amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the “news hour” tonight, a hurricane turned tropical depression lashes the gulf coast, leaving flooded neighborhoods and hundreds of

thousands of people without power. amna: as kamala harris and donald trump return to the campaign trail post-debate, election officials warn that problems with the u.s. postal service could disenfranchise voters. geoff: and on a trip to kyiv, the chief prosecutor of the international criminal court discusses what's being done to hold russian forces responsible for atrocities committed against ukraine. >> the suffering is horrendous. the heartbreak is very real. and we see so many examples of objects that are civilian, not military, being destroyed and civilians being killed. ♪ >> major funding for the "pbs news hour" has been provided by. >> a law partner rediscovers her grandmother's artistry and creates a trust to keep the craft alive.

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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 “news hour.” the major storm francine dumped heavy rain along the southeast today, after flooding new orleans and coastal communities throughout louisiana. amna: francine peaked as a category two hurricane and knocked out power for hundreds of thousands of people. it weakened into what's known as a post-tropical cyclone today. and there have been no reports of deaths or injuries. but there were dozens of rescues. stephanie sy has our report.

stephanie: hurricane francine crashed into land last night, drenching louisiana and sending trees down to earth. from the streets of baton rouge, to a family home in denham springs. the category two storm blew winds up to 100 miles per hour. >> lot of wind, lot of water, lot of loss of power. stephanie: senator john kennedy appeared alongside louisiana governor jeff landry as he briefed reporters this afternoon. >> as we begin this recovery, let us care for those family members and our neighbors. check on them. make sure that they are secure, because that is who we are here in louisiana. stephanie: closer to the gulf in houma, louisiana, flooding blurred the lines between land and sea. in new orleans, authorities said 52 flood gates were closed to protect against a storm surge. the federal emergency management agency's leader deanne criswell

was on the ground to inspect the damage. she said the state's flood protection infrastructure paid off. >> the amount of money invested in resilience has really made a difference, from the power outages to the number of homes saved. stephanie: in morgan city, francine ripped roots from the ground. governor landry said at the storm's peak, 450,000 people were without power. >> at first it wasn't bad at all. but once the winds picked up and the rain started to lift, it got a little rough, especially with two little kids inside. they went to crying, they went to screaming. and i was like, oh, man. stephanie: today, residents surveyed the damage and started cleaning up the mess. >> i'm a ride around, see who needs help. that's what you kind of do in things like this. help the elder, help the young folks. help anybody out. stephanie: francine weakened into a tropical depression as it moved through mississippi today. it will continue to lose steam as it approaches arkansas, missouri, and tennessee. for the “pbs news hour,” i'm stephanie sy.

♪ geoff: with just over seven weeks until election day, both candidates fought for votes in battleground states. vice president kamala harris's campaign said today it raised $47 million in the 24 hours following tuesday night's debate. at a rally in charlotte, north carolina, harris used former president donald trump's debate performance to compare their visions for the country. >> on tuesday night, i talked about issues that i no matter -- that i know matter to families across america. but that's not what we heard from donald trump. instead, it was the same old show, that same tired playbook that we've heard for years. geoff: mr. trump said today that tuesday's match-up would be

their last, writing on truth social that there will be no third debate. he later held a rally in tucson, arizona. >> as everyone saw two nights ago, we had a monumental victory over comrade kamala harris. meanwhile, kamala harris showed up spewing empty rhetoric, the same old lies, meaningless platitudes. offering no plans, no policies, and no details whatsoever. nothing. geoff: meantime, today, the georgia judge handling donald trump's election interference case dismissed two counts brought against the former president. judge scott mcafee ruled that state prosecutors lacked the authority to pursue the charges in federal court. but he declined an effort to dismiss the entire indictment. the day's other headlines begin in ukraine, where russian strikes killed three members of the red cross. ukrainian officials say the workers were hit while unloading an aid truck. in the northern part of the country, police surveyed the

damage by russian drone strikes on an apartment building. authorities say 14 people were injured. secretary of state antony blinken in poland today addressed the growing calls to allow ukraine to use western weapons for deeper strikes inside russia. he left open that possibility. >> as we go forward, we will do exactly what we have already done, which is we will adjust, we will adapt as necessary, including with regard to the means that are at ukraine's disposal, to effectively defend against the russian aggression. geoff: it all comes as ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy says russia has started a counter-offensive in its kursk border region, pushing back after ukraine carried out a surprise incursion last month. russia said it recaptured 10 settlements today. in north dakota, a judge has struck down the state's ban on abortion, saying the law was too vague, and the state's constitution enshrines the right to access an abortion before a fetus is viable.

