geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the newshour tonight, israel and hamas extend the temporary ceasefire, and expand the prisoner exchange. we speak to a palestinian woman released by israel and an israeli man whose family was freed by hamas. >> we do value life and we do appreciate the return of our loved ones, and i think there is no too big price to pay, we have to bring them back. geoff: vermont police arrest a suspect in a shooting of three

college students of palestinian descent being investigated as a hate crime. amna: and tamara keith and amy walter break down the latest political headlines as congress returns with a full agenda. >> funding for the pbs newshour been provided -- the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions, and friends of the newshour, including leonard and norma clore vine and cooled and patricia are hearing. >> you don't need vision to do most things in life. i am legally blind and i am responsible for the user interface. data visualization. if i can see and understand it

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by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: welcome to the newshour. it appears tonight that the lull in the israel-hamas war will last a little longer. the two sides agreed today to extend their cease-fire for two more days. geoff: the announcement came as the initial four-day pause was in its final hours. but israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said his policy has not changed. >> [translated] with regard to the hostages, we are continuing with the outline as agreed and we are also continuing with the main goal we said -- to bring about the release of our hostages, to complete the elimination of hamas and, of course, also to ensure that this threat will not repeat itself in gaza. amna: in the meantime, hamas

released 11 more hostages, almost all children, for 33 palestinians held by israel. it was the fourth exchange under the cease-fire. the pause has also created a window for hundreds of trucks -- loaded with fuel and humanitarian aid -- to flow into gaza. today, the white house welcomed the prospect of additional days of calm. >> the approach that we're taking with israel and quite frankly with our partners in the region is working. it's getting aid into people that need it. it's getting a pause in the fighting, it's getting hostages out. it's getting americans out. and quite frankly, we continue to urge and will continue to urge the israelis as they conduct military operations to do so with the utmost care for innocent civilian life. geoff: foreign affairs and fence correspondent nick schifrin joins us now. what are the terms of this two day extension and what were the sticking points getting to this deal? nick: the core of the agreement is an extension of what we have seen, that 10 israeli hostages are released per day for 30

palestinian detainees as israel holds fire and israel allows a significant amount of humanitarian aid to reach gaza, including fuel. that seems straightforward to add two days but it has been difficult to get there. the united states originally wanted the first part of this deal, the four day pause, to have all 90 women and children released at the same time. what hamas told mediators is it only had 50, it could only find 50 of those 90 women and children. it's not clear if the cease-fire has allowed hamas to find 20 or so more women and children, or if hamas has collected those women and children from other terrorist groups and taken some of these people from israel on october 7. the bottom line is for israel, hamas has been able to pledge it could find these 20 extra hostages.

today the white house welcomed this deal and said it wanted the truce to extend until all 90 women and children could be released, possibly all hostages up to 240 could be released. those include two american old -- two american women. amna: 11 more hostages were released today. what can you say about them? geoff: this is focused on women and children, none more so than today. of the 11, 9 were children, all kidnapped from the kibbutz where won a four residence on october 7 were either killed or captured. among those released today, the calderon family, sahar,, erez. there is video of erez being taken.

the people taking erez were not wearing the traditional hamas flag. that day their father ofer calderon was also taken, still a hostage. also released today, the cunio family. 33-year-old sharon and her three-year-old twins. their father also remains a hostage. the others released today include the angle family, a woman and two children. the father remains a hostage. a 12-year-old was released by himself. his father also remains a hostage. for all of those children and women, they are going to go into israeli hospitals where they will receive the mental and physical care they need. part of this is this ratio. for every israeli hostage release, they get 10 palestinians released. that means we have been seeing every day palestinians released from israeli detention.

that was one of hamas's stated aims of the terror attack, to force israel to release palestinian prisoners, a step that has been part of the palestinian national movement for decades. they arrived to an adoring crowd. international committee of the red cross buses, full of freed palestinians. and as soon as they set foot in ramallah, the west bank's largest city, they received a hero's welcome, surrounded by the flags of hamas. tearful family reunification's, between a mother and teenage son she hasn't seen in four months. and the family of 27-year-old walaa tanjii, in the tulkarem refugee camp outside nablus. inside, her extended family welcomed her back. she told us today her homecoming felt bittersweet. >> it's a mixed feeling between happiness and sadness because of all the people who have been killed in gaza. we lost a lot of women, children and innocent people in gaza.

