made for streaming. amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the newshour tonight, israel's military pushes deeper into gaza as negotiations for humanitarian pauses and hostage releases become increasingly urgent. i'm loving -- amna: republican

presidential hopefuls make their case to voters in the latest debate, but remain far behind the absent frontrunner donald trump. geoff: and senate democrats seek to expand their probe into supreme court ethics concerns after reports that some justices received undisclosed gifts. >> if it happened in any other court in the united states, it would have been investigated. there would have been fact finding, and there would have been a result and consequences. it's only the supreme court that is living outside the bounds of the rules. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well planned.

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by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: welcome to the newshour. with tens of thousands of civilians still fleeing the heavy fighting in northern gaza, israel agreed today to open a second route south and pause fighting for a few hours each day. amna: late today, president biden says israel has "an obligation to distinguish between terrorists and civilians" and follow international law. leila molana-allen reports. leila: as israeli ground forces push deeper into gaza, a rare look inside the northern strip showed abandoned neighborhoods scarred by battle. it also gave clues about how hamas operates. the idf claims they found these weapons in a workshop under an apartment building. >> you can see a pink dresser and a little girl's bed in a residential home. leila: a few floors above, this

bedroom appears to have belonged to young girls. israel says it's evidence that hamas hides within and behind the civilian population. >> this entire city is one big terror base. there are miles of tunnels underground. they connect to hospitals, to schools. leila: now, the idf is closing in on gaza city's al-shifa hospital. it claims hamas' main command center is located underneath, which hamas and hospital staff deny. >> we have many patients placed here. leila: inside al-shifa are gaza's most vulnerable. the director general of gaza's hospitals, dr. mohammed zaqoot, sent the newshour this video earlier this week. >> overwhelmed with the huge number of patients here. leila: it's overflowing with people injured by israeli airstrikes, and thousands of civilians taking shelter in what they hope is a safe zone.

tens of thousands of palestinians have already fled the northern strip via a humanitarian corridor along gaza's main highway. the white house announced today that israel agreed to another corridor along gaza's coast, where there will be daily four-hour humanitarian pauses in the bombing. also today, it's been reported that mediators are trying to negotiate a three-day pause in fighting in exchange for a dozen hostages held by hamas. president biden confirmed this morning that he asked israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu for the swap, but gave no details. >> did you ask him to pause for three days to get the hostages out? pres. biden: yes, i've asked for even a longer pause for some of them. leila: and hamas announced today it's ready to release an elderly woman and a young boy for humanitarian reasons, but said no deal had been made yet with israel. in france, world leaders gathered today for a gaza aid conference.

>> we worry about the humanitarian situation in gaza. leila: the host, french president emmanuel macron, appealed to israel to protect the innocent. pres. macron: civilians must be protected and this is absolutely vital. it's not negotiable. it's also a condition for the effectiveness of our fight against violence. leila: others were more direct, like prime minister of the palestinian authority mohammad shtayyeh. p.m. shtayyeh: how many palestinians must be killed for the war to stop? what israel is doing is not waging war against hamas, but against the whole palestinian people. leila: the people of gaza need help more than ever. on top of israel's constant aerial bombardment, the world health organization warns disease is spreading rapidly. some, like the kullab family, have chosen to move back to their bombed homes after staying in shelters.

>> my home is completely destroyed. look at the damage we live in. i couldn't stand living surrounded by people, diseases, in hospitals, on the streets, so i came back to my home here. leila: like most other families in gaza now, they live without electricity and running water, and with barely any food. while some aid is entering the strip each day, the u.n. says it's just a drop in the ocean of need. for the pbs newshour, i'm leila molana allen in tel aviv. ♪ geoff: in the day's other headlines, former president trump's legal team asked a judge in new york to end his civil fraud trial immediately. defense lawyers argued that prosecutors failed to prove that mr. trump, family members, and

his company deceived banks and insurers with inflated financial statements. the judge did not immediately rule, but he indicated the defense will start its case on monday. the man accused of attacking former house speaker nancy pelosi's husband went on trial today, with opening statements in san francisco. david depape faces federal charges of assaulting paul pelosi with a hammer after breaking into the family's house last year. he also allegedly tried to kidnap the speaker, but she wasn't home at the time. close calls at the nation's airports were front and center at a senate hearing today. one animation showed a cargo plane coming in for a landing just 100 feet over a passenger plane that was taking off last february in austin, texas. the nation's top safety investigator called it a "clear warning sign" that increased air traffic and staffing shortages are taking a toll. >> air traffic controllers are being required to do mandatory overtime, and what happens with mandatory overtime?