although today's ruling makes abortion legal in the state, north dakota currently has no clinics performing them. the ruling is expected to be appealed. the biden administration slapped sanctions on 16 allies of venezuelan president nicolas maduro today. they include the head of the country's high court, who reaffirmed maduro's illegitimate claim of victory in that country's disputed july election. and military leaders, intelligence officials, and government officers who the u.s. says are responsible for intensifying repression through intimidation, indiscriminate detentions, and censorship. edmundo gonzalez, who the u.s. says won the election, this week fled into exile after being granted asylum in spain. in a rare move today, u.s. attorney general merrick garland denounced efforts to politicize the justice department, with the election less than two months away. his remarks before doj employees didn't mention any specific cases or names. but they come amid claims from donald trump and his allies that

the doj has been weaponized to keep the former president from being re-elected. >> the work you do every day makes a difference, and the way you do that work makes clear that the public servants of the department of justice do not bend to politics. and that they will not break under pressure. geoff: garland went on to say that the norms protecting the department from political interference matter now more than ever. and to economic news, there's new labor department data showing the job market, and inflation, are steadily slowing. jobless claims were up by 2000 last week to a total of 230,000. that's up from earlier this year, but layoffs remain historically low. separate numbers indicate that wholesale prices only rose by a fraction of a percent last month. and in what could be a precursor to the federal reserve cutting interest rates, the european central bank today made its own

rate cut of a quarter-point, its second cut of the year. that news helped stocks rise across the board today. the dow jones industrial average gained over 235 points, inching back closer to its all-time high. the nasdaq jumped by an entire percentage point. and the s&p finished higher for its fourth straight day. and hundreds of miles above earth today, one giant leap for commercial space travel. a tech billionaire who chartered his own spacex flight became the first-ever private citizen to perform a spacewalk. >> i have a feeling the crowd is about to go wild. geoff: the company livestreamed the moment jared isaacman hoisted himself out of the capsule, spending around 10 minutes in the vacuum of space, connected by a tether. the spacewalk was just one small step toward possibly settling on mars, and other planets. still to come on the “news

hour,” we lay out the presidential candidates' divergent positions on immigration. the bankruptcy of a large health system gets political. and a group of urban explorers in gary, indiana find beauty in the decay of abandoned buildings. >> this is the "pbs news hour" from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: in a new letter, election officials from across the country say the u.s. postmaster general has not addressed persistent mail delivery delays and has not adequately prepared for the general election. and that, they say, could cause ballots to miss election deadlines, lead to fewer people voting, and undermine trust in the voting process. mail-in voting has already started in alabama, and at least 36 states allow all of their residents to vote by mail. i spoke earlier today with mandy

vigil. she is elections director of the state of new mexico, and president of the national association of state election directors, one of the groups that issued the letter. and i asked about what election officials see as the lack of understanding and enforcement of postal service policies for handling election mail. mandy: the usps has a lot of different election mail policies in place for a reason. the unfortunate reality is that we are seeing an empty -- seeing an inconsistent application of those policies, which could make a difference in counting a ballot or not. there is a requirement to postmark ballots. we are hearing of instances across states where that is not occurring. and depending on state law, that may prohibit ineligible ballot or otherwise being counted. geoff: we know the critical battleground states all accept m ail-in ballots.

