victims testimonies. but before that, in the 1980s and 1990's, dufka was a war photographer covering some of the world's most brutal conflicts. many of her photos are now being published for the first time in her new book, "this is war." i sat down with recently for our arts and culture series, canvas. welcome to the newshour. well corrine: it is a pleasure. amna: some of these photos are more than 20 years old.

what made you want to go back into your archives and look i through these again and what was the process like? corrine: it was a very dynamic process and like any book project, it multilayered. i wanted to do the book first as a personal journey to come to terms with what i had seen decades ago. phenomenal brutality through the lens now of being a mother, and having studied policy. i also wanted to add to the historical record of the conflicts covered, many of which continue to be under covered, and the roles that women play in war photography. more importantly, i wanted this book to spur conversation on the notion of conflicts, recidivism or relapse. in the process of editing, some of the pictures i took 25 years ago could have been taken today because those countries have relapsed into war. amna: we will talk about some specific photos but i want to do a quick warning, some of these

photos are quite racket -- quite graphic. each chapter basically covers one of the conflicts that you covered. there is a real intimacy. take me back to el salvador. there is a man you met who ran the human rights commission and i understand you were a social worker at the time he has could you just set up a photo documentation program. when he is tragically murdered, you are there to take this photo that ends up running in the new york times. what you member -- remember about this picture? corrine: i remember getting a call early in the morning that he had been gunned down, a difficult moment in el salvador's history. i rushed out at 7:00 or 8:00 in the morning and found herbert lying on the ground in a pool of blood. i took the picture and this is a person with whom i had come to know and respect and played a vital role in el salvador and uncovering what were horrific human rights abuses. amna: does it change how you

work when you know the person on the others of the lens? corrine: yes. the pictures a very intimate and it is clear from the beginning of this book as one starts to look at it that the vast majority of the images i have our civilians, because in the majority of the conflict psych -- conflicts that i covered, armies, the militias had basically waged war against the civilian population. they were fought not on battlefields but in villages. i am grateful for civilians, for those who opened up houses and hospitals in battlefields and let me get so close to communicate to the world what they were experiencing. amna: you write about a group of teenage fighters you were following in liberia. the photos you took in the moment as they attacked an unarmed man in front of you, stripped him and killed him. you wrote later that you felt sick as you were developing the negatives.

you wrote, "i agonized over whether i could have prevented this random, unexpected killing." how do you balance the mission to remain an observer, that's your job, but also the human impulse to help? corrine: it's interesting because i didn't think they were going to kill this man. i think that's part of human nature, to somehow deny that the worst could happen. this group of fighters i was tracking with my camera this morning came upon this man who was similar foraging for food. they picked him up because he happened to be from another at group, and dragged him through the streets and within a moment they stripped him and shot him. it was horrific and this has happened in number of times in my career, when you are photographing someone and you know they have perished before their family does. it was a horrific scene repeated so many times in liberia and so many of the conflicts that i have covered. amna: you say "what the eye

sees, the brain records." to bear witness to this in all the ways you did, what kind of toll does that take? corrine: it certainly leads to dehumanization. covering mass atrocity, i went to bosnia, and my first conflict in africa was the rwandan genocide. you have to get the job done because it is a journalist's responsibility to communicate to the outside world of the horrific things we are seeing, but i think one gets numb. that happened to me. that ultimately led to my decision to leave the profession. i didn't recognize myself anymore. amna: so many images are reminiscent of things we see today, as you said, conflicts around the world. what would you say to people about why it is necessary to bear witness and look at these kind of photographs and know what is happening on the ground, and how they can keep themselves from becoming numb to it all? corrine: to a certain extent, not showing these images, and i

think over time with the emergence with citizen journalism where people post whatever they want without it being edited for sensitivity or content, has in some ways intensified dehumanization. but it is so important to stop the moment, especially with us being inundated with photographs, to stop the clock, stop the chatter and really reflect on the impact of war and the reasons for it. amna: the photographs are so potent and necessary. thank you for bearing witness so the rest of the world can too. thank you. corrine: thank you. geoff: and that's "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. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ >> architect.

beekeeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life, well-planned. >> the kendeda fund, committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendedafund.org. ♪ supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org. and with the ongoing support of these institutions -- ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs news station from viewers like you. thank you.

[captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] >> this is pbs newshour west, from weta studios in washington, and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. >> you'

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