this is the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the “newshour” tonight, heavy fighting continues in gaza, including around a major hospital, as the death toll rises and hostage negotiations continue. amna: a major shakeup of leadership at a leading artificial intelligence company raises questions about the future of the technology. geoff: and nurses contend with the major strain on patients with limited english proficiency. >> any time you have a harmful event happen to you in the hospital, those harmful events,

the risk for people with limited english proficiency can be 15% to 25% higher than people who speak english. ♪ >> 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 yuen. >> actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. yes, i'm legally blind, and yes, i'm 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 instituations 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 by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

geoff: welcome to the “newshour.” israel's offensive in gaza continues tonight, focused in the north where fighting in gaza remains around hospitals there. civilians meanwhile are caught between the israel defense forces and hamas' determination to hide among them. amna: the government media office today in gaza, run by hamas, said today that the fighting has killed more than 13,000 civilians since the october 7 terror attacks by hamas against israel. 1200 israeli civilians were killed that day. nearly 240 hostages taken from israel are being held by militants in gaza. nick schifrin reports. nick: once again a gaza hospital is a battleground. tanks line the perimeter of the indonesian hospital in northern gaza. israel says hamas gunmen were using the hospital as cover. inside, last week, injured children lined the hallways. the w.h.o. says as many as 700 people needed the hospital for

treatment, or shelter. today, the hamas-controlled gaza ministry of health denied its fighters use hospitals. >> the occupation has now put the indonesian hospital in the circle of death. the hospital has been completely surrounded and sieged. nick: the hospital is in northern gaza, where israel has asked all residents to leave, and where american researchers found israel's air campaign has damaged or destroyed roughly 50% of all housing units. now, israeli officials are urging gazans to flee to an even smaller location in the south, al-mawasi, roughly the size of los angeles' lax airport. israel continues to launch airstrikes in the south, ahead of an expected ground invasion, that yesterday deputy national security adviser jon finer said needed to be well planned. >> we think that their operations should not go forward until those people, those additional civilians have been accounted for in their military planning.

nick: the u.s. has also been pushing for more aid to arrive into southern gaza. today, a jordanian field hospital passed through the rafah crossing. this weekend, the most significant delivery of fuel also crossed the border. desperate for assistance, gazans welcomed the help, and appealed for more. >> we are so thankful. i hope all arabs come together and stand with us like the people of jordan did today and i beg for all arabs to unite, stand with us and help us to end the siege and the war here. nick: but israel vows to pursue its siege until hamas is destroyed, even underneath gaza's largest hospital. yesterday, the israeli military released this video showing what it called a hamas tunnel, with its own electricity and ventilation, and protected by a blast-proof door. and photos of hamas fighters on october 7, holding hostages kidnapped from israel, walking through shifa's hallways. but when israel raided the hospital, there were still patients inside, including the

most vulnerable. today, those premature babies arrived in egypt. the blameless caught in the crossfire, loaded one by one into mobile incubators. lobna al-saik had to choose between evacuating with her youngest daughter, or staying with her older children. >> they are innocent children, premature babies, not to mention toddlers, three years old or five years old. i left my three children in gaza. i didn't even get a chance to hug them because i couldn't leave my daughter in this state. >> especially we want to see the children and women get released. nick: the most vulnerable hamas hostages are the focus of ongoing intense diplomacy between the u.s., qatar and israel. hamas would release dozens of hostages kidnapped on october 7, in exchange for increased humanitarian aid, and the release of palestinians held in israeli detention. today, the government held a tense meeting with hostage family members. other families met with the

israeli war cabinet. meirav leshem gonen's daughter was kidnapped from the music festival. >> any move they are doing will not take any responsiblity from them to return all the hostages back alive, here, to us, to our arms. it's my romi. it's shai's son, omer. and all the other hostages. nick: it's just one part of a traumatized israeli society, that today continues to bury its dead. 388 soldiers have died since october 7, the most in 20 years. for the “pbs newshour,” i'm nick schifrin. ♪

geoff: in the day's other headlines, defense secretary lloyd austin made a surprise visit to ukraine today, in a bid to keep money and weapons flowing to its military. ukrainian officials say they fear foreign aid will dry up as the israel-hamas war diverts global attention. austin's arrival marked his first to kyiv since april last year. he pledged to president zelenskyy that american support will not waver. >> i wanted to reassure the leadership that the united states of america will continue to support ukraine. and so we talked about the things that we're going to continue to do to make sure they have what they need to be successful on the battlefield. geoff: austin also announced another $100 million in u.s. military aid for ukraine, including air defense interceptors and anti-tank weapons. a federal appeals court ruling today could curb enforcement of the federal voting rights act.