all of these states will likely be decided by extremely thin margins. do you think these delivery delays could swing the outcome of the election in any one of these states? mandy: i think that is something that we are concerned about. to your point, this is an incredibly historic election. voters do have many ways in which they can participate and that might vary depending on what state they are in. but many states, including like new mexico, offer an opportunity for voters to participate by mail. and so voters should have that opportunity without concern that something is not going to get there in time to get counted. so we do see contests that when we are looking at a local level could be determined by small margins. we see changes when it is 100 to 200 ballots. i've even seen ballots where there is a tie at the local level. so every ballot is something that we want to feel confident

in being able to account for and count appropriately. geoff: i reached out to the u.s. postal service yesterday to see how they responded to the level -- this letter. they say that mail is typically delivered in less than three days across the country. they say they don't believe there would be any critical election issues resulting from their handling of ballot mail. and the director of mail issued a statement saying, we are ready to deliver. we were successful in 2020 delivering a historic volume of mail in ballots, also in 2022 and will do so again in november 2024. have they done enough to assuage your concerns? mandy: no. that is the reason we felt it was critical to come together as a election community. this is coming from state down to local election administrators. we see these issues across states, across government levels. and we don't see the change that makes us feel confident in their ability to address what is

necessary for election mail. it is not about volume. it is about reliability and accuracy. if we look at their busiest time of year where they are able to handle holiday and dismiss mail, if a christmas card gets to your friend and family beyond the deadline, though it might be a little embarrassing, the community is worried about it in the same way when we apply that to a ballot. so if we are following their standards and expectations of when a voter should receive and the timeline in which they should return a ballot, but that is not accurate. we are hearing about alex coming in, weeks, days. that is critical to being able to count them. in many states it has to either arrive election night like ours here in new mexico, or they may have a postmark requirement. so either way the post office is a critical partner in making sure that all of those items are

aligned and that the voters can trust it is going to get to us timely. if it does not, that is where election officials and voters are the ones who have to pay the price. geoff: the postmaster general louis dejoy, his history as a trump supporter, a trump mega donor, that has raised questions about his motives as the postal service sees these delivery delays. is there any reason to think that these slowdowns are intentional, as some trump critics have suggested? mandy: i don't think that election administrators as a whole see things in a partisan way. we are not elected officials, we are administrators. we have seen issues with the post office in the past. what we can speak to is the fact is that it is certainly something that has increased over the past 12 months and we do not feel we are seeing any effort to really make a difference on the pattern across

the post office as a whole. many states may have positive relationships with state or local or regional support of the post office, but that is not enough to be able to see the industry adjustments necessary to change this pattern. geoff: mandy vigil, president of the national association of -- thank you for your time. mandy: thank you. ♪ amna: one of the most divisive issues in this year's presidential race is immigration. on the campaign trail, vice president kamala harris and former president donald trump have clashed over how to handle immigration policy. while federal agents reported nearly 2.5 million migrant encounters at the southern border last year, in the last five months crossings have plunged. our lisa desjardins has been covering both candidates' plans, and she joins us now. good to see you. let's start with the border and

border security specifically. what did we hear from each campaign in terms of how they would handle this issue? lisa: both trump and harris have talked about border security, and an office both of them have actually increased border security. but that is where things diverge. let's look at vice president kamala harris and what she wants to do. she has pointed to a particular senate bill proposal for what she thinks needs to happen on the border. here's what she said in the debate. >> the united states congress, including some of the most conservative members of the united states senate, came up with a border security bill which i supported. and that bill would have put 1500 more border agents on the border to help those folks who are working there right now overtime trying to do their job. lisa: that also means hundreds of asylum and other new officers. she would also like to invest in more detection technology to cut fentanyl smuggled in.

now, that bill of course is the one that former president trump personally killed, even though it was getting bipartisan support. so what would he do as far as border security is concerned? he is not proposing to increase the number of border agents asylum officers or other personnel. instead he is stressing that he wants to finish his border wall. trump's approach to border security is much more about deportation and deterrence than about the physical barriers at the border. amna: what are we hearing from the candidates in terms of how they want to handle both migrants who are now attempting to cross the border and the millions who are already here as undocumented immigrants? lisa: let's start with former president trump, because this is a central part of what he is saying and the debate. former president trump is centered around the idea of having mass deportations, the largest in history, of millions of undocumented immigrants.

