♪ >> good evening. >> tonight, the key takeaways from the debate. we delve into the issues and

fact-check a story repeated by the former president. >> more turmoil in the middle east. and it's really airstrikes it's a school in gaza while president biden speaks out about the death of an american activist in the west bank. >> judy woodruff explores the spading extremism and disinformation in a divided political landscape. >> we can wrongly conclude that everyone is extreme and everyone is out to get everyone else. ♪ >> major funding has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular, how may i help you? this is a pocket dial. i thought i would let you know that with consumer cellular, you get nationwide coverage with no contract.

that is kind of our thing. have a nice day. >> a successful business owner sells his company and restores his father's historic jazz club with his son. a raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your passions, and the weight you bring people together. >> the kettering foundation, working to advance inclusive democracies. ♪ >> the bloom-kovlar foundation. strengthening the biographies at home and abroad. the walton family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. supported by the macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. ♪

with the ongoing support of these institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your station from viewers like you. thank you. >> welcome. tens of millions of americans tuned in last night to the consequential presidential debate. >> the contentious debate may be the only face-off of the campaign season. vice president harris try to walk a fine line between being a change candidate while fending off attacks from trump. the former president was repeatedly fact checked for it are curious. -- inaccuracies. >> let's have a good debate. >> the night began cordially.

>> world leaders are laughing at donald trump. i have spoken to military leaders who say you are a disgrace. >> she got zero votes. when she ran, she was the first one to leave because she failed. >> they was their first face-to-face meeting. and their first head-to-head clash on the issues. >> i have a plan. $6,000 for young families for the first years of your child's life to help you in that most critical stage of development. i have a plan. >> she copied bidens plans. it is like four sentences. we will try to lower taxes. >> the former president try to link harris to biden. >> she is biting. she tries to get away from biden. >> clearly i am not joe biden.

and i'm certainly not donald trump. >> harris repeatedly baited trump. >> they are so clear. they can manipulate you with flattery and favors. >> highlighting his fondness for dictators to needling him about his crowd size at his rallies. >> i will invite you to attend one of his rallies. it is a really interesting thing to watch. you will see during the course of his rallies he talks about fictional characters like hannibal lector, windmills causing cancer, and what you will notice is people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom. >> people don't leave my rallies. we have the biggest, most incredible rallies in the history of all at the because people want to take their country back. >> for much of the night, trump was on defense, not answering if he would sign or veto a national abortion ban. >> your running mate said that you would veto it if it came to

your desk. >> i did not discuss it with him. we don't have to discuss it. >> he refused to say if defending ukraine was in america's national security interests. >> i want to ask you a very simple question. do you want ukraine to win the war? >> i want the war to stop. i want to save lives that are being uselessly, people being killed by the millions. >> just to clarify the question, do you believe it is in the best interest of the u.s. for ukraine to win the war? >> i think it is the best interest to get the war finished. get it done. >> he took no responsibility for his role in the january 6 attack on the capital. >> is there anything you regret about what you did that they? >> i had nothing to do with that. they asked me to make a speech. >> harris used that moment to appeal to undecided voters. >> it is time to turn the page. if that was a bridge too far for

you, there is a place in our campaign for you to stand for country, for our democracy, for rule of law. and to end the chaos. >> moments after the debate ended, harris picked up a superstar endorsement on the taylor swift. in a rare move for a presidential candidate, trump went to the spin room afterward. he questions whether he would do another debate and said abc should lose its license. >> it was a rigged to deal. as i assumed it would be. i think abc took a huge hit last night. they have to be licensed as a news organization. they out to take away the license. >> trump and the republicans were quick to attack moderators for fact checking him. >> for vice president to pick says that abortion in the ninth

month is absolutely fine. he absolutely says execution after birth. because the baby is born. >> there is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it is born. >> and debunked conspiracy theory about haitian immigrants eating pets. one that has been peddled by far right activists. she traveled with trump to the debate. >> in springfield, they are eating the dogs. they are eating the cats. they are eating the pets of the people who live there. >> he said there have been no credible support. >> i have seen people on television. >> she defended the moderators. >> that is kind of a softball.