the st. louis panel upheld a lower court finding that only the u.s. justice department may sue under the landmark law. for decades, most cases, from redistricting to voter i.d., have been filed by private groups. the case is expected to wind up before the supreme court. president biden turned 81 today, at a time when his age has become a growing issue in polls as he faces re-election. he joked about it during an annual thanksgiving event, but otherwise left it to top aides to argue that his decades of experience are a positive. >> as they say, the proof is in the pudding, right? the president has used his experience to pass more bipartisan legislation in recent time than any other president. that's just a fact. i would put the president's stamina, the president's wisdom, ability to get this done on behalf of the american people against anyone -- anyone, on any day of the week. geoff: mr. biden is the oldest sitting president in u.s. history. his leading republican

challenger, former president donald trump, is now 77. lawyers for mr. trump urged a federal appeals court today to revoke a gag order against him. it bars statements against prosecutors, witnesses, and court staff in his election interference case in washington. he says it's about free speech. prosecutors say it's about intimidation. the commission on presidential debates has announced three face-offs for next fall's general election campaign. they'll be at texas state university, virginia state university, and the university of utah. president biden has not said if he'll debate. the chair of the republican national committee says the commission is biased, so the gop should boycott the events. commuters in los angeles finally have some good news. a mile-long stretch of interstate 10 reopened today, well ahead of schedule. it had been damaged 10 days ago by an arson fire, fueled by material stored beneath the elevated freeway. officials had initially said the repairs would take three to five weeks. and on wall street, the holiday week got off to a good start.

the dow jones industrial average gained 203 points to close at 35,151. the nasdaq rose 159 points. the s&p 500 added 33. still to come on the “newshour”" argentina elects a far-right political outsider as president, raising questions about south america's second largest economy. the world reacts to the passing of former first lady and global humanitarian rosalynn carter. and tamara keith and susan page break down the latest political headlines. >> this is the "pbs newshour" from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: it's a major corporate shakeup in the world of artificial intelligence. microsoft announced today that it has hired sam altman, the co-founder of chatgpt maker openai, after he was unexpectedly fired from that

company days earlier. microsoft is a financial partner in openai. altman had kicked off a global race for artificial intelligence supremacy, and was the face of the ai boom, often drawing comparisons to tech giants like bill gates and steve jobs. mike isaac is covering all of this for the new york times. mike, as best i can piece together from your great reporting and a couple conversations i had with tech industry watchers, the openai board which is influenced by the interests of scientists, was worried that the company's expansion was out of control, might even call a dangerous. and sam altman was arguing that he was trying to grow the business out of a necessity. do i have that right? mike: you are totally right. part of the fascinating dynamics of this company is that it is a very small board with very ideologically driven directors

on that board. and one of the big concerns from them is that ai is going to spin out of control and ultimately be a destroying force for humidity. -- for humanity. it sounds like terminator, but it is actually something these people think about and talk about a lot of the time. sam altman's point of view has essentially been, we need to speed up our tech development of our artificial intelligence as a way to better humanity, to offer people different services in developing countries that they may not have had if we did not have the robots to give it to them. so it has been kind of a battle of safety versus acceleration is him of the tech. at least on friday, the sam side that is pushing for more aggressive development lost. and now we are seeing a drawn out battle as to whether or not he can make it back to the company. geoff: a breakup between a

founder and his or her board is nothing new in silicon valley. help our audience understand what made sam altman's ouster so stunning. mike: sam altman basically became the poster child for the development of ai. ai has been in the works for decades. it is not exactly a new computer science. but with the release of chatgpt, this consumer facing, what is called generative ai product where consumers -- computers can predict what to respond and give you different answers in ways that historically computer systems are not really able to do. it created a real rush in the industry to build these technologies, from apple to metta, microsoft and google. and sam became the kind of leader of the whole movement. openai -- to his credit, he was not just all flash -- they