he says this would be done by local police, the national guard, and possibly by active-duty military with the possibility of increasing detention centers to hold these individuals. at the debate mr. trump gave his rationale and raised the fake idea that democrats have caused a border crisis to get votes. >> this will be one of the greatest mistakes in history for them to allow -- and i think they probably did it because they think they're going to get votes. but it's not worth it. because they're destroying the fabric of our country by what they've done. there's never been anything done like this at all. they've destroyed the fabric of our country. lisa: it is not legal of course for noncitizens to vote in this country and there is no evidence of that happening. republicans say it is not tracked, but there is no evidence. as for mass deportations, it is not clear how. that would work. trump has indicated

he would have a national -- i spoke with someone about concerns. >> it's extremely problematic and it's problematic to all folks across the country. what we're finding is, you know, over 75% of americans do not support that type of an approach. whether you are conservative or progressive, you'll likely work alongside someone who might be removed. lisa: trump wants to scale back asylum in this country to the degree where it might essentially be closed to most people. he would also end refugees and

daca. that's the program for those who were brought here as children. trump wants to end it. amna: those of the proposals. what about vice president harris? lisa: she has not issued a comprehensive immigration plan but she has said a lot about what she wants to do. she opposed mass deportations, but otherwise she has moved to the right on this issue. in 2019, she said, she thought it should be decriminalized. people should not crossing -- in the debate this week, she said it should be in enforced part of law. let's look at what she said she would do. she says the border needs to be

enforced. that she would make asylum harder but not as difficult as former president trump good she supports refugee resettlement and would support a path to citizenship for daca. those on the right say her ideas fall short of solving the problem. >> the senate bill shows that it does not accomplish really anything in terms of border security or immigration reform. but as i said, politically, it's a pretty handy cudgel. it actually makes the situation worse. it would lock in about two million illegal crossers a year who would be added to the pile in this sort of limbo that is our immigration asylum processing system. lisa: the numbers he mentions assumes this unprecedented level we have now is limited to america. what there is a global migration surge right now. amna: you have also been digging into what they have actually done. what does that show? lisa: as president, donald trump oversaw 52 miles of border

fencing. he also pushed for a ban on muslims entering the country. that was rejected by the courts, but he still wants to ban muslims. the words from the trump and vance campaign dehumanize immigrants. harris was appointed to oversee root causes of migration. republicans say she was in charge of the border. that is not true. she secured $9 billion in aid to help address root causes of migration. she has not been to the border since 2021. her campaign says she is about substance, not show. regardless, they will both have to talk more about this issue. amna: thank you so much. ♪

geoff: the international criminal court in the hague investigates, and as warranted, tries people charged with the gravest of crimes. these days its prosecutor is busy, focusing on the war in ukraine, and the war between israel and hamas. earlier today, nick schifrin spoke with the court's lead prosecutor. nick: karim khan is on a trip to ukraine visiting a children's hospital destroyed by a missile strike. speaking to victims of alleged crimes committed in detention facilities and held an event with ukraine's first lady decrying russian war crimes against ukrainian children. icc prosecutor karim khan now joins us from kyiv. welcome back to the “news hour”" i just listed what you've been doing in ukraine. are you seeing ongoing war crimes committed by the russian federation? karim: we think so. clearly a lot to investigate. you mentioned in the

introduction the visit to the children's hospital. and a cruise missile hit it. the suffering is horrendous. the heartbreak is very real. we see so many examples of objects that are civilian, not military, being destroyed in civilians being killed. these are why we are here. nick: that attack is just one of money -- one of many. are you planning to amend your indictment to incorporate what appears to be a vast number of ongoing additional work crimes perpetrated in ukraine presumably with the authorization of mr. putin? karim: investigations are organic. to investigate the various crimes that seem to have been committed in an ongoing campaign. not only the ukrainian military,

but causing so much loss to innocent civilian life. whatever it is in the world there is more space for up unity and all the levers of justice must be used. nick: vladimir putin recently visited mongolia and they ignored the arrest warrant. do you believe they obstructed justice? karim: the judges are looking into this. the judges have a process to inquire and if necessary report any state party for noncooperation. it is very unfortunate. but this is the first time since warrants were issued that president putin has put his feet on the territory of a state party. i hope it is the exception and not the norm. nick: experts i spoke to said it was almost inevitable putin