nick: years ago, the documentary what walaa wants chronicled her dreams to join the palestinian authority's police force. these days, her dream is instilled by her mother -- anish her education. >> -- finish her education. >> [translated] i have a lot of things i want to do. i have a lot of dreams, ambitions. and i want to achieve my mom's dream. my mom's dream was to go to college, and study political science. nick: but right now, those are dreams deferred. in august 2022, she was arrested outside an israeli checkpoint in the west bank. israel accuses you of trying to shoot israeli soldiers at a checkpoint. did you? >> [translated] i deny this. they stopped me while i was with my friends trying to visit one of our friends to congratulate her on her wedding. they brought us to the jail and accused us of trying to kill some israeli soldiers. nick: she ended up here, ofer prison. and she says after the october 7 terrorist attack, conditions inside got much worse.

>> [translated] they treated us in a very bad way. they threatened us that they would rape us. they prevent us from having water and food. after the 7th of october, we lost everything. we lost our rights. we lost our privacy. they hit us, kicked us every day for 49 days. nick: israel denies mistreating prisoners. it wasn't the first time tanjii or her family members were arrested. she was detained in september 2017 for scuffling with prison guards to protect her brother, who himself has been arrested. her mother served 8 years in israeli prison for helping a failed suicide bomber. tanjii doesn't deny or denounce her's mother's actions. nick: was she guilty of that crime? [translated] i do not find my mom guilty because she resists any occupier who stole our lands. and we have the right to defend ourselves and to resist the occupier and get our land back. and we deserve to be free. nick: she even praises the hamas

october 7 terrorist attack that killed 1200 people in israel. >> [translated] at that moment, i expected our lands will be reclaimed back and god willing it will return because it's our land, our right. >> for palestinians, prisoners is an issue that affects almost every family. nick: noor odeh is a political analyst in ramallah. >> they're seen as heroes because they have been able to withstand the process and the experience of being imprisoned in israeli prison. these experiences are very harsh. they're very lonely. there are no rights. there is no contact with the families most of the time. nick: israel currently holds more than 7000 palestinian prisoners. 2000 of them are held in administrative detention, without charges. and of the 300 palestinians whom israel identifies as possible releases, one third are under 18. >> most of the kids and the women who would have been released or will be released

have not been charged and have not been tried. all of them would have gone through the israeli military court system. nick: since october 7, israeli-palestinian clashes in the west bank have increased. and palestinian human rights groups say israel has arrested some 3000 additional palestinians. >> amassing more palestinian prisoners is also viewed as israel's way of having more bargaining chips in these negotiations. nick: and now that the truce has been extended, those negotiations can continue. each day, hamas is committed to release 10 more hostages, and israel, to release 30 more palestinian prisoners. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. amna: so far, about 70 hostages have been released by hamas over four days of a ceasefire and as many as 175 people remain held in gaza. we turn to someone with family members in both situations. dori roberts is the cousin of doron katz-asher, who was just freed by hamas, along with her

two daughters, raz who is 4, and aviv who is 2. but dori's aunt - doron's mother efrat katz - was killed by hamas en route to gaza. but efrat's partner, gadi moses, and another of dori's cousin, ravid katz, remain held hostage. dori roberts joins us now. let's begin with what a bittersweet moment this must be for you and your family. but let's start with dawn and raz and evie, who were released. how are they doing? >> they are doing much better, surrounded by family and loved ones. they are back home, back in their home now. after medical examinations and after surrounding themselves with the medical teams, mental health workers, social workers and, of course, family, they're very delighted to be home. they're doing well. they are undergoing -- after 50 days at the hostages of being held by the hamas as hostages.

and they're finally home and they're safe. and this is why we're trying to provide, that safety and that hugging, loving family care that they'll need from now till for quite a while, till they're fully recovered. amna: could they share anything with you about their time in captivity? were they hurt? where they fed? how they were treated? dori: we are learning more details about their time in how the captives, where food was very, very minimal, pretty much tin cans and canned food wherever they could. some beans and chickpeas, dry pitas, and water, maybe an hour max of daylight. and they had some, some medication provided to them, but not something you can really exist and have nutrition is of course based on that. so we're trying to provide them