actually had very strong deep technology and ultimately all the employees of the company believed in him. which is why it was such a shock and really damaging for the company board to fire him. geoff: this is the latest twist in all of this. you have more than 700 employees in a company of 770 people, they are threatening to quit and join microsoft. sam altman now is in a position to hire them? mike: that is exactly right. openai is big for a startup still a pretty small company. if 90% of your staff effectively goes, this staff could go from approximately $80 billion valuation to zero in just a few days. which means investors will be losing out on all of their investment. employees -- employees who are on the way there don't know if

they are going to have a job. microsoft could end up ultimately having a coup here in gaining all of their employees and technology for not actually having to buy the company outright. which is really unprecedented in a lot of ways in the tech landscape. geoff: in the meantime, what is the impact on the impact -- development of generative ai? mike: it is a great question. i do think one thing that microsoft and sam have in their back pocket is they are taking the best, most talented engineers and computer scientists at the top of the company with them. essentially also the intellectual-property, what is called ip, behind it. they could kind of pick up where they left off at microsoft. it would still take some time to spin things up at the destruction of openai means building a lot of new things at microsoft.

but i think this is only a speed bump for them. i also think it will spur all sorts of bursts of competition at other companies like meta, google, other folks who fell behind openai but are now feeling a second wind at least based on some conversations we have had with them. geoff: we will be watching. mike isaac of the new york times , thank you so much. mike: thanks for having me. ♪ amna: argentinians went to the polls yesterday amid economic crisis, soaring inflation, and growing poverty. and, as many nations have in the last decade, including the u.s., they elected a populist outsider. economist, author, and media commentator javier milei can now add another title to his resume, president-elect, thanks to an exhausted and angry electorate.

argentinian president-elect javier milei celebrated his election win amidst a euphoric crowd. >> today we turn the page on our history and we return to the path that we should never have lost. amna: promising a new political era. >> stop this impoverishing model of the caste. today we embrace the libertarian model so as to return to being a global power. amna: supporters filled the streets of buenos aires last night, hoping milei's election means an end to decades of economic crises. >> i think this time argentina needed a change and that's why i bet on this new proposal. amna: milei won with some 56% of the vote, defeating establishment candidate sergio massa, who oversaw the nation's slide into triple-digit inflation as economy minister for the ruling peronist party. massa was leading after the

first round of voting in october, but last night, conceded the race before results were even released. >> obviously the results are not what we expected. and i have communicated with javier milei to congratulate him and wish him luck, because he is the president that most argentines elected for the next four years. amna: an economist and former tv pundit, milei has drawn comparisons to donald trump. and his rise to power has been swift. he was elected to congress in 2021, promising to quote, blow up the system. a self-described anarcho-capitalist, he's pledged to shut down argentina's central bank, adopt the u.s. dollar as national currency, and make deep economic cuts, policies he sold on the campaign trail by brandishing a chainsaw, and demolishing a central bank-themed pinata. milei also opposes abortion rights, wants to end the

ministry of women, gender and diversity, and loosen gun restrictions. he also famously has four cloned dogs, created in a new york lab, whom he thanked when he won the august primary. >> i want to thank the four-legged children, murray, milton, robert, and lucas. amna: a novice politician who's already grasped one of the profession's oldest rules -- if you want a friend in politics, get a dog. or four. for more on what milei's win means for argentina and beyond, we are joined by oliver stuenkel. he teaches international relations in brazil, and is a non-resident fellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace. so why did milei's message resonate with voters in argentina so strongly right now? oliver: i think that milei's victory is not altogether surprising.

