♪ geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna nawaz is on assignment. on the newshour tonight. pres. biden: things can get better. we should never forget that. geoff: in his final speech at the un's general assembly as president, joe biden implores

fellow world leaders to work together. toward peace in the middle east and ukraine. federal lawmakers grill the company behind popular weight loss drugs, questioning why patients in the u.s. pay much more than other countries for the same products. and more americans are becoming , caregivers for veterans. the former secretary of veterans affairs on what's creating the need and the burden it puts on families. >> the need for caregiving has exploded. and unfortunately, a lot of the last war was the injuries that dealt with brain injury, which is mental health is something we know the least about. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour been provided by -- ♪

>> moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions, and friends of the newshour, including kathy and paul anderson and camilla and george smith. >> the james neal night foundation, more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: welcome to the newshour. it is a tense night in lebanon and northern israel, after the second day in a row of major israeli airstrikes. israel said it killed a senior hezbollah commander in beirut, while the militant group launched missiles at israeli military and civilian sites. the u.s. is trying to de-escalate, including in meetings at the united nations general assembly, where president biden spoke today. nick schifrin reports. nick: in beirut today, the sound

of sirens, after an israeli airstrike hit a residential building, leaving debris in the streets, damaged cars, and lebanese authorities said, 6 dead and 15 wounded. israel said the target, was a senior hezbollah commander. down the coast, lebanese stood in what used to be their homes, after bombing crushed the village of aaqbiyeh. to the east in the beqaa valley, residential buildings turned to rubble. and in southern lebanon. the strikes continue. israel says its targets are hidden hezbollah weapons, but this week's victims include children like misaab al-malla, and his mother aziza ali obeid. >> my children and i were at home, working and relying on god for support, when the israeli enemy hit us. they are just children. nick: the strikes have caused tens of thousands to flee their homes, to cities that can't cope. >> no doubt that the circumstances we are facing today are extraordinary with the

aggression we are witnessing. nick: but hezbollah continues its own aggression including on this , israeli highway. hezbollah has fired thousands of rockets today -- rockets. today they hit this supermarket in the arab-israeli city of tamra. >> luckily, there were no physical injuries, but there have been victims of trauma in the city. nick: hezbollah is part of lebanon's government and offers social services, but today israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu said hezbollah and its leader, must be removed. >> nasrallah is leading you to the brink of the abyss. he is endangering your country. rid yourselves from the grip of hezbollah. nick: 7000 miles away, president biden again called for de-escalation. pres. biden: full scale war is not anyone's interest. even as the situation is escalating, diplomatic solution is still possible. nick: us officials are trying to use the un general assembly to prevent all-out war, but a senior state department official argues airstrikes

designed to push hezbollah to negotiate, will lead to escalation. pres. biden: today is the fourth time i've had the great honor of speaking to this assembly as president of the united states. it will be my last. nick: today was president biden's un swan song, his final speech to the international community. after a half century-career often focused on foreign affairs, and a worldview defined by international collaboration and a hope, that served as today's bookends. pres. biden: i entered public life not out of despair, but out of optimism. things can get better. we should never forget that. nick: biden acknowledged the wars that shadow this year's assembly, gaza. pres. biden: bring the hostages home, ensure security for israel and gaza free of hamas , ease the suffering in gaza and end the war.

nick: sudan. pres. biden: the world needs to stop arming the generals and speak with one voice and tell them, stop tearing your country apart, stop blocking aid to the sudanese people, end this war now. nick: and, as volodymyr zelensky listened, and russia's un ambassador texted, ukraine. pres. biden: we will not let up on our support for ukraine, not until ukraine wins a just and endurable peace on the un charter. nick: but despite no near-term solutions to any of those wars, biden's final message: change can come. pres. biden: some things are more important than staying in power. it sure people. -- it is your people. every age faces its challenges. i saw it as a young man. i see it today. but we are stronger than we think. we are stronger together, than alone. what people call impossible, is

just an illusion. nick: but the fact is, u.s. influence to end the war in sudan is limited, ukraine is struggling to hold the line and israel has so far resisted u.s. efforts or to avoid escalation lebanon. as president biden finished his final address to the international community, secretary general antonio guterres had a much more sober look at the world. he said, quote, our world is heading off a cliff. tell us more about how the u.s. is trying to de-escalate tensions between israel and lebanon. >> u.s. officials are tightlipped but they say they have concrete steps for discussing with allies and partners and a diplomatic deal that is on the table remains. a deal that would move hezbollah back as demanded by security council resolution 1701, back about six miles from the israel-lebanon border behind a

river. that's a diplomatic will that exist, still on the table. and israel wants hezbollah to delink its attacks on israel from the war in gaza. the secretary-general of hezbollah has been clear that their taxable to new so long as the war in gaza continues. u.s. officials i speak to say hezbollah has taken a military hit over the last week, but they don't quite understand how that translates to the strategic gain that israel is hoping for returning 60,000 residents to their home in northern israel. last week's attacks on hezbollah pagers really hit hezbollah where they are most vulnerable and that means has blot is much more likely to escalate. nick: another major focus is ukraine, what more is being said at the u.n. about that war? >> the security council called a last-minute session this afternoon on ukraine during which president zelenskyy spoke