all that back now, especially for the kids who suffered from, uh, a lot of, a lot of those crucial nutrients and food that they need just to grow and to be healthy, normal kids. they're receiving all that right now back in israel, and we're so happy that they're finally home. we have to make sure that all of that time they were down there under the tunnels, it's been really dark and they were kept in groups. i don't know how much, five or six groups in one cell with heavy guards. so that is pretty intimidating 482 years old, a five years old. and their mother took it upon herself to keep them safe and protected as much as she could. amna: we are so sorry for your loss. i can't imagine what these children in particular have seen. at the same time, i have to ask , one of the stated goals of hamas on the day they attacked on october 7 was to release

palestinians who were held by israel, which is now happening as part of the hostage release deal. do you support that, especially if it means more of your loved ones could come home? dori: i think that overall, after so many days of ongoing war, i think that it was time to take a break and return those hostages back from the hamas. i think the deal, uh, to my view is fair for all those palestinian people who were evacuated from their homes and flee to southern gaza. got a relief of food and clothes and fuel, electricity, and the prisoners who were held by israel were released back to the palestinian authorities. and we saw some unpleasant, uh, images from their of they're going straight back to the hands of the hamas. and some of them are even paying with their own lives, being accused as spies and whatnot. so it's sad to see it, but we do

value life and we do appreciate, like, the return of our loved ones. and i think there is no big price to pay. we have to bring them back. amna: we thank you so much for joining us tonight. we're glad your family is somewhat reunited. we hope everyone else is home with you soon. thank you again. dori: thank you so much. vanessa: i am vanessa ruiz with newshour west, here are the latest headlines. an update to our top story. late this evening, israel released 33 more palestinian prisoners. it follows today's release of 11 israeli women and children by hamas. the pentagon said militants who seized an israeli owned tanker over the weekend where likely somalia pirates, not rebels from yemen. the rebels, backed by iran, have staged other attacks since the israel-hamas war erupted.

in sunday's incident, a u.s. navy destroyer rescued the tanker in the gulf of aden. later, two ballistic missiles were fired into the area from rebel-held areas in yemen. the ship was not hit, and the pirates were put under arrest. elon musk visited israel today and said he supports neutralizing hamas and condemns hate speech. the billionare has been accused of both endorsing anti-semitism and letting it go unchecked on his social media platform "x" formerly known as twitter. today, he toured a kibbutz attacked by hamas on october 7. he also met with hostage families and israeli president isaac herzog. >> you have a huge role to play. and i think we need to fight it together because under the platforms which you lead, unfortunately, there's a harbouring of a lot of old hate, which is jew hate, which is anti-semitism. vanessa: war-torn swaths of southern and central ukraine are struggling to deal with the fallout from a powerful black sea storm. on sunday, snow drifts up to six

feet knocked out power to some 2000 towns and shut down more than a dozen highways. today, rescuers were out moving thousands of stranded vehicles. others cleaned up trees blown down by strong winds. the storm also battered southern russia. it was one of the most powerful ever recorded in the region. in sierra leone, a curfew has eased a bit after authorities said they arrested leaders of an attack that killed 20 people on sunday. gunmen in the west african nation stormed the main military barracks and a prison. but hours later, the country's president said calm had returned. >> in times like these, we are reminded of the importance of national unity. let us not succumb to fear or division. let us come together as one people, one nation. vanessa: nearly 2000 prisoners

escaped during the chaos. it followed the president's disputed re-election victory this past summer. back in this country, three days of memorial tributes began for late first lady rosalynn carter. this afternoon, a hearse carrying the casket arrived at the jimmy carter presidential library and museum in atlanta. mrs. carter is lying in repose there this evening. funerals are planned in atlanta on tuesday and in the carters' hometown of plains on wednesday. rosalynn carter died last week at the age of 96. class was back in session at public schools in portland, oregon today as a teachers strike ended. school officials announced a tentative deal with the union late sunday. teachers had been on the picket line since november 1 over pay, class sizes, and planning time. and merriam-webster is keeping it real this year. the dictionary company says "authentic" is the word of the year. it's based on large numbers of searches for the term and its meaning.