because neither the center-right government between 2015 and 2 019, nor the centerleft government of the past four years, have managed to stabilize argentina's economy. and as a consequence, i think there was a sense that any change, even by a candidate who has proposed lots of radical ideas, many of which i think some of his voters do not even support, was seen as the best idea. this was a change election, growing consensus that things cannot remain as they are. and the big question of course is whether milei will now govern as the radical that he was during the first part of this electoral campaign, or the more moderate candidate that he projected himself to be during the runoff when he tried to

attract centrist voters which he achieved as the result on sunday show. amna: he steps into power december 10 so we should get some answers fairly quickly. what do you expect to happen? he has proposed some radical ideas. getting rid of entire government agencies altogether, changing the currency to the u.s. dollar. do you expect to have him see those through right away? oliver: i think that will be very difficult because milei does not have a majority in congress. he does not have a large party. he does not have any of the powerful political groups behind him like bolsonaro, for example, with the armed forces behind him. so he will have to articulate some broad consensus involving more moderate lawmakers. the former president the defeated candidate, who is a traditional conservative,

supported him in the runoff in an attempt to moderate him. so the dynamic we will see one -- see now is one between milei supporters of the first hour, who actually want to do away with all politics, who believe his rhetoric about destroying the political elite. but on the other hand you have technocrats and more moderates who milei will need to govern it he will not be able to pass a single law without the support of established figures. he will not be able to govern without appointing bureaucrats who don't really share his ideas. those are the very people he has criticized and attacked during the campaign as the deep state and now he will have to work with them. so i think it will be very unlikely that he will be able to govern as a radical. however, he could govern by decree. but that usually does not end well in argentine politics. also important to remember that

most presidents who don't have a majority in congress struggle to get things done and many of them do not even finish their time in office. amna: i have to ask, milei is close to the former far right brazilian leader jair bolsonaro. he is also a supporter of donald trump. what does milei's election mean for the relationship between argentina and the u.s., led by president biden who has consistently warned about the rise of far right authoritarian leaders? oliver: well, it certainly poses an obstacle because milei as you say is a trump and bolsonaro fan. so i don't think milei will be on talking terms to brazil's president lula. and that of course is a problem, because the two should be talking. those are the two major economies of south america. but in the past between bolsonaro who was far right and left wing president fernandez, the two were already estranged.

i think we will see perhaps the bureaucrats talking while the presidents do not really speak. for the united states, it will be necessary to engage the milei government. there is also a lot of issues they will have to discuss and i think potentially u.s. pressure on milei to, for example, respect basic rights and do not threaten argentine democracy, are certainly issues that will be discussed in the bilateral relationship between argentina and the u.s. amna: issues we will be following. oliver joining us tonight, thank you for your time. oliver: thank you. ♪

geoff: among the many challenges facing the country's healthcare system -- language barriers, when patients and providers speak different languages. in collaboration with the global health reporting center, and with support from the pulitzer center, william brangham looks at how nurses are meeting the moment. it's part of a series "critical care: the future of nursing." william: julio speaks no english and receive the medication from a pharmacist who spoke no spanish. he did not know what the medication was for and so he had not taken any. >> ok. let me see the pills you have. william: the nurse tells him how to take it and offers a little encouragement. >> of course. if you have any problems you know you can come here. william: in addition to providing medical care,

traversing these language barriers is a crucial part of her job. >> the system for patients who don't speak english, they feel neglected and not treated with respect. william: she oversees the nurses here at the clinic of the people in washington, d.c. most of the staff speak fluent spanish. something she says is a critical part of delivering top shelf care. >> there is literature out there that backs up the fact patients want to be taken care of by providers that look like them, that speak the same language as them, and by providers that sound like them. unfortunately right now there is not enough of us out there. william: most clinics and hospitals are legally required to provide interpretive services based on the civil rights act of 1964, and the rule was strengthened in the affordable care act.

while communication is just one of many factors that affect the quality of care, studies show that language gaps, on their own , can lead to worse outcomes. >> any time you have a harmful event happened to you any hospital, the risk for people with limited english proficiency can be 15% to 20% higher than people who speak english. william: allison is a professor of nursing at new york university. she studies what happens to patients who don't share the same language as their providers. >> they are at higher risk for experiencing harm during a hospitalization. they are less likely to get timely access to primary care. they are also more likely to have a longer length of stay. all of these things actually add up in terms of overall health care costs to the patient, to health care systems, to everything. william: she published a study of more than 90,000 patients who were released from hospitals