would visit a state party to the icc. does mongolia's decision erode the court's effectiveness? does it give you pause you made the investigation -- indictment public? karim: it does not give me pause at all. there is vanishing space for individuals who feel their power give them immunity. nick: you do not have restriction over the crime -- ukraine is becoming a state party to the icc. once they are a member, they are prohibited from committing aggression. do you believe that could trigger a problem, given ukraine's incursion into russia in the kursk province, or do you believe that is an act of self-defense? karim: i am not going to speak in abstract. every state that is attacked has an international right to defend itself. countries are not expected to lie down and be assaulted. not only the right, often there is a responsibility to defend

statehood. nick: i want to switch to israel and gaza. in may you requested warrants for three -- this week you called on the icc's judges to issue those arrest warrants with utmost urgency. why? karim: look, nick, this morning i woke up and gaza, there was a school being used to house 15,000 people taking shelter. civilians. it is a designated location. more than 30 civilians have been killed. six u.n. staff have been killed. we are seeing baby after baby destroyed. pregnant women giving stillbirth to children. of course we see israelis that are still hostages.

one was only 10 months old. those families waiting for loved ones in israel have a right to justice. sinwar is subject to our application and the people in palestine and gaza who want to have food and water and want to stop waking up in terror and no place is safe it seems including schools. if we don't start supporting the architecture built in the aftermath of the horrors of the second world war, we are going to get the wild west in which no political decisions will help and people will be emboldened to just do what they want and not care for our children. nick: this week benjamin netanyahu released this statement. quote, the comparison made by the prosecutor in the hague between the prime minister and defense minister of israel which is fighting numerous hamas terrorism in accordance with the laws of war and the work criminal yahya sinwar who executed hostages in pureblood

is pure anti-semitism. what is your response to that? karim: look, this is a trope that is bandied around with abandon even when it is not only republican -- repugnant and completely false. the record shows who i am i was very honored last year to be invited to give the second memorial lecture pick if they wanted to invite an anti-semite to give such a message. nobody is above or beneath the law. the best of judaism and israel complies with the law. instead of polemics and trying to discredit individuals people should submit to them or make their case if it is frivolous and a tissue of lies. judges have shown repeatedly they will throw cases out. nick: two of the hamas officials you have indicted have both been killed.

do you consider that justice? karim: hamas of course is a terrorist organization. i don't shed a tear for individuals. what i do say is there is a utility to the application of the law. of course the operation is in a space where there are military operations underway. i will not speak beyond that because there is a conflict. but the law has utility and i am very much in favor of the eagle application of the law. -- equal application of the law. nick: hamas continues to use rockets to fire against civilian targets in israel. are you continuing to investigate hamas actions and do you believe those actions are war crimes? karim: absolutely. every individual must comply with the law. we have jurisdiction over

palestine. it is abhorrent. we will try to make sure the ark bends towards legality. nobody should feel they can do whatever they want. nick: icc prosecutor karim khan, thank you very much. ♪ geoff: the ceo of the nation's largest, private, for-profit hospital chain is under fire for ignoring a subpoena to testify before the senate today. that hearing examined the financial collapse of steward health care, a hospital group created by a private equity firm, generated huge fortunes for investors and its ceo, but left patients in dangerous, sometimes deadly conditions. william brangham has the story. william: geoff, steward health care's ceo, dr. ralph de la torres, skipped today's hearing

where he would've been questioned about his role in the bankruptcy of this nationwide hospital chain. according to an investigation by the boston globe, steward health's 30-plus hospitals were some of the worst in the nation. six of its remaining hospitals in massachusetts are for sale and two others have closed. several witnesses who worked for steward provided damning testimony today about the role that corporate profits played in steward's downfall. that included a nurse who described one example of how the chain's habit of not paying vendors created horrible circumstances for grieving parents. >> sadly enough, sometimes babies die. newborn babies die. and the practice is to place the babies's remains in a bereavement box and take it to the morgue.