>> she is not immune. trump required more immediate fact checking. he was repeating conspiracy theories to be false at this point. it is almost easier to call is out in real time. at ground zero today, disagreements were put aside. biden and harris stood just feet away from former president trump and running mate jd vance as the nation remembered the lives lost 23 years ago. they shook hands at the remembrance. tomorrow, the race is back on, with less than eight weeks to go before election day. >> thank you both for being

here. the harris campaign feels good about how last night went. both in terms of the performance and the degree to which donald trump lost his composure. how does that help them? >> they feel like it helps immensely. the momentum she has had, they feel like it will only be furthered. it is totally different than how they felt after the june debate. they pointed out directed feels that she was wise to make. specifically a feeling to women on abortion. a direct appeal to people in pennsylvania.

they said harris is making it hard for levelheaded republicans to vote for trump again and is giving them permission to vote for her. >> lindsey graham, one of his top allies, said it was a missed opportunity. how are other republicans talking about it? >> the former president said he won the debate. he said he would consider another debate. silence is the majority reaction. some are saying that this is a missed opportunity.

let's look at the polling that we have. it is split down the middle. the race for congress can still swing. this could affect who runs congress. >> what are you hearing from voters? >> we sat in on a couple of focus groups. one was swing state voters who backed trump in 2016 but then voted for biden in 2020. they praised how harris conducted herself. one georgia voter said the debate impacted his views on harris. >> i wanted some answers.

she did not seem like she was going to give them but she got there. she was very presidential. i feel like i got all the swers from her. trump just sat there taking the bait. and not answering questions. i felt like she was the clear winner. every time i watch trump on tv go nuts about a topic, it pushes me further and further toward the democratic party. i was born and raised a republican. >> in this group of swing voters, the rest of the election was held today, who they vote for. all nine of them said harris. but the election was not today so if you themselves that they wanted a bit more time to think about it. another group of people who voted for trump in 2020 were not as enthusiastic about either candidate. some expressed frustration with harris, saying they wanted more policy details. >> what have you picked up from voters? >> i spoke to a couple of

republicans who are undecided and now leaning more toward harris. >> the harris campaign spent the day in wilmington trying to figure out how best to strategize on this momentum. what were they telling you? >> most democrats say they don't want to make the mistakes of 2016 so they still think she needs to run like an underdog. she is trying to appeal to these centrists. a couple of lifelong republicans said today that the recent endorsement from dick cheney is pushing them toward harris. she will be hitting the ground in pennsylvania and north carolina. tim walz will be in michigan and wisconsin. so they are not taking any breaks right now. >> house republicans have a new problem. what is the latest? >> house speaker mike johnson pool the funding bill that republicans wanted to pass through the house.

he could not get enough republican votes to make it through. attached to that was an act that would require national id voter law. there were many different problems. we have seen this before. they just cannot get the votes even though they have a majority. >> we are in the consensusbuilding business here in congress. that is what you do. we need to make sure our elections are free and fair. >> consensusbuilding is not going so well right now. they only have a few days after this week to make the september 30 funding deadline. democrats expect to have another measure. but >> we will see. >>we have seen this movie before. thank you so much. >> as you just heard, donald

trump double down on unsupported claims that haitian immigrants are abducting and eating pets in springfield, ohio. we recently visited the area where we spoke to city officials and members of the haitian community there. as you have been reporting, there is no factual evidence for these claims. what is actually happening? >> three weeks ago, our wonderful producer and i were in springfield doing a story about what is going on there. springfield was like a lot of midwestern rust belt cities. at a declining population for a long time but in recent years they have had a influx of haitians moving to that community. it is part of a wave of people fleeing violence in haiti. as that country has fallen into chaos. about 15,000 of them have ended up in springfield, ohio.