with follow-up care back home. she found those with limited english are more likely to end up back in the hospital. only 1%. but still. >> i know 1% does not sound like a lot in terms of an increased risk but that 1% can compound into millions of dollars. especially if you are serving a lot of patients over time. william: the hispanic population is growing three times faster than the u.s. population as a whole. about 14% of the u.s. population speaks spanish at home. and yet only 6% of working nurses are hispanic. >> it is all very different and understanding different dialects and accents of spanish is very different as well. what we are doing here is just a drop in the bucket. william: the challenge is not limited to just spanish. about one in 12 americans speaks limited or no english. three in five are spanish speakers. the rest speak chinese, tagalong, vietnamese, arabic,

and other languages. at the nursing school at ut health houston, they are making it a priority to build a workforce that better matches the patient population. >> find a friend. william: erica is a professor and associate dean. >> 47% of our undergraduate students are underrepresented minorities. and our total student percentage is 46% of our students including graduate students who are an underrepresented minority. 35% of our students are hispanic. it is very different from the national picture. william: professor ramirez, who is also a nurse, saw in the ee are at another facility and awful example of what can happen when patients cannot be fully understood. >> i kept seeing this young woman and i could see she was

curled up in a chair and holding her face and i saw in the chart that she had facial trauma. i thought they are surely getting imaging but there was no imaging ordered. i went up to her and when i actually went up to her and said -- and she immediately says -- she had chemicals that had splashed in her eyes. and somehow in the translation that had taken place, that had been completely missed. then we were able to move forward. luckily she was ok we were able to take care of that. but that moment of time where that was missed in translation, that was huge. it was huge. william: when there is no nurse or doctor who speaks a patient's language, the job falls to translators. like here, with this patient who is recovering from a stroke in the i see you at houston methodist hospital.

erin oversees translation services at houston methodist. she says it is more than just language fluency. translators also need some medical fluency. >> they have to be certified. so there is medical terminology certification that goes along with that to make sure that patients are receiving accurate language interpretation. william: so that if i say insulin, mastectomy, all the terminology. the hospital has in person translators who speak spanish, mandarin, and arabic. >> we also provide video remote interpretation. william: so that person who might be due to translation might be anywhere basically? someone you have contracted with? even though technology helps, it raises new hurdles and new questions. what if a patient just wants to go to the bathroom, or to call a family member? >> do you call an interpreter every time someone needs to communicate that kind of neat? how do we address those situations?

william: nurses say literal translation is not the only goal. >> sometimes, especially with the aging population, they may not be able to trust nurses when you don't understand their culture. language a lot of times comes with culture. william: melissa says there is no real substitute for a direct, personal connection. what do you say to the devils advocate who would just say, google translate does all of this for you? >> google translates but it does not interpret. those are two very different things. there are nuances to when somebody says something when they speak. it is understanding how someone grew up. and again, it is more than what somebody is saying. and i think you cannot teach somebody to be bicultural. that is how you grow up. william: and you really think that matters in the end? >> i do.

it makes a big difference. william: there is not good research comparing outcomes with in person native speakers versus translators. but there is no question patients appreciate talking to someone who truly understands them. i'm william brangham in washington, d.c. ♪ geoff: global humanitarian, mental health advocate, and champion for equal rights -- these are some of the ways that former first lady rosalynn carter is being remembered tonight. she passed away yesterday at the age of 96. mrs. carter died surrounded by family in her hometown of plains, georgia, the small southern city that became a household name after her husband jimmy carter was elected president in 1977. former president carter released a statement following his wife's

passing, which reads, rosalynn was my equal partner in everything i ever accomplished. she gave me wise guidance and encouragement when i needed it. as long as rosalynn was in the world, i always knew somebody loved and supported me. as we focus on mrs. carter's legacy and many contributions, we turn to our own judy woodruff, who covered the carter white house and knew mrs. carter well, and journalist and historian jonathan alter, whose biography of president carter is "his very best: jimmy carter, a life." thank you both for being here. judy, your connection to carters goes back to 1970, when jimmy carter was running for governor of georgia. mrs. carter often spoke about her passion for politics and campaigning. was at a passion she had back then or one she developed? judy: it is definitely not one she had back then. i mean, i did not cover his race for the georgia senate in 1962, or his first race for governor in 1966.