it ends up leading up to fatigue and distraction, which is exactly what we're seeing as part of these incident investigations. geoff: the faa plans meetings at 16 airports before the end of the year to focus on improving safety. more than two dozen labor unions are calling for an industry-wide investigation of driverless cars. they wrote to the transportation department and the national highway traffic safety administration today. the letter said driverless vehicles are "unsafe and untenable in their current form. this industry is in dire need of federal regulation." just yesterday, gm's cruise unit recalled 950 driverless cars after a crash in california. fbi director christopher wray says there's a potential conflict of interest in selecting a location for the bureau's new headquarters. that's after the general services administration chose greenbelt, maryland. the associated press reports wray sent an

e-mail today, saying a gsa executive picked land owned by a former employer. the gsa insisted the process was strictly above board. in pakistan, schools, stores and parks in lahore have started a four-day closure as toxic smog stifles the city. authorities say the heavy gray haze has made tens of thousands of people sick. the smog is largely due to farmers burning crop waste at the start of the winter wheat planting season. on wall street, stocks retreated as interest rates advanced on the bond market. the dow jones industrial average lost 220 points to close below 33,892. the nasdaq fell 129 points. the s&p 500 gave up 35. and tracy chapman's folk anthem "fast car" is a winner again, 35 years after its release. it took song of the year last night at the country music association awards. the tune gained new popularity thanks to a chart-topping cover by luke combs. he called it "one of the greatest songs of all time."

chapman is the first black woman ever to win a cma award. still to come on the newshour, the screen actors guild agrees to a deal to end a strike that has crippled hollywood. the top hamas representative in tehran discusses relations with iran and the attack on israel. and how the risks from climate change are disproportionately affecting people with disabilites. >> this is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington, and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. amna: five republican presidential candidates took the stage in miami last night for the third debate of the primary. missing from the stage once again was former president donald trump. political correspondent lisa desjardins takes a deeper look at the divides in the party over policies abroad and at home. lisa: perhaps it was the moderators. >> good evening, everyone. welcome to the republican

presidential debate. lisa: or perhaps the smaller number of candidates -- five -- who made the stage. >> and to our audience, please hold your applause. lisa: but in miami, republican presidential candidates cut down the interruptions and raised the substance level, especially on foreign policy. >> we will stand with israel in word and in deed, in public and in private. lisa: candidates echoed support for israel, and calls to wipe out hamas. >> i said, "finish them. finish them." >> as president of the united states, my foreign policy is simple. you cannot negotiate with evil. you have to destroy it. lisa: early on, businessman vivek ramaswamy aimed to cast florida governor ron desantis and former un ambassador nikki haley as out-of-touch warmongers. >> do you want a leader from a different generation who's gonna put this country first? or do you want dick cheney in three-inch heels? in which case, we've got two of them on stage tonight. lisa: haley was ready. >> yes, i'd first like to say they're five-inch heels. and i don't wear them unless you

can run in them. [cheering] lisa: the two quickly moved into a deeper debate over the ukraine war. ramaswamy echoed a russian argument about separatist areas. >> these are russian-speaking regions that have not even been part of ukraine since 2014, that other people probably couldn't name those provinces for you. those are the hard facts. and so, to frame this as some kind of battle between good versus evil, don't buy it. lisa: but many who speak russian in those regions still identify as ukrainian. haley fired back. >> i'm telling you, putin and president xi are salivating at the thought that someone like that could become president. we all know that half a million people have died because of putin, and here is a freedom loving, pro-american country that is fighting for its survival and its democracy. lisa: former governor chris christie added another theme -- iran. >> iran is in the middle of this as well, and so is north korea, and they are all working to support russia right now.