runners-up -- influenced greatly by news events -- included "deepfake", "coronation" and "indict". still to come on the newshour, tamara keith and amy walter break down the latest political headlines also, a new book details the u.s. governments search for alien life. and the shortest member of the marine corps reflects on the challenges and triumphs of his service. and much more. >> this is the pbs newshour, from w eta new studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: the shooting of three college students this holiday weekend has added more fear and concern about a rise in bias, discrimination and violent attacks against arab americans and muslims in the u.s. william brangham has the story. william: 48-year-old jason eaton was arraigned today in connection with the shooting of

three college students of palestinian descent in burlington, vermont over the weekend. he is charged with three counts of attempted murder in the second degree. authorities say he shot the men without saying a word and, while no motive has been determined, the shooting is being investigated as a possible hate crime. the uncle of kinnan abdal-hamid, one of the victims, spoke today at a news conference. >> kinnan grew up in the west bank. we always thought that that would be more of a risk in terms of safety, and sending him here would be the right decision. we somehow betrayed in that decision here. william: in addition to abdal-hamid, families identified the other victims as hisham awartani and tahseen ali ahmed relatives said the three were walking to dinner on a residential street when they

were suddenly attacked. two of them were wearing keffiyehs, a traditional palestinian headdress, and they were reportedly speaking a mixture of english and arabic. awartani is a junior at brown university, abdal-hamid a student at haverford college, and ahmed attends connecticut's trinity college. they were in vermont for thanksgiving, visiting one of their families. today, attorney general merrick garland said that because of the israeli-hamas conflict, tensions here are high. >> all of us have also seen a sharp increase in the volume and frequency of threats to jewish, muslim and arab communities across our country since october 7. there is understandable fear in communities across the country. william: the shooting comes amid a documented rise in islamophobia and anti-arab incidents. since the israel-hamas conflict began, the council on american-islamic relations has received over 1200 requests for help or reports of bias, a 216%

surge from the same time last year. yearthose incidents include at least one murder, two other attempted murders and numerous violent threats, involving guns being discharged or brandished. on october 15, six-year-old chicago resident wadea al-fayoume was killed, stabbed 26 times by his landlord. officials say he targeted the family because they were muslim. the alleged shooter in burlington pleaded not guilty today and the three young men are being treated at a local hospital. while the motive is still unclear, some groups argue officials should clearly consider this a hate crime. this is the national executive director of the anti-arab discrimination committee. he has been in touch with the families of the three students. could you tell us how these three young men are doing? >> the young men right now are relieved the person from the shooting has been apprehended

and is in custody. burlington is safer with him off the streets. one of them has recovered fully. you should be released from the hospital soon. two of them have some injuries they are overcoming, one of them some very serious injuries. they have a long road of recovery ahead of them physically and emotionally as well. william: how are the families doing? we heard one of the uncles describing how his nephew moving from the west bank was considered to be the safe choice. how are they all processing this? >> this has, as a shock to the family members and the community. they had a difficult time initially being overseas comprehending everything, putting everything together and flying over here. the students were at the grandmother's house of one of the victims, so it's good there

were some familiar faces. it is difficult when you are thousands of miles away and your son gets shot. it is a whirlwind of emotions. a lot of folks in the community have stepped up and are on their way here and hopefully will be with their children soon. william: we still don't know the motive, whether this was a random attack or whether these young men were targeted because they are palestinian. the families put out a statement today saying they believe this is a hate crime and i want to read an excerpt. they place the blame on u.s. media and even elected officials from the highest levels of the government who have repeated racist and dehumanizing language. this hateful rhetoric emboldens people to act with violence. do you share that same belief? >> absolutely. our belief has been the rhetoric against arabs, against

palestinians, the dehumanization of palestinians would eventually lead to these violent attacks we are seeing. that is what happened in chicago with the six-year-old who was stabbed, that's what happened in this situation. the rhetoric, the way we are being dehumanized, and the way arabs and palestinians are being portrayed leads to these violent hate crimes. unfortunately this may not be the last incident unless there is an effort to change the way we are being portrayed. william: what would you like to see local and national leaders do? on social media you wrote that you wanted college campuses and college leaders to make sure arab and muslim students are safe on campuses. what would you like our leaders to do? >> the first thing is recognized that the arab and palestinian community is under attack and

hate incidents are on the rise and work with the community to push some of the incidents away from us. they can do that by changing the rhetoric and stop the baseless attacks on the community. going after palestinian student groups, palestinian students along with the doc saying of arab and palestinian students on college campuses. all of that is going to lead down the road to violent hate crimes. we have to stop a lot of these things happening on college campuses and in the general public and elected officials need to say enough is enough. we don't need to see anymore dox xing, anymore targeting, we don't need to shut down arab and palestinian student groups. we can engage in debate but we don't need to start vilifying individuals to keep them quiet. william: at the same time, what is happening between israel and hamas is horrifying to watch. there are groups on both sides