when she wrote about having just been wracked with fear, when she would have to go out and make a speech on his behalf. but by the time i covered that campaign, and again, it was my first year as a reporter, i was learning the ropes very much myself. she was getting more comfortable, and by the time she was out in the arena and making speeches for him, it became something that she did very well. she knew her stuff. when people would ask detailed questions about issues, she would be able to answer, whether it was about agriculture, policy or economics. she would try to answer and if she didn't know something she would say, i'll get back to you. geoff: jonathan, you said her political instincts actually surpassed those of her husband. jonathan: well, i think even jimmy carter acknowledged that she was just shrewder in the way she read people and political situations and she was always trying to steer him out of political trouble with mixed

levels of success. she urged him to delay certain controversial decisions he made as president until a second term. and when he said, you know, i don't want to do the politically expedient thing, i'll do that on a second term. she would say, well, there might not been a second term, and there wasn't. so i think what is not recognized among a lot of people who assume that their accomplishments were only in the post-presidency, is that they got major things done together when he was president. on mental health, on curtailing discrimination by age. she got rid of a lot of mandatory retirement provisions that were in the federal code, and one that stands out for me that she accomplished that almost nobody remembers is that when she was first lady, she she and betty bumpers, the wife of senator dale bumpers, they

convinced 33 state legislatures to require vaccination before children could enter school. this had a huge impact on the public health of the united states. and yet, it's almost a footnote. so what i'm hoping is that her death will kick off a new appreciation of her and the first rank of american first ladies. geoff: judy, the statement that president carter released after his wife's passing, that she was an equal partner in everything he ever accomplished. how did that partnership affect president carter's political worldview and his policy? judy: well, it was one that started early. i think she was a teenager when she met him. she was 19 when they married. they were, as you say, they were a duo, they were they were partners in every sense of the word. he checked everything with her.

i mean, he -- there were no decision big decisions that were made, any decisions for that matter. it doesn't mean he always went along with her. as you just heard from jonathan, she would advise him to do something that she thought was in his better political interest and he didn't always follow it. later on it was bill and hillary clinton, who, you know, there was the saying, you get to for the price of one, or whatever it was. that was the same for the carter's. she was equally invested and working hard, every day, all day long. geoff: you wrote an op-ed in today's new york times in which he wrote mrs. carter -- it is only one of the many unheralded accomplishments of a four bindle -- formidable and gracious woman who belongs in the first ranks of influential first ladies. tell us more on that. jonathan: so just on mental

health, you may recall reading or experiencing that ted kennedy ran against jimmy carter in 1980 for the democratic nomination. it was very harmful to carter's run against ronald reagan, which he did not do. but after that point, rosalynn carter worked with ted kennedy to get the first major piece of mental health legislation through the congress in 1980. now, ronald reagan, to her anger, repealed a lot of that and many of the provisions were not actually implemented until obama care. but she did more than anyone to end the stigma that applied to mental illness in this country. and she also in the post-presidency, champions, caregivers, that wasn't even a concept in the 1960's and 1970's. rosalynn carter helped put that on the map as an idea that people care for friends and relatives in this country in great numbers.

so, she combined this toughness and this strength with tremendous grace. i interviewed more than 250 people for my book, including every member of the carter family, and i didn't get a single person who said anything critical about rosalynn carter. some of them had some critical things to say about jimmy carter. but she was such a formidable, impressive, kind, and just wonderful person in almost every dimension, that i hope her memory of her contributions will inspire people in the years ahead. geoff: judy, you interviewed the carter's when they marked 75 years of marriage. you asked them both when it think about this country's future, are they more fearful or more hopeful. here is how mrs. carter answered that question. >> i think you have to have hope. sometimes it's hard with the

issues and things on the news all the time, to try to figure out what really to believe. but in the end, i think everything will be ok. geoff: her ability to find hope in places where others may not, it really speaks to her abiding faith, her profound decency, and a certain grace. how do you see it? judy: and compassion. we just heard from jonathan about the issues because of that she adopted and she embraced them in the white house, but she continued to embrace them. she didn't just give up. they've been out of the white house for 43 years. it's hard to imagine that, and they've been active ever since up until the point when because of their age, they weren't able to do that. i would just add that there's very much a toughness to her, a steeliness. people throw around the term steel magnolia. she would do her homework, and she would come to a conclusion