and the reason they're doing it is because dictators work together. people who believe in democracy work together. lisa: south carolina senator tim scott went further. >> if you want to stop the 40-plus attacks on military personnel in the middle east, you have to strike in iran. lisa: china and chinese technology also arose, as ramaswamy attacked haley for her adult daughter's use of tiktok. >> she made fun of me for actually joining tiktok, while her own daughter was actually using the app for a long time. so, you might want to take care of your family first. >> leave my daughter out of your voice. lisa: there were a host of issues. the border -- >> we should go to our southern border and close our southern border with the resources necessary. lisa: -- fentanyl and addiction -- >> we're going to call this what it is. it is a disease like heart disease, diabetes, or any other disease like cancer that can be treated, should be treated. lisa: -- and social security. while haley is open to raising retirement ages, scott and desantis were not.

>> when life expectancy is declining, i don't see how you could raise it the other direction. lisa: missing from the stage was the front runner of the field -- former president donald trump. [crowd chanting "we want trump"] lisa: held his own show, a rally nearby where he bragged about the 91 felony charges he faces. >> every time i'm indicted, i consider it a great badge of honor, because i'm being indicted for you. thanks a lot, everybody. i appreciate it. lisa: at the debate, christie raised the counts as disqualifying for trump. >> anybody who's gonna be spending the next year and a half of their life focusing on keeping themselves out of jail and courtrooms cannot lead this party or this country. lisa: others tiptoed into trump criticism. >> i think he was the right president at the right time. i don't think he's the right president now. >> donald trump's a lot different guy than he was in 2016. he owes it to you to be on this stage and explain why he should get another chance.

lisa: woven in, the fight over republican identity, and this week's election losses. >> we've become a party of losers, at the end of the day. it is a cancer to the republican establishment. lisa: the republican establishment has decisions to make. the best chance any of these candidates has to beat trump is for the others to drop out, fast. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins. amna: while republicans are focusing on a crowded presidential field, democrats are facing a new challenge to their majority in the senate. democratic senator from west virginia joe manchin announced today that he will not be seeking re-election next year, raising the stakes in the democrat's battle to maintaining power in the upper chamber. lisa desjardins is here with me in the studio for more. good to see you. what do we know? why is he leaving the senate now lisa: joe manchin sent out a statement. he said it was one of the hardest decisions of his life, but in his hearts of hearts, he feels he came -- did what he

came to do for west virginia and it is time for him to leave. as you say, it is an issue for democrats. he is 76 years old and he is the last statewide elected democrat in the state of west virginia, a kennedy democrat. that has been part of his political identity. now they have to figure out, can any other democrat when that seat? joe manchin himself almost did not win last time. he just won by three points. i am not: his announcement did not sound -- do we know if he's running? lisa: he would have a challenging time becoming a senator. my sources close to senator manchin tell me he is opening the door to a presidential run. he plans on traveling around the country. here's what he said in his video today. >> i will not be running for reelection to the united states senate. but what i will be doing is

traveling the country and speaking out to see if there is an interest in creating a movement to mobilize the middle and bring americans together. amna: a movement to mobilize the middle, or nominate joe manchin as independent candidate for president. this is not yet a presidential run, but it is some sort of exploration. there is a real question for joe manchin. are there centrists in this country anymore? is there a viable political momentum that can be galvanized for moderates and centrists? he is not the only centrists trying to do this. we will see his schedule coming up. we will see where he thinks the middle of the country lives. amna: in the meantime, what does it mean for the balance of power in the senate and the fight ahead? lisa: lots of discussion about this today around washington and the country. let's start by reminding viewers that our u.s. senate has 51 democrats and 49 republicans. let's say manchin's seat goes

republican. a-50. let's look at the rest of the map for next year's senate elections. we have 34 seats up for grabs. if you look at this map, you can see there are several democratic seats that will be tough. montana, that is jon tester. look at the yellow seats, that is kyrsten sinema in arizona. also yellow in ohio is sherrod brown. those are three seats. democrats have to run the table to keep all the receipts. kyrsten sinema is no longer a democrat, she is an independent. all this to say this is more uphill for democrats to keep control of the senate. not impossible, but this makes it harder. amna: lisa desjardins covering it all. thank you so much. ♪ geoff: the actors' union sag-aftra has reached a tentative deal with the hollywood studios, ending the longest strike for tv and film

actors in history. the deal, worth more than $1 billion, includes new levels of minimum compensation, bonuses tied to streaming, and the first protections against artificial intelligence. sag-aftra president fran drescher joins me now. welcome back to the newshour. fran: thank you. i am happy to be here. geoff: you have described this as an historic agreement. in what ways? fran: first of all, we broke through the billion dollar mark, so that is a crowning achievement. and we developed protections in language and consent and compensation in the area of artificial intelligence that never existed before. we broke a brand-new stream of revenue for people on the streaming platforms that never existed before. that is additional money.