they are here legally. but their arrival in this community has been rocky, to say the least. there was an accident that killed a young boy last year. if you grow a city's population by 20% in just a few years, that causes strains. we talked to the mayor about this and this is what he had to say. >> the infrastructure, our safety forces, our schools, springfield was a close community and has a big heart but at the same time we have had this influx that is taxed our services. >> we heard there had been facebook rumors of ducks and geese being taken at city parks. a county commissioner said there was no evidence of that. but then this pets rumor that was amplified last night really took off when the senator from ohio, jd vance, put out this tweet earlier this week. reports show that people have had pets abducted and eaten by

people who should not be in this country. we asked the city manager. he is like the ceo of the city. he reiterated that there is no credible report that emigrants had taken pets, abducted pets, or harmed that in any way. there is a question you have to ask, if you believe that your beloved pet had been stolen and killed and eaten by someone, who would you first contact, the police or your local senator. jd vance says he has received multiple calls about this. local officials say they have received none. even today after the debate they double down and set all of these things are rumors that have been spread by misinformation. 5 these very ugly rumors have some historical context. how have these counterclaims been used against other folks in the past? >> that is exactly right.

researchers who study this say rumors like this are often used to demonize people who are seen as different. whether they're from another country, speak another language, or simply look different. we spoke to a researcher at american university. here's what she had to say. >> there has always been this idea of a threat from the other, from immigrants, from people of color, to the nation, to white families, to civilization itself. this idea that there is some terrible threat coming that has to be defended against. as evidence of that, this idea that your pet is being stolen and eaten. that is patently false. there is no evidence that that is happening. that is the kind of thing that makes people scared of the other.

it demonizes them and dehumanizes them. >> even though there is no evidence that immigrant communities in america commit violence at greater rates than nativeborn americans, the former president his running mate keep leaning into this argument that we are being invaded by violent immigrant hordes. it is not true. >> rate reporting from you. thank you so much. >> you are welcome. ♪ >> extreme weather is affecting a couple of parts of the country tonight. hurricane francine is making landfall tonight in louisiana as a category two hurricane. meteorologists say it can lead to a deadly storm surge, fierce winds, and widespread flooding. out west, scores of large wildfires have prompted tens of thousands of evacuations.

we have the latest. >> in the los angeles area today, crews fought to contain massive blazes racing toward foothill communities. some longtime southern california residents told reporters they had never seen buyers like this before. >> this is the biggest one and the closest one so far. in 33 years. >> three large wildfires outside of los angeles are barely contained. the bridge fire to the north, the line fire to the east, and the airport fire to the south. the line fire location in the san bernardino mountains has complicated suppression efforts. >> it is very difficult area to reach. >> the airport fire was ignored by a spike -- spark from heavy machinery >>. it quickly exploded in size. we hardly >> >> had any time. some residents evacuated as the

fire reached homes. >> we have done this a couple of times in the past. we grabbed all the stuff we needed. >> to the north, the bridge fire tore through a popular ski area, destroying thousands of homes in the villages of mount baldy and wrightwood. no state is battling more large wildfires than oregon, with 24 blazes right now. idaho is dealing with 22. the southeast, particularly louisiana, is bracing or an onslaught of water from hurricane francine. >> we have been prepping for the storm. we have extra deputies out on patrol until this is concluded. >> now they are hunkering down for a storm forecast to say could bring up to 12 inches of rain and a storm surge as high

as 10 feet. >> the u.s. is sending 700 million dollars in new humanitarian aid to ukraine to help the country's battered energy grid. this came as antony blinken and the new british foreign secretary traveled together to ukraine. the u.k. is also providing hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance. volodymyr zelenskyy has been asking for permission to use western supplied weapons to strike deep inside russia. the u.s. has so far denied this. secretary blinken said he would take the issue of missiles back to washington to brief the president. >> we have adjusted and adapted as needs have changed and the battlefield has changed. we will continue to do that as this evolves. >> the question of whether ukraine can fire deeper into russia is also due to, when the british prime minister visits washington later this week. he is due to meet with president

biden at the white house on friday. a group of state and local election officials from across america is morning that problems with the u.s. postal service could disrupt voting in the upcoming election. they cited widespread delays receiving mail-in ballots. they insisted they are ready to handle the flood of election malcolm november. inflation reached a three year last month. that is a far cry from the 9.1% inflation we saw back in 2022.