about what needed to be done, so often driven by compassion for people who weren't getting their due. she worked on women's issues, as john said. she worked certainly on mental illness, on caregiving. this became a passion of hers. and i think what she said about hope, you are right. you have to have that positive attitude or else you're not going to get through. there are always going to be obstacles facing you. you have to keep moving forward. geoff: hers was a remarkable and consequential life. jonathan alter and judy woodruff, thank you both so much. ♪ amna: the nation mourns a trail-blazing first lady, and a band-aid budget won't heal the nation's divides or congressional dysfunction in the election year to come. we'll break that down in today's

politics monday, with usa today's susan page, and tamara keith of npr. amy walter is away. good to see you both. susan, before we move deeper into politics you have covered rosalynn carter before. you were on here -- you're on a trip -- susan: she was a serious person. she took auntie find a more serious role for the first lady than most of her at assessors. -- most of her predecessors. on that trip to thailand, she went to the stafford -- desperate refugee camps with cambodians. i remember she picked up a child, talk to the mother. that picture went around the globe and shone a spotlight on the plight of these refugees. and she said to the refugees, i am going to go home and tell my husband about you. i guarantee you she did that because she weighed in on the most serious policy matters where her husband. they had not only the longest

white house marriage in our history, they had one of the closest partnerships we have ever seen. amna: back here in washington, it's a good time to do a temperature check. on both the presidential race and capitol hill. congress did avoid a government shutdown but there is a potential one looming in mid-january. will that grace period before right republicans extended the much further? tamara: congress has found a way to do the bare minimum and make it look really hard. mike johnson did get a grace period. some of the far right republicans already say he has two strikes because of this legislation that did the bare minimum, which is fund the government for a little while. the question is whether that grace period will continue. but the reality is that there is not a great alternative. he got the job after a three-week back-and-forth with everybody looking around trying to find someone to do it. so it is likely he gets a bit

more of a grace period. because also it will be the height of primaries and caucuses, and primaries for all of these members of congress who are also going to be on the ballot. and once the funding runs out again in january and february, it's an election year, we are going to be in an election year. it is most likely they are going to find some sort of away, probably was some drama to get there, to just keep the government funded a bit. amna: what is your take on this? susan: that is really optimistic. [laughter] because there has been no demonstration of a willingness to put, we need to govern, it's an election year, ahead of, let's blow things up. when you have the kind of narrow margin speaker johnson has, it only takes a couple of people to upend everything. if he manages to get through that, if we get through the january and february deadlines for funding the government and he has put together a plan, then he deserves some real credit for

doing something his republican predecessors have had a lot of trouble doing. tamara: there is not as much personal animus towards him in part because they don't know him as well. but the honeymoon could eventually run out, or they could just decide, fine, every single government funding bill requires democratic votes because it is a divided government. he gives the far right republicans the permission slip to vote no, as they have always wanted to, and then you just limp along. amna: let's take a look at the presidential race. the calendar starts to get busy and crowded in the new year. there is some recent polling from a harvard harris poll conducted just last week. it shows americans are not really happy with president biden on some issues they say are most important to them. here are some of his lowest approval ratings on those same issues. 30 9% for immigration. 40% for inflation. 42% on crime and violence. 44% approval on the economy. what is the white house saying about this? tamara: the white house view

generally on all of these issue polls is simply that this flex has broader approval rating. that voters are not talking to pollsters and carefully considering their feelings about him on immigration or the economy or any of these things. voters are in a sour mood, and essentially, all of these issues are basically matching up with his broader approval rating, which is not great. but they also take sort of a long view, which is that often presidents at this point in the reelection cycle have really low approval ratings. and they sort of feel that joe biden is always taking for granted, he is always counted out, he is always left for dead politically, and then they end up passing the bill, or he ends up consolidating support in the democratic primary. so at least for now -- this is people actually employed by the president -- are keeping their powder dry. his inner circle. susan: people may say these are