we broke pattern with the other unions, the wga and the dj, so we got more minimum wage growth than they did, which is unusual. and unprecedented. and we got an amazing deal for our lowest earning members, who are our background performers. we had all kinds of new things that have never been in the contract before because of the digital age and how it has impacted our industry. even when it comes to auditions and interviews on home tapes, that has to be redefined. we are still working on that, but at least we got some improvements for those people because everything needed to have regulations. people don't do the right thing

unless they are forced to. as frederick d douglas said, power concedes nothing without demands. that is what this was all about. we knew it was an historic time because of the digitization of our industry, and we knew that we need a seminal deal, and i feel very proud to say we got one. geoff: a question about streaming, because as i understand the union had to compromise fairly significantly on streaming. the union wanted 1% or 2% of revenue of streaming shows, and ultimately settled for less. tell us more about that compromise. fran: we settled for more than last. that was -- first we identified there was a very real problem between this new model of exhibition and how it could never be properly compensated for with the old contract.

geoff: can i ask, what is a model of exhibition? fran: like the streaming platforms. the show on streaming. that means that if your show is made for a streaming platform, you are never going to get the kind of residuals that you would if you were on, let's say, network television. because you don't get paid in the same way with reruns. you don't have syndication money. and so, our members were feeling that as more and more shows were getting produced on streaming platforms. so, the actual structure of the contract had to change. and they were reticent to do it, and i said to their faces, i want you to understand why this is important because maybe you don't, and then after i tell you this, i want you to understand

this is a dealbreaker. i think that they really understood that. i was being very honest with them. geoff: as this deal reached the finish line, artificial intelligence remained one of the most complicated issues to resolve. how do these new protections benefit actors? fran: when you start out in an environment where they don't have to ask your permission, and now they have to, that is a huge difference. that speaks volumes. that means that you are in control of your likeness, you are in control of if you want to be duplicated, if you want some kind of synthetic version of you on screen. and that puts a lot of control back into the performers hands,

because the performers like this -- likeness, performance, everything that makes them, them. i think there was quite a bit of back channeling to get the messaging across that without this, we are going to protract the strike. it is as simple as that. in ai, a month is equivalent to a year. without the protections we needed, there was no way we were going to sign a three-year contract because three years from now the whole idea of it is going to be a completely different animal. and if we don't put a saddle on that wild pony now and pull in the rains, we are never going to be able to catch it. geoff: this deal comes nearly four months after the strike started. i was going to ask you, was it worth the wait? it seems like the answer to that

from your point of view is yes. but i will rephrase the question differently. could you have arrived at this deal any earlier? or did it just take time for people to test the leverage points that they thought they had? fran: i think there was a lot of that. first of all, from the beginning, i think that they needed to adjust to the fact that we are a union that was at a point where we had the largest strike authorization in our history. and at the leadership, meaning myself and duncan crabtree ireland, were new to them in our roles, and we were no pushovers and we were not going to be intimidated. so, once they had that rude awakening, there had to be adjustments. they walked away from the table at one point, but that intimidation tactic did not work for us.