stuart didn't pay the vendor and they weren't any bereavement boxes and nurses were forced to put baby's remains in cardboard shipping boxes. william: for more on the downfall of this hospital chain, i'm joined by mark arsenal. he's part of the boston globe's spotlight investigative team that did this series. mark, thank you so much. just a tremendous investigation that you have done here. before we get into the details of how patient care suffered at these hospitals, can you sort of explain the sort of basic architecture of stuart healthcare, how it was started, what is it? mark: yeah, stewart healthcare was founded in boston in 2010 when a private equity firm, known as cerberus capital management bought six struggling community hospitals from the boston catholic archdiocese. stewart then went on a quite a buying spree with a real goal to

try to get bigger, and ended up with more than 40 properties at its peak. it did a, what we're calling a chain-defining deal in 2016 with a real estate investment trust from alabama whereby stewards sold a lot of the property, sort of the land in the buildings under its own hospitals and then leased them back, which generated a bunch of money for a steward, more than $1 billion most of which went to dividends, not into hospital reinvestment. but also straddled these community hospitals with significant rent lease payments. william: your investigation details this remarkable duality where investors get incredibly get incredibly rich, the ceo has got two yachts, while patient care at their hospitals suffer because of incredible stinginess. can you describe some of what your team calls the human cost of financial neglect?

mark: yeah, absolutely. i mean, i think there were sort of two categories where steward really harmed its hospitals. the one was just a failure to pay for enough staffing, and this is not just nurses, but also doctors and certain specialists, and the other category would be failure to pay for oftentimes routine equipment, supplies, maintenance on machines and even maintenance on buildings. for example, if you don't have wires for pacemakers, then patients who need that procedure have to have it delayed. if you don't have biopsy needles , as that was one of the shortages that we documented, then certain vital cancer detecting tests are delayed in an area of medicine where early detection is everything. the team found 15 cases in which a person died after receiving care in a steward hospital that did not meet professionally

accepted standards due to a lack of staff or a lack of supplies and equipment. william: one of the most harrowing stories is a story about a man named gilberto melendez brancasio, who was taken to a steward hospital when he was having a psychiatric break. can you tell us a little bit about his experience? mark: yeah, this was a hard case. young guy, 31 years old, beloved uncle, beloved nephew. had some mental health problems that normally would be managed with medication. he didn't always take it because you didn't like how the medication made him feel sometimes. he had a bit of a psychological break. the police did the reasonable thing and brought him to carney hospital in dorchester, massachusetts, a steward hospital. he was restrained in the emergency department, chemically and physically restrained.

he was also having some respiratory issues and the doctors ordered that he not be left alone, that caberto needed one on one monitoring continuously. unfortunately, the hospital didn't have the people for one on one monitoring, and he was left alone. so when his heart stopped, there was nobody there to help him. there was nobody there to resuscitate him, nobody there to raise an alarm, and 19 hours after he entered a steward hospital, they wheeled his body to the morgue. william: some legislators have argued that this circumstance ought to make us rethink the role that private equity plays in hospital management, and they've proposed some legislative guardrails. can you explain sort of what's on the table there? mark: number one, we heard it today in the senate hearing where people just ask for just a ban.

or with certain legislation that would require in private equity hospitals or in all hospitals, sort of minimum staffing requirements, minimum equipment requirements. we heard it today before the senate committee, nurses just saying that we just can't let other hospital chains like steward leave nurses and doctors short-handed or without the tools they need to do the jobs. william: all right, mark arsenal of the boston globe, tremendous piece of reporting. thank you so much for speaking with us. mark: right on. thank you, william. ♪ amna: for decades, producer dan slepian has spearheaded documentaries, podcasts, and investigative reports for the newsmagazine show dateline nbc. in 2002, a chance conversation propelled him to start probing wrongful convictions, work that

he has continued for more than 20 years. his new book, the sing sing files, is out now, and we sat down recently to talk about why this one issue continues to fuel his work. dan: everybody thinks they know how the justice system works. i grew up believing the justice system worked just the way it should as a kid in westchester county, middle-class kid. i had a unique perspective as a dateline producer. and with that perspective i was able to see justice system that i never knew existed. a very dark and ugly underbelly that is really how the system often works. amna: let me ask you about your entry into that world because there is one case in particular called the palladium murder in 1990. there was a nightclub bouncer who was shot and killed on thanksgiving day. two men are convicted and sentenced of 25 years to life for that murder.