the dow jones shook off early losses to end more than 100 points higher. the s&p gained ground for a third state session. a passing of note, frankie beverly, has died. in the 1970's, he brought the soulful sounds of his hometown of philadelphia to the music scene of the bay area. the group climbed the r&b charts and were dubbed black america's favorite band. ♪ anthems played at countless summer cookouts and family reunions over the years.

beyonce covered a song of his in 2019 and many hemp out -- hip-hop artists have sampled him. he was 77 years old. commemorations have been held across the country to mark 23 years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which killed nearly 3000 people. the day started in new york where flowers were laid and tributes played for the lives lost when planes hit the twin towers that morning. around midday, biden and harris visited the site in pennsylvania where another plane went down. ♪ this afternoon at the pentagon, they joined the defense secretary to pay the respects to the 184 people killed there. still to come, a look at how donald trump's proposal to

increase tariffs on china would affect u.s. consumers. president biden response to israel's claims that the killing of an american in the west bank was unintentional. how social media has fundamentally changed the way americans engage in politics. >> this is the news hour from our studios in washington and ir cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. >> tariffs are a hallmark of trump's economic agenda. the potential impact was debated on stage last night. >> other countries are finally

going to pay us back for all that we have done for the world. >> president trump began by defending his aggressive tariff policies. he said there would be an increase in tariffs on all foreign goods. it was the first policy spat in the debate. >> i call it the sales tax. >> those are goods that you rely on. the tariff will be substantial in some cases. it was so much money. >> almost anybody would dispute that a donation.

>> we are fighting for middle-class families. you will hear more about this. what is so striking is that the protective tariffs were once a partisan point of stark contrast. but now both candidates are in favor of them. the best selling chinese electric vehicle goes for $60,000 or less in china. they are not yet sold here. but they would still be a bargain.

manufacturing activity across all sectors remains strong. resulting in a glut of chinese goods. i bought this for $25. this one from china was a lot less. there was plenty of support for protective tariffs. >> short-term discomfort for long-term relief. >> i think it is a good thing. it is something that will be very effective at bringing jobs back. >> there were skeptics as well.

>> i might not benefit from it. >> are trading partners may retaliate wit tariffs of their own. >> when the trump administration slapped tariffs on imports from multiple countries, that spurred some domestic production. >> when you take a hard look at the data, that raises concerns. >> that is not going to kill me.

that is all there is to it. if it is enough to bring jobs back here. >> some things take time. i am all for it. >> he says that money will really hurt low income households. >> what is really driving this fact is people are going to the door and spending money. consumers take the hit. but imagine you're going to buy something like a bottle of wine. the french wine and the spanish one more expensive. that gives the california winegrowers the opportunity to raise their prices as well. >> harris argued last night that

the impact of the trump tariffs could be even larger. as much as $4000 per household per year. are we to do nothing about the tsunami of cheap chinese imports? trump academic -- effectively advisor has said we have to take action. broad tariffs may be the only way to start this. >> i think you can see this as unfair. i don't think there is any argument. >> that is what the democrats are proposing. >> i don't think that means you want to completely disagree to never have a tariff. as our trading partners in

europe realize, it is important to have tools at your disposal. all tariffs.a basic problem wit- most people never think about it. >> it increases the value of the dollar. that makes it harder to export. >> why does the value of the dollar go up if you impose tariffs? >> we have less demand for foreign currency now. >> stick with us. that is because we have to buy foreign currency in order to buy foreign goods. we buy that currency with dollars. >> we are not buying foreign currency. >> as an inevitable result, dollar priced american goods become more expensive.

>> the retaliation and the shocks were higher than the job gains. >> these are tough arguments. as is the argument for free trade in general. in the short run, workers feel threatened by local comp -- international competition. >> i want to have a job. that is what president trump is going for. >> i am not saying that. we are helping american workers.