then, they would take a week at least before they would come back with even a supp supposal,t alone a counter, when they did come back. from our side, patience and time is the secret sauce. and we never felt a need to rush in order to come to a conclusion of what needed to happen. as a result of that, we remained in unity, and as a result of that, when we finally got that last piece of ai in place and the last piece needed for the streaming platform new resident -- new revenue source, we were ready to make a motion and pass

without objection, and that is what happened. that in itself is historic. geoff: thanks so much for your time. fran: thank you. i appreciate. ♪ amna: one of the largest financial backers and supporters of hamas is iran. and although the biden administration has said no intelligence shows that iran approved or greenlit the october 7 hamas attacks on israel, the relationship between the iran -- between iran and hamas is strong and lasting. our special correspondent in tehran reza sayah sat down with the top hamas representative to iran for a rare interview. reza: at the annual government organized rally in tehran this week to mark the anniversary of the 1979 seizing of the u.s. embassy, the chant that has long

echoed in the islamic republic -- death to america. and among the featured speakers leading those champs influent farsi- -- chants in fluent farsi. >> where did you learn to speak farsi? >> i've been in iran for 10 or 12 years. fran: for much -- reza: for much of those years, he served as the permanent representative of hamas in tehran, a post that underscores the exotic -- islamic republic's ties with the islamic and militant movement as designated by the u.s., european union, and others as a terrorist organization. >> many people do not know that hamas has an office here. what does your day look like? what do you do? >> we have a representation office over here. we deal with all decision-making

over here. we talked to the people. we work with them. iran has supported the palestinian issue even before the creation of hamas. they extended their support since the beginning. reza: relations between iran and hamas afraid during the syrian war, when hamas backed its fellow rebels and stood against tehran's shiia militias and bashar al-assad. in 2017, the two reconciled under the shared view that israel is not a legitimate state. today, hamas officials openly praised iran's military and financial support. and according to the u.s. state department, it has reached $100 million a year. soon after the october 7 attacks, there was speculation in washington and beyond that tehran helped plot the assault

that hamas calls the flood. tehran and hamas deny the islamic republic was involved. many believe that hamas would not launch this attack without support, without a green light. who gave hamas the green light? >> that is a very strange question. hamas is a deep-rooted organization. we have gained the trust of our people in the field. of course we defended our people a long time ago. the flood was a pure, transparent palestinian operation. reza: did you know what was going to happen? >> no. many of my officials did not. we are in coordination with iran and hezbollah. reza: increasingly, russia is

emerging as another key supporter of hamas. late last month, moscow hosted delegates from hamas and the islamic republic. moscow says the meeting was to discuss the release of russian hostages, but some speculate that russia has other motivations. there's a number of geopolitical conflicts, one of them is the russian-ukrainian conflict. russia is one of your supporters. some are starting to say perhaps russia wouldn't mind delivering a blow to the united states and washington. >> i need to remind you and your audience, we also have friends. i feel it is the duty of our friends, allies, and the rational voices in the world to support our struggle against colonial powers of the israelis. if we say that russia and president putin is supporting

us, that is very much rational and logic. reza: did russia have any -- >> no. but we were a couple of days ago in moscow and we had reception with them. we chatted over many things. they were very warm, and they are our friends. reza: these days, he gets plenty of warm receptions in government organized events in tehran, where he criticizes the israeli government's bombing campaign of gaza, occupation of public land, and defends the october 7 terror attacks that killed more than 1000 civilians in israeli towns bordering gaza. you say the occupation and the illegal sediments are the root cause of this conflict. you say israel is to blame. but i have to ask you, how did the attacks of october 7 help resolve these issues? >> the attack of the seventh of

october is a reaction to the big action of occupation. sometimes you do it with a stone and sometimes you do it with rockets. that has shaken the israeli army. now you have awakened the international community that palestine is not to be wasted. for us, when the so-called peaceful solutions are exhausted and the peace process failed and we are in a cul-de-sac, it is a legitimate right to the people who are living under occupation to defend themselves with all possible means. reza: you believe the media often times dehumanizes hamas, dehumanizes the palestinian people. here, you have the october 7

attacks where innocent civilians were attacked. how do you reconcile that? >> when you talk with me, it doesn't mean you agree with what i am saying. but this is simply what i am asking. reza: what are you asking? i am here, you are talking to an american audience who have seen some horrific images. tell the american people what hamas plans to do to end the fighting. >> hamas is looking for justice, and they are adapting. reza: what can you do right now? >> i am telling you. we are adopting the right that has been granted for the masses, the nations. reza: the right to fight back? >> the right to fight back. reza: so you're suggesting the conflict is going to continue? be specific. what do you want to happen immediately. >> releasing 7000 plus prisoners. they are heroes, not criminals.