you called that whole case your window into the dark side of the justice system. why? dan: it was my baptism. i was out to dinner one night with a detective i was shadowing and i said, you must bring this job home with you. he said i really don't, except this one case that has been bothering me. he said he knew that these two men were innocent of the murder at the palladium nightclub and i said, how do you know? just goes, i know who really committed the crime. i ended up investigating that case and i find the real killer. i get him to rockefeller center, he basically confesses on tape. the innocent guys spent 15 years in prison and eventually after we aired the show back then, the judge overturned the conviction in 2005. to this day, not only has the manhattan district attorney's admitted they were wrong, the

retried the innocent guy. sol, from that perspective, i could not believe that people who are guardians of the system, who took an oath to do the right thing, couldn't fix an obvious, tragic miscarriage of justice. amna: that one case has fueled so many cases you have investigated since. you tell the cases of many men in this book. there is one man you say is the soul of this book. why is that? dan: he shared a cement wall. he was in the cell next to the guy i was doing a story about. he wrote me a letter in 2002. there was something about his letters that really pulled me in. there was something about his persistence, his eloquence. amna: as a result of your work, you get to be there at thos momentse like when he is released and walks out of

prison, and he walks into the arms of his waiting family. his weeping mother. [weeping] after the years you have spent knowing this person is innocent, helping to fight for them to get out, what is that moment like? dan: i obviously was thrilled for jj. jj should never have been arrested 27 years ago. i had proven his innocence. he was as innocent as he was alive. i did a story about him in 2012, and he spent another decade in prison because of the manhattan d.a.'s office did. so when he got out, i felt joy for him, but i was not as happy as i thought i was going to be. and it's not because it was in doubt, it is because i felt something of a failure. i felt guilt that i knew the

truth for so long. and it speaks volumes about the system that that is what it took. if it took this to get him out, god help everybody behind him. it's the tip of the iceberg. this is a hidden epidemic. this is a national crisis. there's only been 3200, 3300 people in 30 years that have been exonerated in this country. the most conservive estimates say there are at least 100,000 people right now. and people go about their life as if it is normal. amna: sounds like you are still working on these stories. dan: i will never stop working on these stories. it is embedded in my dna. it is my responsibility. i don't have hobbies. i don't sleep very much. i get contacted all the time by people.

and too many of those claims are true. amna: the stories you document are so powerful, and i know your work on this continues. the book is the sing sing files, one journalist, six innocent men, and a 20 year fight for justice. the author is dan slepian. thank you for being here. dan: i so appreciate you having me on. thank you. ♪ geoff: beauty, and rebirth, in decay. it's a vision of urban exploration, restoration, and development, now underway across northwest indiana. jeffrey brown reports for our arts and culture series, canvas. jeffrey: it's an american ruin, the once grand, long-abandoned city methodist church in gary, indiana. extraordinary details still hidden in plain sight everywhere. >> it's still beautiful.

jeffrey: look at that window. even as the roofless structure itself barely offers cover from the pouring rain. our guides, gary natives tyrell anderson and lori gonzalez, urban explorers who've been visiting buildings like this for more than a decade, taking photographs, and, crucially, documenting the history. >> there's still beauty in destruction. like if you see it and you see all these, like, different beautiful things, you can imagine what it used to look like in its heyday. >> you know that it's not going to be a church as it once was. but how can you you beautify any aspect of it to tell the history side of it. jeffrey: a history that for this church dates to 1926. with decades as a segregated, whites only congregation before eventually closing its doors in 1975. >> they refused to integrate, so when people began to move out

their congregation numbers dwindled. jeffrey: it's in some ways a microcosm of gary's, an industrial city that's lost more than half its population since the 1960's, driven by fewer steel jobs and white flight. today, there are some 10,000 abandoned buildings throughout the city, including union station, making gary something of a mecca for people like lori and tyrell who are drawn to urb-ex, or urban exploration. i saw in the back of your sweatshirt it says, i play in abandoned buildings. so this began sort of as a kind of play? >> yeah. like, get your camera, jump in a car or rent a car and just go. jeffrey: more than a decade ago, lori and tyrell became the backbone of an informal group that called themselves decay devils. traveling to cities like detroit and far beyond to explore and photograph abandoned structures. >> it kind of morphed from just buildings because it was like,