♪ >> it was a violent day across gaza and the west bank. dozens were killed. the wind said six staff died in the attack. we look at the ongoing violence. >> at this school turned the shelter, the aftermath was too much to bear. a bomb gutted a bedroom. and a classroom.

there was a crater left. three of them, at least 40 feet, suggest that israel dropped large farms. they left behind artifacts. >> there was like any other night here. we heard rockets coming down next to us. i was underground with dirt above me. i was not expecting to be saved. i didn't think i would be saved. >> people were digging and searching in the sand.

they were gone. >> he works for the international humanitarian organization. before the war, he was a dentist. since october 7, he has been displaced four times. >> the fact that we left gaza city seeking safety, gaza is not safe anymore. so we went to the yellow area. no one is safe in this area. >> israel says that the targets were three senior hamas commanders. anchor: israel is trying its hardest, more than any other nation on earth, to get civilians out of harm's way.

to go for terrorist targets. even though they embedded themselves in civilian areas. >> it is the death of an american civilian in the occupied west bank that has tension rising between the u.s. and israel. he was born in turkey and traveled to the west bank to protest israeli settlements. the bullet was a ricochet, israel claims. they have expressed their deepest regret. president biden endorsed this yesterday. >> it was an accident. it ricocheted off the ground. >> president biden said the shooting was unacceptable. vice president harris said she

was peacefully protesting in the west bank. when her young life was senselessly cut short. the family said statements are not enough. i am joined by her friends. thank you so much for joining me. >> she was such a breath of fresh air and a light in any room she walked into. i knew i would be friends with her when i was introduced to her. i know after a few conversations we really hit it off and became super close wrens. >> i met her at the university

of washington. we both graduated this past june. she was a campus organizer. it is a profound loss we are feeling in our community here in seattle. also a profound loss for the american public in general to lose a staunch human rights activists. >> why had she traveled to the occupied west bank? >> she was a staunch activists. she was advocating for the liberation of the palestinian people. she knew it would be good for

self-conscious. being part of that community. >> you were talking to her until he isn't. what do you understand today about what happened? >> i spoke with her on monday before she arrived in the west bank. i know she was so honored to be in the west bank in a land where she understood the complex conditions that they face. at the hands of the israeli military. she was so honored to be able to experience and then come back and share the stories. >> as you know, the israeli military says it is not defending the settlements. and is in fact trying to crack down on what they call illegal outposts. the israeli military has said that she was not the target of

this bullet. the instigator of the riot was the actual target. and it was a ricochet. what is your response to that? >> what is important here today is that anyone should have the right to peacefully protest and peacefully observe a demonstration from an illegal settlement. i did not think there was any right to have any live ammunition at that type of place. they were peacefully having their friday prayers and peacefully protesting. now they are saying it was an accident. that is completely deplorable for my best friend. >> what is your message and what is the message from the family to the biden administration today? >> i thank the biden administration's statement today was incredibly shameful to release.

to support the evidence that the israeli military gave without conducting an independent -- investigation. i do not accept that. i don't accept the israeli military's evidence or proof. what we want to see is an independent u.s. investigation. she was an american citizen. she was an incredible person. she deserves justice. her family deserves justice. they will not get that without an investigation. >> thank you very much to you both. ♪ >> half of all american adults say they sometime get their news

from social media. two thirds say they view social media as a bad thing for democracy. what responsibility do social media companies bear for this? we explore. >> social media was my sad little life. i was a far right radical. my personality was not pleasant. >> less than a decade ago, she was a prominent figure in the online world of far-right extremism. she was a writer and editor at the deeply conservative publication. she was especially known for vitriolic tweets. >> whatever i was saying, the really racist things that went viral, you would find people on twitter. if you follow each other, you

boost each other and the network expands. you say outlandish things to push the conversation that way. so you have the real-time interaction. >> she has since rejected the far-right. today she worries about her address being revealed. which is why we agreed to interview her in this hotel room. some of her viral tweets are so well-known. you said funny how europeans assimilated, unlike third world people demanding welfare while raping and killing americans. >> that is what we believed. they are taking our money and our taxes. >> you wrote that it is important to keep families together. we must support anchor babies. >> the dehumanizing language i was using, they are alien and dangerous and there and existential threat. that is what you believe on the