the issues they care most about, but there are two issues that have been more powerful than those issues. one is the issue of abortion. ever since roe v. wade was overturned we have seen that deliver for democrats. the other is donald trump. antipathy for donald trump is the best thing joe biden has. concerns about what donald trump might do if he got back in office. we should be modest about what we learn from polls. amna: are you saying when it becomes a binary choice, things will be different? susan: will it be binary, though? how many will be on the ballot? that could make the math of the election entirely different. amna: in the meantime we have a couple minutes left and i never get to talk to you guys about these kind of things. but it is thanksgiving weekend we are so grateful for your both, so i would like to give you a minute to share what you are grateful for, when a lot of

what we report on is not necessarily celebratory. susan: of course i am grateful to my family, but i'm grateful for the journalists who put themselves in harms way to cover the news. i am thinking of the israel hamas war, which is already killed 40 journalists. the ukraine war has killed 15 journalists. this is a time when trusted in the news media has eroded. these are reporters doing their jobs and we are all the better off because of that. amna: thank you for that. tam, what about you? tamara: i am thankful to pbs newshour viewers like you. [laughter] over the past year i have heard from so many people who love politics monday, people who sought me out in places i was not expecting to find them. i am just grateful for all those conversations i got to have over email and over social media and in person. even with people who do not like my hair. even those conversations, i am grateful for them too.

amna: let me just reiterate how grateful we are to both of you, for the insights you always bring, and we look forward to talking again soon. susan page and tamara keith, thank you to you both. ♪ geoff: one thing americans can be thankful for, as inflation cools, so are the prices of thanksgiving turkeys. turkey prices are down 5.6% since last year, according to the american farm bureau federation. but two special turkeys will spared from the dinner table this week as part of a treasured white house tradition. laura barron-lopez has more. >> i hereby pardon liberty and bell. laura: the two birds, liberty and bell, were raised in minnesota, the nation's largest producer of turkey.

>> they love honey crisp apples. not bad, huh? ice hockey. i would sure like to see them play ice hockey. 1000 lakes. and the mall of america. laura: the president, on his 81st birthday, also made a few dad jokes. >> i just want you to know, it's difficult turning 60. laura: for more than three decades, turkeys have gobbled up attention at the white house rather than the dinner table. but how it got started? well, that debate has ruffled some feathers. >> president truman was the first president to pardon a turkey. laura: actually, truman was the first president to receive a turkey from the national turkey federation, but there's no record of a pardon. according to the white house historical association, truman said that the birds would, come in handy for christmas dinner. so, who was the first president to pardon a turkey? technically it was honest abe

lincoln, after his young son, tad, begged to save the life of a bird originally destined to become christmas dinner. jack the turkey instead became a white house pet. president john f. kennedy was the first to spare a thanksgiving gobbler. in 1963, despite a sign hanging around the turkey's neck that read, good eating, mr. president, kennedy sent them back to the farm. and a year before richard nixon received a pardon of his own, his daughter chose to gift his turkey to a local petting zoo. it was ronald reagan who carved out a spot in history as the first to use the word "pardon" when talking turkey in 1987. the tradition became formalized two years later by president george h.w. bush. >> let me assure you, and this fine tom turkey, that he will not end up on anyone's dinner table, not this guy. laura: the event is now an annual white house ritual. and for the last decade, the turkeys have received a treat

that's as sweet as pie -- a stay at the 4-star willard hotel. instead of moving to the dinner table, liberty and bell will live out the rest of their lives trotting around the university of minnesota's campus farm in st. paul. for the "pbs newshour," i'm laura barron-lopez. geoff: so these two turkeys will head to the university of minnesota college of food and agriculture to rest their feathers. amna: this is one of the favorite pieces i do every year. it just is. geoff: as always, there is more coverage online, including how official definitions of homelessness often overlook a less visible group also struggling to find permanent housing of their own. that's at pbs.org/newshour. amna: and join us again here tomorrow night, when we will have a look at an icelandic volcano seemingly on the verge of eruption. and 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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thank you. >> i am terribly excited to be the anchor of pbs news weekend. we have become known for independent fact-based reporting. we are challenging the viewers to understand the world a little better. we present all sides of the story. we take the time to put them in context. when viewers watch pbs news weekend i hope they come away informed, with perhaps a different perspective than they had thought of before. good evening. i am john yang. tonight on pbs news weekend. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

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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. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -today on "america's test kitchen"... keith makes julia new england fish chowder,