well, these places kind of have a bad rap. well, let's go and learn more about the people and the cuisine and everything else. jeffrey: and the history. >> yeah, and these people are like really cool people. and so it actually helped us like kind of pivot from just going to take pictures and eating to, ok, tell us how y'all did this and where'd you get the money from? how do you bring this together? jeffrey: in 2015, decay devils became a formal nonprofit, now focused on preserving and even restoring structures in and around gary. its first project, this train station, built with steel reinforced concrete in 1910 just four years after the city was founded. the station closed in the early 1970's, and after decades of neglect decay devils acquired it in 2018 for $10. they've spent years volunteering and raising money to get the outside and inside of the

station mostly cleared out. >> when i first saw it cleaned out, i was like, i could do cartwheels. it was so clear. from not being able to walk in safely and then seeing it now. jeffrey: it is safe to be in here? >> no. we should be wearing some hardhats. jeffrey: the group estimates it will cost at least $6 million to make the space functional. the hope, to turn it into a visitor center with a cafe a space for local vendors and artists. >> we're looking at well over 20,000 people traversing this area a day, let's make this a place that they need to stop. jeffrey: selling a vision for an abandoned building in a city where the percentage of people in poverty is nearly three times higher than the national rate is an uphill battle. >> this was designed by a modernist architect. jeffrey: but eunice trotter, who heads the black history preservation program of the private non-profit, indiana landmarks, says efforts in cities like gary are crucial.

>> as the buildings are erased, so does the history follow. it becomes less and less known. jeffrey: we sat down with trotter at st. augustine's episcopal church, a historically black congregation with a meticulously maintained building that's received support from indiana landmarks. >> what you see when you drive around gary, the many abandoned sites, is the result of disinvestment. gary is just the best example of the need for black heritage preservation. jeffrey: trotter points to another large building in gary under threat, also with a rich history for the city's black community. built in 1930 as one of three high schools in the state for black students during segregation, gary roosevelt high school housed more than 3000 students at its peak, a hub of gary's black middle class. but after shrinking enrollment and decades of deferred maintenance, a failing heat system caused pipes to burst in

2019. it's been vacant since then. >> here, a very rich culture was built on black excellence and professionalism. and that's what the school really stands for. we had a fairly good swim team. jeffrey: marlon mitchell graduated from gary roosevelt in 1989. he now heads a local economic development corporation that has partnered with indiana landmarks to explore other uses for the school. >> we knew that it wasn't going to be a school anymore. the population couldn't support that. but roosevelt as a school, as an institution, meant so much to the community that the community should decide what happens to this building. jeffrey: in may, the national trust for historic preservation named gary roosevelt one of america's 11 most endangered historic places. >> this building has much more life left if we breathe into it.

>> we can use some of that space for museum space. we could use some of that space for a hotel, for an event center, for artists, and on and on. that's a site that has many, many more years of life, with a little love. and that love is at the tune of $20 million. jeffrey: $20 million, which is a lot of money in a place like gary. >> that is a lot of money. but we believe that restoring that school will ignite tremendous restoration for, for for gary. jeffrey: and that's the goal for tyrell, lori and decay devils as well, turning their efforts from just "play" to rebirth and development of their city, through reimagining these buildings. >> the city has a lot more to offer. it's a huge city. your main thoroughfare might have some abandonment around it.

you just automatically assume that that's what's going to be where are you going to drive the neighborhoods? and that's not the case. >> like there's people that live here. we're not a ghost town. jeffrey: tyrell looks to a world-famous model of what can happen with ruins. >> we don't really think about it. but that is what the coliseum is. you get to walk around and look. jeffrey: it is a ruin >> yeah. we know that there is a energy use just along the lines of how do you properly monetize it and use it to help other things be developed. jeffrey: it's a grand dream, now a challenge for decay devils and the boosters of gary's historic buildings. for the “pbs news hour,” i'm jeffrey brown inside the ruins of city methodist church in gary, indiana. amna: and that's the “news hou”" for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. thanks for joining us. >> major funding for the "pbs news hour" has been provided by. ♪

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♪ hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour and company." here's what's coming up. >> world leaders are laughing at donald trump. >> kamala harris makes her case. we get global reaction to the high stakes debate, as the clock ti