supporting the israelis and groups supporting the palestinians in the u.s., and they have a legal right to be protesting. how do you council people how to express their first amendment rights while also staying safe in the united states? >> both sides have a right to protest but only one side is consistently having that right taken away. the fundamental right of protest and assembly for arabs and palestinians is under attack and that should worry all americans. if you can take away the right of protest and assembly of individuals you disagree with, we have nothing left when it comes to the first amendment on campuses and elsewhere. this is a critical moment in our country's history, bigger than a pro-israel or pro-palestine protest. this is an attack on our fundamental freedoms and people need to pay attention. amna: -- william: thank you so much for

being here. geoff: we are less than 50 days out from the republican iowa caucuses and a couple of key endorsements are aimed at shifting the momentum in the gop primary race, if possible. to make sense of it, we are joined by amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter and tamera keith of npr. thanksgiving is behind us, we are back to work, and so are the 2024 presidential candidates. we have talked before about the ways ron desantis -- he is sinking a ton of time and resources into iowa. he picked up a key endorsement from iowa's popular governor kim reynolds. he also got the backing of authentic lots, an -- of bob vanderplatz, a key evangelical

leader. what difference do these endorsements make? tamara: it's not clear that they will. one big question i have with the vanderplatz endorsement is how important are evangelical voters as a bloc. are they voting as a bloc in iowa anymore? is an influential character like him still as influential as he used to be, if he is telling people to vote for donald trump, who has significant support among evangelicals in iowa. the reality is while vanderplatz had a decent record of picking iowa caucus winners, he has not had a great record of picking nominees for president. how far this takes desantis is not clear. at this point it is desantis and nikki haley battling for second

place pretty viciously while former president trump is seemingly above the fray and doing quite well and basically every iowa poll we see. amy: the viciously attacking is an important point because it seems like we have just gone back to 2016 when all the other candidates not named donald trump were fighting among themselves to be the one candidate to take on donald trump. the theory was once it was a one-on-one race, they could beat him, which of course did not end up occurring. the most recent ads, if you are in iowa now, the ads for the desantis super pac are attacking the nikki haley, the nikki haley super pac is attacking to santos. donald trump's super pac is talking about joe biden. it is important to note that donald trump isn't not taking iowa seriously.

he has been doing rallies there. it is this fascinating piece where donald trump is the antiestablishment establishment candidate. he is basically the front runner because he is almost like the sitting incumbent and has the benefit of that, while the regular establishment, people like evangelical leaders and the governor, line up against him. geoff: looking beyond iowa, nikki haley in many ways has pushed past ron desantis as the top trump alternative, in new hampshire for instance. amy: she has pushed past him with the establishment republicans looking for a place to go that isn't donald trump. ron desantis came into the race with promise and everybody thought he would be great and he has spent and his super pac has spent a ton of money and it has not gotten him anywhere. haley is riding off

strong debate performances and harnessing momentum as you head into actual voting occurring. the theory of the case with haley's team is that she is probably not going to end iowa but come in second, strong showing in new hampshire, then make it to her home state south carolina. somehow they all have this idea that you can pierce the inevitability of trump and once you do, the air will be out and they can really take them on. that is a great theory, but until it happens it hasn't happened. geoff: let's talk about president biden, specifically his handling of the israel-hamas war. he has had to navigate complex political realities, facing pressure from all sides, and it has resulted in headlines like this one. biden's resistance to cease-fire could alienate youth voters.