finishing the occupation. we can draft it. you are asking something which is not fair because it is always me. reza: no, it is not. i have you now, so i am asking. >> palestinians are living under occupation. we have only two ways. either the international community excess pay the tax of independence of the palestinians, or we will do it all ourselves. reza: what hamas decides to do from here is a daunting open question. what is clear is that hamas is committed to an unprecedented level of violence in its war with israel, and standing firmly behind them is the islamic republic of iran. for the pbs newshour, i am reza sayah in tehran. ♪ geoff: a series of reports this

year about several conservative supreme court justices accepting free trips and failing to disclose them has prompted renewed efforts by senate democrats to implement a code of ethics for the high court. democrats on the judiciary committee intend to subpoena republican megadonor harlan crow and conservative legal activist leonard leo as part of their investigation. a planned vote on those subpoenas was postponed today. democratic senator sheldon whitehouse of rhode island chairs the subcommittee on federal courts. he joins us now. welcome to the newshour. sen. whitehouse: thanks for having me on. geoff: the committee was expected to vote on those subpoenas today but hit a roadblock. what happened? sen. whitehouse: the republicans are desperate not to have to vote on this, and so last night they filed nearly 90 amendments. that meant that all of our members had to review overnight 90 separate amendments, all of

them intended to be poisonous, and try to figure out what our joint response was going to be. in effect, they jammed the gears of the committee with an avalanche of bad faith amendments. that stopped things today. but the resolve of the committee to vote out those subpoenas is fixed and firm. it is just a matter of rescheduling. now that we know that is the strategy, we can prepare for it. geoff: what information are you seeking with these subpoenas to mr. crowe and mr. leo? does the investigation extend beyond what you see as i need to implement a code of ethics? the reason i ask the question is i have washed your senate floor speeches, and you seem to allude to underlying tax crimes. what is your theory of the case? geoff: -- sen. whitehouse: first of all, we need to know with these conservative justices have been receiving. pro publi -- propublica has

brought out some things. it is not clear that we know all of it. we also have to develop information about how systemic this is. this is not just a random gift here or there. it is always the same individuals, the same front groups. there is a network effect here that we need to understand. then the finance committee separately is looking at the tax side for several reasons. first of all, where these gifts declared as income if they should have been? if the donor declared them as a business expense, how do you get away claiming that is personal hospitality? there are also gift tasks considerations once you get over $17,000. it looks like the reporting failures are not just failures of the disclosure laws, they may be violations of the tax laws. geoff:geoff: on this matter of justice thomas accepting gifts and luxury trips, what do you

say to those who might make the argument that harlan crow can spend his money how he sees fit, and if justice thomas is eating canapes off the back of his mega got, that will not change the fact that he is a conservative vote and voice on the supreme court. sen. whitehouse: the issue is probably not harlan crow. i don't see that harlan crow is in trouble for any of this, unless false statements were filed of some kind, but we have no indication of that. the problem is on the court side. supreme court justices, like other judges, have an obligation to file disclosures that show what gifts and emoluments they have received. and that legal obligation, a law passed by congress, is implement it by the judicial conference, a body created by congress for that purpose. we need to look into whether those laws are being properly implemented by the judicial conference, should these big gifts have been disclosed, and

how do the arguments that they didn't need to be disclosed fare when shown to the light of day? my contention is the arguments there are terrible in the light of day. the gifts should have been disclosed, and potentially because of the systematic nation -- nature of these gifts, there may be a good deal more to this than just come on my yacht and have a nice afternoon. geoff: so you said congress does have a role here because justice alito says congress does not have the authority to implement a code of ethics on the supreme court. sen. whitehouse: that was weird in several ways. first, it was weird in that he is wrong. second, it is weird in that he offered it as an opinion in the wall street journal editorial page as opposed to a supreme court opinion. we are told every time they come before us, we could not possibly comment on that because we are not allowed to offer opinions on matters that might come before the court. there is a matter headed for the