right. that is what i believed at the time, strongly. >> and then the day came where you tweeted this. there would be no deadly terror attacks in the day if muslims did not live there. >> yes. that is the tweet that got me fired and that it's one of the best things that ever happened to me. >> most of the things we try to do to discourage this group of people who ruin the internet have a very limited impact. >> he is the founder of a polarization lab. he has researched how social media can be a driver of an eight solution to political divisions. >> when we look at people, we find that about 75% of the content is generated by about 6% of people. they are there very liberal or

very conservative. when you wander onto social media, we can wrongly assume that everyone is extreme and everyone is out to get everyone else. >> contrary to popular belief, he says the problem is not echo chambers or online bubbles where people have >> their views reinforced. a large group of democrats and republicans use twitter. if we can show them some messages from the other side, surely they would come to realize that there are two sides to every story. unfortunately, what we found was exposing people to the other side made them more arise, not less. >> that is fascinating. >> think about the last time you saw a message from people you do not agree with. that did not produce a rational deliberation. it made you mad. >> he says the incentive

structure on social media platforms rises more extreme content. >> we have made it all but impossible for people to gain status for sharing and voicing the moderate views that people need right now. >> i have seen one too many post talking negatively about black women. this is where we turn this off. >> she is a mental health counselor in raleigh, north carolina, with expertise in serving people of color and the lgbtq community. she struggles with what she sees online. >> there are a lot of negative comments being made about black women. it is one of those things where i am disconnecting. so i will not constantly be fed with that.

>> she says social media has also helped her connect with her community. >> anything having to do with black and indigenous people of color, different things happening within the lgbtq community, is where my focus comes from. >> i remain optimistic. that the developments we see will make our lives better. >> he is now the director of the university of north carolina's center on technology policy. it receives funding from meta, among others. >> i was never in a meeting where somebody said this is something we can do good for the world. people said this just to the money approach. >> is there an inherent conflict here? these are for-profit companies

that want to grow their product. >> i agree. that is a good rationale. >> i asked him about the decision to reinstate donald trump after he had been banned for praising people involved in the january is sick -- six attack on the u.s. capitol. >> it is not clear to me that censorship leads to better outcomes. >> there is the truth. . and then there is your opinion

>> she chairs a chapter of a conservative advocacy group. she says she has gotten hateful messages online. >> there is a difference between not liking a statement i made and making someone angry. >> you said they should do a better job of policing themselves and monitoring themselves. >> i think it is really slippery when some programmer tries to determine without true thought what is offensive in what is not. >> at the end of the day, these

are businesses, corporations. even though many of us don't like that, that is exactly what has happened. >> they believe this could reduce conflict. >> they came to us and they said we have a lot of toxic stuff going on. how can we identify solutions that are good for society and profitable? >> they wanted to have less divisive language. >> this resulted in a decrease in the use of toxic language. i think this could be implemented with minimal costs. >> you said this is what could

raise revenue. >> i do think they care about revenue. many people might not like that. but that is the reality. >> they are dis-incentivize from cutting down on right-wing rhetoric because it is a money lakers -- moneymaker. raisman -- racism is very comfortable. >> she reached out to counselors who helped individuals leave hate groups and move beyond extremism. >> i was very lucky and blessed to have people who could help me extricate myself. i described it as pulling shrapnel out of my brain. that diffuses so much of the

hatred. >> there are a lot of angry people in our country. i worry that if we put all the blame on social media and don't do a little bit of introspection, we will be unhappy with the revolt -- result. >> that is it for tonight. >> on behalf of the entire team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding has been provided by == >> on an american cruise line journey, travelers retraced the route forged by lewis and clark. they travel through american landscapes.

proud sponsor of the news hour. >> the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and these friends -- the ford foundation, working on the frontlines of social change worldwide. funding was provided by -- and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪

this program was made possible for the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] ♪ >>

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. xfinity internet. made for streaming. hello, everyone. welcome to "amanpour & co." here is what's coming up. israel strikes a safe zone in gaza killing dozens. the idf says they were targeting hamas. we bring you thees