come to find out that president biden behind-the-scenes was helping to craft a temporary cease-fire. tamara: i think the challenge in talking about how young voters see what's happening in israel and gaza and how older voters see it is for many older voters, this is a geopolitical issue and for younger voters this is a human rights issue and long has been. and what we are hearing from pollsters, we have never seen such a generational gap on an issue that technically is foreign policy, or for sending more military aid to israel. among voters 60 and older it is 40 points higher than the 18 to 34 category. if you are a younger boater who sees the issue of israel and palestine through a lens that looks very different from their parents and grandparents, one in

which race and privilege and access is the main focus, versus one that is looking at this as, once the stability in the region? who is at fault? what does it mean for the rest of the world? that's where i think, even if he is able to have a cease-fire work for a certain amount of time, releasing hostages, those are all things he can get credit for but it is not changing the nature of the conversation about what it means to be a palestinian. geoff: how does the white house see it? separate from amy's point is the notion that president biden feels, i am told, that he doesn't always get credit for the work because he does not do it in a way that's properly politically theatrical. tamara: this is the story of joe biden as seen by the white house. he very much does not make a public show of things until

after it is done, then he tries to claim credit, like with all his economic compliments, and he can't get the credit, and that is the story of joe biden. with this case, people in the biden inner circle think it is a year out. these numbers are not good but it is a year out and a lot can change. this is unlikely to be the top headline and the top driving issue for voters a year from now. the reality is most voters don't make decisions based on foreign policy. they pick the candidate they like and political science has shown they melt their foreign-policy views to the candidate they have hooked themselves onto. the white house does realize they have a problem with young voters. it ties into what's happening with israel and gaza, but it goes well beyond that. they are working on it.

they readily acknowledged this is not going to be easy. running for reelection is hard, ask anyone else who has run for reelection. the active being president means you have committed policy that has turned off people who voted for you the first time. amy: it goes back to the generational issue because young voters' biggest concern about biden has long been his age and this is a representation of that. he is in the 65 plus category, not the younger category, so his worldview as well as his ability to connect with these voters is a big challenge because of that generational divide. geoff: next work. tamara: that's the one thing they can't change, the president's age. ♪ amna: since the 1940's,

unidentified flying objects, or ufos, have been a part of our nation to. for the u.s. government, they have been a mystery and something the u.s. government has been investigating for decades. i recently sat down with garrett graff to discuss his new book called "u.f.o.: the inside story of the us government's search for alien life here and out there." garrett graff, welcome back to the newshour. garrett: thanks so much for having me. amna: so you have written incredible, deeply researched and reported books on watergate, an oral history of 911. why ufo's? why did you turn your attention to this? garrett: so i came at this as a national security writer, as you know. and what changed for me, what got me interested in the subject was there was this sea change in recent years in washington around this topic, that you started to hear serious people talking seriously about this subject. and for me, there was this one very specific moment in december

2020 where john brennan, who was just wrapping up the better part of a decade as a former cia director, white house homeland security adviser in the obama years, said, basically, like, there's stuff out there. we don't know what it is. it puzzles me. and the phenomenon may end up constituting some new form of life. and it was a really startling comment to me, and so for him to be leaving office saying, i still don't know what this thing is, felt to me like a topic that would be fun to dig into. amna: tell me more about that sea change, though, because you do trace in the book the 75 year history of related military programs. and there was for years a real lack of transparency. i think it's fair to say. you cite specifically, of course, the 1947 crash outside of roswell, new mexico. but what has happened over the years that's moved this conversation from the fringe to the mainstream? garrett: yeah. so in the book, i try to trace two threads that historians and journalists normally treat differently.

there's the 75 year, 80 year history of the military's attempt to solve the mystery of ufo's here. and then there's the evolving science and astronomy of what's known as a search for extraterrestrial intelligence. seti, out there in the rest of the universe. and both sides of these conversations have really seen resolutions in the last decade, where there was some blockbuster reporting here by the new york times and politico in 2017 that outlined the pentagon's study of what the government now calls up -- now calls uap's, identified -- unidentified anomalous phenomenon. and then the other thing that's really changed in all of the science is our understanding of how big the universe actually is. and we now understand sort of just how many stars around the universe have planets and how many of those planets would be habitable by things that we recognize as life. and sort of as part of that,

we've seen the science really shift from the possibility that life exists to the probability that there's actually likely a lot of life and probably a lot of intelligent life out there across the universe. amna: you talked about this specifically. you said that the math is on the side of the aliens. what does that mean? garrett: so we now understand, and this is a huge sea change that as late as the 1990's, we didn't know that there was a single planet outside of our own solar system. we now believe that almost every star, effectively every star has planets. and that is we understand the scale and the scope and the breadth of the universe. what that translates to is once you adjust for what they call the goldilocks zone sort of planets, that would be at the sort of temperure and ability to hold water and atmospheres of oxygen that we would recognize. there are potentially a sextillion habitable planets across the universe.