court and he offered an opinion on it. the final salvo is when there have been previous episodes of potentially improper gifts, those issues have been referred to the judicial conference under the disclosure laws, and of the supreme court has never objected to it. when harlan crow gave his first round of yacht and jet travel gifts to justice thomas, that question was referred to the judicial conference and addressed under these disclosure laws. to say we have no role here is in flat conflict with the facts and the history of what has already taken place in similar matters with the supreme court's full consent. geoff: you and senator durbin, who now chairs the judiciary committee, have been calling for an enforceable code of conduct for more than 10 years. we know based on public reporting and publi comments that justices kagan, cavanagh, and coney barrett -- sen. whitehouse: and roberts

himself. geoff: what is the hold up? sen. whitehouse: the hold up is thomas and alito, who have their hands furthest in the cookie jar, who probably do not want further inquiry into that and seem to be liking billionaire funded lifestyles of the rich and famous. geoff: there are republicans who say this entire effort, this entire enterprise is aimed at defanging the supreme court's super majority as it moves jurisprudence to the right. what do you say to that? sen. whitehouse: i think they are wrong. first of all, you mentioned that the letter that began 11 years ago before this had taken place, so the timing doesn't work. second, set all the drama aside and all the noise. what you have is billionaires with a demonstrated pattern of trying to influence the supreme court through a whole variety of groups by giving donations and participating, who are at the same time giving enormous massive secret gifts to justices.

just on the face, that merits investigation. and if it happened in any other court in the united states, it would have been investigated. there would have been fact-finding and a result and consequences. it is only the supreme court that is living outside the bounds on the rules. if they were not living outside the bounds of the rules, they probably have a separate fight over the merits of the decisions they are making. but that does not change the fact that they are operating right now outside of the rules. geoff: i want to get your reaction to west virginia senator joe manchin announcing he is not running for reelection in 2024. at a minimum, it will be difficult if not impossible for democrats to hold onto that seat in deep red west virginia. sen. whitehouse: i think that probably puts an extra seat on the table for mitch mcconnell, and that means we have to fight particularly hard to fight in texas and defeat ted cruz. geoff: is that possible? sen. whitehouse: it seems. we were very close last time and i think we have a very good

candidate in collin aalrea da. a local hero, very talented member of congress. i think that is good. we also put potential pressure on us to hold the other democratic seats. geoff: senator sheldon whitehouse of rhode island, thanks for coming in. ♪ amna: as the planet warms, scientists say natural disasters are becoming more destructive and more frequent. and data shows certain communities are hit harder than others. judy woodruff reports from florida on the disproportionate impact on people with disabilities. it's part of our series, "disability reframed." judy: by the time hurricane ian left a trail of destruction in fort myers, florida, last september, 61-year-old lynne bitzinger had already been without permanent housing for

five years. >> 20, hurricane irma. -- 2017, hurricane irma. it wiped us out. a tree was put through my roof on my mobile home. it was just a small old mobile home, but it was solid. it was just an event. at that point, the storms became cruel. everything in my home was gone. judy: bitzinger, who's been in several car accidents and suffers from spinal damage, uses a scooter and a walker to get around. she also cares for her friend, dennis vaughn, a 73-year-old vietnam veteran with critical illnesses and post-traumatic stress disorder. as ian approached, the two huddled in a fort myers motel. >> i was on the first floor in in an ada room, and when the water started surging, we had to escape to safety. i have never seen water like i saw. everything was underwater.

our cars were underwater. and i looked up and i said, god, i'm in trouble here. i need an ark. judy: they eventually made it to a higher floor. but it would be months before they had a permanent place to live. bitzinger's new mobile home was delayed, in part, because it needed a ramp and other modifications for her disability. she has lived through hurricanes in florida for decades. she navigated unaccommodating shelters and complicated disaster recovery. she says those tasked with helping residents in these storms don't pay enough attention to the needs of people like her and dennis. >> i would like people to stop ignoring the need. judy: the challenges can be particularly acute in florida, a state that faces more natural disasters than almost anywhere in the country. and where more than 4.5 million

people -- that is more than a quarter of the adult population -- has a disability. travis taylor is with the center for independent living, gulf coast. he helped bitzinger get a new scooter after hers was damaged during ian. taylor distributed food and supplies to residents after the storm. he also went into shelters to make sure they complied with the americans with disabilities act. he found cluttered aisles, residents unable to reach staff, and a shortage of accessible restrooms. >> just listening to the stories of individuals that had gone through the hurricane. nothing is ever going to be the same here in lee county. all we can do is learn and be prepared for before, during, and after the hurricanes, because it's not “if” it is going to happen again, it's “when.” judy: as climate change worsens, with extreme weather events becoming more severe and