so that's a billion trillion habitable planets across the universe. amna: all of this made me think about -- you probably know this very well -- the pale blue dot photo. it's taken by nasa's voyager one back in 1990. the small dot from a distance of some 4 billion miles from the sun. that dot is earth. it makes you remember that we are just so very small. but you you are a journalist. you deal with facts and you deal with evidence. so are you convinced we're not alone? garrett: so i think that the math, it really strongly suggests we are not alone. the flip side of that is the math also says that the life and intelligent life out there is probably too far away for us to ever know. and that part of what's fun about diving into the ufo history of this, the, you know, the pop culture, the science of these sightings is there's this wonderfully sort of human centric vision that aliens would

care about us. that, sort of, aliens would travel, you know, master interstellar intergalactic travel, come all the way here to make friends or in feed us or -- make friends or invade us or conquer us. whereas the statistically what's probably most likely is that there's intelligent life out there and it doesn't know about us. and even if it did, it wouldn't necessarily care at all. amna: i want to be as specific as we can about this, because you've studied this so in depth. when you say intelligent life out there, what does that mean to you? what does that even look like? garrett: i think we don't really know. and i think part of this journey and sort of coming to try to understand and write about the subject is you have to be really humble about what we know and what we don't know about just how weird the universe actually could be and just how new our knowledge and understanding of the universe probably actually is. amna: the book is "u.f.o.: the

inside story of the us government's search for alien life here and out there." the author is garrett graff. garrett, thanks for being here. garrett: my pleasure. thank you. geoff: and we will be back shortly to hear about the man who is believed to be the shortest u.s. marine ever. amna: but first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. it's a chance to offer your support, which helps keep programs like ours on the air. ♪ geoff: for those of you staying with us, a look at the intersection of arts and health. a music school known for training some of the world's most talented artists is bringing music into the lives of

people who have disabilities. earlier this year, jeffrey brown traveled to the berklee institute for accessible arts education. it's for our arts and culture series, canvas. ♪ jeffrey: 11-year-old ashton kiprotich on the cello and the ukulele. ashton, i saw you play the ukulele and the cello. which is your favorite? >> both of them. i would never say that i dislike them. jeffrey:3 24-year-old shania ward on the keytar, her mother donna gibbons-ward watching. every time i see you performing, you're smiling. you have a beautiful smile. why are you smiling so much? are you happy with the music? >> yes, i'm happy with the music. >> yes, music is her thing. she listens to it all the time. jeffrey why do you think music

: became her thing? >> i think it helped her to -- >> helped me to learn. jeffrey: music for learning, connecting, first-year joy. shania and ashton are students at the berklee institute for accessible arts education, part of the berklee college of music in boston. founded in 2007, it started small with a focus on autism, but has expanded to serve more than 300 people of all ages with disabilities of all kinds. >> every person can learn in the arts, can grow in the arts, can create, can in this case make music. so i think you have to start with that belief. geoff: rhoda bernard heads the institute, which she says is the only such program offered at a college or university. the goal -- to develop and share new ways to reach and teach this community, while expanding the field of arts education. >> to make it more accessible means providing more entry points, providing students with

more ways to engage with material and more ways to show what they know and are able to do than just the conventional. geoff: the institute holds a wide variety of classes every saturday, including many ways to play together -- rock band, chorus, an ipad ensemble, and more. >> ♪ feels like summer ♪ jeffrey: there's also a two week summer camp. echo we're creating a place where they're accepted for who they are, where they belong. a place of yes. these are folks who hear a lot of no. this is a place where it's 'yes, you can." >> ♪ hit me with your best shot ♪ jeffrey: ashton kiprotich, diagnosed with autism when he was nearly two years old, didn't speak until he was 7. he still has difficulty processing thoughts into speech. but here, his mother kelly phillips says, teachers like

miles wilcox really get it, offering love and patience, as well as training in how to hold a bow. and music somehow brings out something different in her son. >> he still, he struggles with processing, auditory processing disorder. and so it's really, there's a lot of delay in getting answers from him. so we still see that. with music, i don't see that happen at all. it's just there. he is very spontaneous. he plays in different keys. he'll sit down and play something he's heard that he's never seen the music for. jeffrey: ashton, does music, is music easy for you? easier than other things? norco -- >> yes. jeffrey: why do you think? why can you play music so well? >> because i can. >> ♪ purple rain, purple rain ♪ jeffrey: shania ward, diagnosed with mild intellectual delay,