frequent nationwide, the disability community is sounding the alarm. research shows people with disabilities are up to four times more likely to die in disasters than the general population. and according to u.s. census data released in january, most people with disabilities never return to their homes after a disaster. about 70% of deaf evacuees lived in unsanitary conditions for a month post-disaster, compared to just 7% of those with good hearing. and three-quarters of people who couldn't walk experienced a lack of food, compared to just 9% of those who could walk. >> for me, that data was simply affirmation. judy: justice shorter is a washington, d.c.-based blind disability activist who also advocates for racial and environmental justice. an expert on emergency management, she's heard

countless stories about what people face before, during, and after natural disasters. >> first, getting even access to information is a hurdle. let's say your local officials tell you, go on our website to find more information to be able to track the storm, track what's going on. we'll send out information via our website. when you go on that website, it's completely inaccessible. in terms of sheltering, so many shelters have been deemed accessible when they simply are not. how soon the debris is moved from the side of the road, because other people might have been coming back, but they're also gutting their homes and doing that on or near the sidewalk. that might not be a huge inconvenience unless you need to use the sidewalk to safely navigate. judy: overlaying so much of this, justice, is this is this message that that people with disabilities may be hearing that, well, we're doing everything we can, but we can't take care of everybody. the question is, where does that leave individuals with disabilities? >> when we say we can't save everybody, when we say that every disaster is going to bring

about a number of acceptable losses, when we use phrases like that, what we are truly saying is individuals with disabilities will die and we just have to deal with it. judy: in 2005, hurricane katrina killed more than 1800 people. in hard-hit new orleans, over 70% of the deaths were among people age 60 and older, and most of them had medical conditions or disabilities that increased their vulnerability. in katrina's aftermath, congress mandated the federal emergency management agency, or fema, appoint a coordinator to help people with disabilities through disasters. sherman gillums jr., a former marine, took over that job in august 2022. he's worked to get fema's disability experts to disasters faster, and has visited multiple hurricane and tornado sites himself.

>> we went from a response model to a proactive -- we do the planning. we don't wait until the disaster matures to a point where there are a lot of problems we have to fix. so, if we're averting problems, there's no need to be there as long or have as many people because we are laying down better plans. judy: but criticism of fema persists. lynne bitzinger said she jumped through many hoops with the agency, only to be denied housing assistance. she also complained about a lack of communication and under-qualified staff. >> i accept that criticism because we want to make sure that nobody comes out of a disaster feeling that way. i don't listen for good news. i'm listening for the areas where we may not get a do-over, but we can do do-better. judy: and gillums agrees with activist justice shorter that improving conditions for those with disabilities requires their input, and that authorities take them seriously. >> people with disabilities are still not meaningfully included

in every phase of disaster management and planning. we are pushed to the side as a kind consideration. so, we are doing you a favor by listening to you, disability community, and we need you to spend extensive amount of time, labor telling us all of the things that we need to do, and then we'll go back and decide whether or not and how we go about doing that. and i'm saying there has to be a fundamental shift in how that process works. judy: part of that shift, advocates say, must come in the long-term planning for climate change. last year, a report from mcgill university and the international disability alliance found governments worldwide largely ignored people with disabilities in their climate mitigation and adaptation work. it said less than a third of countries who signed the landmark 2015 paris climate agreement even mentioned people with disabilities in their long-term plans. >> it would be really awesome if

people would start to see a little bit of the struggle. judy: for her part, lynne bitzinger has considered leaving florida and its devastating storms behind. >> i've thought of moving, but where am i going to move to? judy: she says she can't help but wonder, is there anywhere she'd be truly safe from the effects of climate change? for the pbs newshour, i'm judy woodruff in fort myers, florida. geoff: and there is more coverage online, including a story about the struggles to keep child care facilities open now that pandemic funding is dwindling. that's at pbs.org/newshour. amna: and join us again here tomorrow night, where we will have a look at the little known story of the nation's first two black generals. that's the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. thanks for spending part of your evening with us. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by --

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