also takes full advantage here, singing in the rock band, taking lessons with her teacher, nadia castagna morin. shania's mother, donna gibbons-ward, says the institute has given her daughter greater confidence and autonomy. >> i wanted her to be among her peers and for her to be free and for her to also gain -- you know, she loves music, so being here, you are free. jeffrey: you mean free in a way that she is not as free in the rest of the world? >> you know society always judges us and looks down on people and, you know, other kids point fingers and laugh at you when you're different. here, you can be free, that's what i mean by free. you can be yourself and, you know, just express yourself however you want. that makes her happy with the music, so she's happy. >> and here i definitely like to learn music.

i listen to my music teachers. jeffrey: in fact, shania, who's about to enter a specialized college program, wants to be a music teacher herself. why is that important for you? >> because i want to be a teacher to help younger kids and older kids learn how to be smart and be like me. jeffrey: a big part of the mission here, says rhoda bernard, is training a new generation of arts educators in accessibility practices. in addition to offering a masters program, she and her team run professional development training programs around the world. but it remains a work in progress. >> i think it's taken the education profession and particularly the arts education field a long time to understand the wide range of difference in how people learn, in what people bring into the classroom. and then because there are these established frameworks that don't allow for that, there's a struggle.

and we're in that struggle now. and it's, it's moving. even in the 20 years or so that i've been doing this work, i've seen a lot of movement. and i'm really excited for what the next generation is going to bring. jeffrey: for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown at the berklee institute for accessible arts education in boston. ♪ amna: and now, a profile of someone who didn't let height define him. at just over four and a half feet tall, nathan laprade is thought to be the shortest u.s. marine on record. and as pbs newshour digital producer casey kuhn reports, he entered boot camp with something to prove. nathaniel: if you have a weakness and you know it's your weakness, i can pretty much

promise you that by the end of the time in the military it will be one of your greatest strengths. casey: 19-year-old private first class nathaniel laprade just became a marine. and at four foot seven, he is believed to be the shortest person ever to serve in the armed forces. >> it kind of has affected me my whole life. i was always the shortest guy, whether that be on soccer team or wrestling team. back when i was in high school, it wasn't really eyes on me, it was just, he's the short kid. when i joined the marine corps, it was, oh he has something to prove. casey: to become a marine, laprade endured the grueling marine boot camp training regimen at parris island. >> [yelling] casey: he hiked for miles carrying a 40 pound ruck sack and overcame huge obstacles. nathaniel: there's a lot of weight in our hikes, and sometimes they're moving at a faster pace. i don't want to go back and say, oh, it's because i have little legs, but it is a tad harder to keep up. but you just keep your head up, keep your legs moving one foot

in front of the other. honestly, i always felt that i had to do better than everyone else. everywhere i went, it was, where's the short one? we'd be running obstacle courses or on the range it would be look at what the little one's doing. usually it was a good thing because i was really efficient with the obstacle course. casey: laprade credits his success at boot camp to guidance from his instructors. nathaniel: the instructors would tell me either it's all in my head or just push a little harder and dig a little deeper. and sure enough, i just do what the instructors tell me to do, and i got through it. what i'll do is i'll pick a role model from them and i'll say, i want to be like that guy. and so when he tells me to do something, it's straight on the spot. casey: his goal is to become a logistics specialist, which means he'd be part of the teams who manage and prepare equipment for deployment. but laprade has a longer-term plan. he wants to come back to parris island as a drill instructor to motivate other marines, following in the footsteps of the instructors who motivated

him. nathaniel: i have always liked teaching, i've always thought of myself good at teaching, because if i use what they've been using on us, i'll be able to become an even better teacher. casey: a teacher to inspire and command respect, just like the teachers he had. for the pbs newshour, i am casey kuhn. geoff: and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire newshour team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> architect. beekeeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor taylor's advice to help you live your life. life well planned. >> the kendeda fund, committed to advancing restorative justice

and meaningful work through investments in leaders and ideas. mourad kendeda fund.org. supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. more information at matt fallon.org. and with the ongoing -- more information at macfound.org. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. this program was made possible by contributions from viewers like you. thank you. >> this is pbs newshour west, from weta studios in washington and our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -today on "america's test kitchen," lan makes bridget grilled boneless beef short ribs