to foreign ministers and said, with so much focus on the middle east, don't forget about ukraine. secretary of state antony blinken focused on support given to russia by north korea and iran. but this is an incredibly important trip for zelenskyy, coming to the united states is weak because he will present what he calls his peace plan to president biden as well as former president trump and vice president harris this week in washington. the fact is, that peace plan requires membership in nato, something the u.s. and europe do not support, permission to use long-range weapon, permission the u.s. is not yet granted, an authorization to use russian -- russian frozen assets to pay for the war in ukraine. geoff: also an important trip for our men's new president. what did he have to say to that? nick: he has been presenting

himself as someone who can do business with the west, and someone who wants to return to the 2015 nuclear deal known as the jcpoa, which promised safe relief in return for freezing its nuclear program. he reiterated that statement today in the general assembly. >> we are ready to engage with jcpoa participants if commitments are implement and fully and in good faith. dialogue on other issues can follow, the appropriate response to this message from iran is not to impose more sanctions, but to fulfill existing obligations to remove sanctions, benefiting the iranian people, hence laying the foundations for more constructive agreements. nick: senior biden administration officials have said that iran has made too much progress and says the trump administration withdrew from jcpoa. they also expect to see behavior

change by iran, that was not supporting proxies around the region and not sending weapons to russia, before any negotiations can happen and there is no sign that iran is making any of those changes. geoff: nick schifrin reporting from the yuan general assembly. thanks as always. ♪ geoff: we start the day's other headlines with the presidential campaign. donald trump and kamla harris on their plans to boost the economy is harris also tries to keep the focus on abortion rights, an issue that democrats see as a winning one, with 41 days to go until election day. campaigning in savannah, georgia, former president donald trump today sought to outline his economic plan. >> this new american

industrialism will create millions and millions and massively raise wages for workers and make the united states into a manufacturing powerhouse. geoff: mr. trump unveiling a proposal he says is aimed as offering new incentives to lure foreign companies to the u.s., promising lower taxes, energy costs, and fewer regulations. >> with the vision out -- i'm outlining today, not only will we stop our businesses from leading to foreign lands, but under my leadership we will take -- were going to take other countries jobs. it's never been stated before. geoff: a new quinnipiac poll shows mr. trump leading kamala harris 52%-40 5% with likely voters when it comes to handling the economy. but several other recent national poll show harris is narrowing the trust gap with her plan focused on lowering costs for middle-class families.

both campaigning in wisconsin this week, she spoke to wisconsin public radio about her affordable housing plan. >> i understand and have as part of my lived experience a lifetime practically of being a renter, and what it means for families to aspire to own a home. geoff: the vice president outlining her proposal that she said would incentivize developers to build 3 million new homes file provide -- while providing 20 $5,000 in down payment assistance to first-time homebuyers. she also discussed reproductive rights, saying she supports ending the senate filibuster to restore roe v. wade >> to actually put back in law the protection for reproductive freedoms. geoff: later this week she will head to the u.s.-mexico border for the first time since becoming the democratic nominee, part of her swing through the sun belt states, arizona and nevada, where immigration

remains a top issue. also today in the middle east, palestinian officials say israeli airstrikes killed at least two dozen people across gaza. a boy mourn his father, 15 others were injured including women and children. meantime world leaders at the u.n. general assembly blasted israel for its military operations in gaza. the mirror of qatar called israel's actions a crime of genocide. the king of jordan said the scale of death and beyond justification. >> is it any wonder that many are questioning how can this war not be perceived as deliberately targeting the palestinians? the level of civilian suffering cannot be written off as unavoidable collateral. geoff: israeli prime minister

benjamin netanyahu is set to address the assembly later this week. at least two people have died after what was hurricane john slammed into mexico southern pacific coast overnight. it rapidly strengthened into a category three storm, making landfall with maximum sustained wind of 120 miles per hour and has since been downgraded to a tropical storm. john is expected to hover over mexico through the end of the week, bringing torrential downpours, flooding and landslides. meantime tropical storm helene is expected to make its way north, hitting florida as a hurricane as soon as thursday. residents there have been filling sandbags to brace against potential flooding. florida's governor has declared a state of emergency ahead of the storm's arrival. maryland is suing the owner and operator of the cargo ship that calls the baltimore bridge collapsed earlier this year.

is the latest in a series of legal troubles for the company which has denied any wrongdoing. today's lawsuit is seeking damages related to cleanup cost and rebuilding the bridge, among other expenses. maryland's attorney general said the state's resident should not have to foot the bill for the disaster. >> the dali was not fit to sail that morning. the day before the collision, its electrical system had failed twice. failures that the ship owners and operator could have and should have fixed to avoid the tragedy. geoff: six construction workers were killed in the collapse and trade in the port of baltimore was held up for weeks. u.s. government is suing visa, saying the financial services giant unfairly stifles competition in the debit card market. in particular, the justice department alleges that visa penalizes merchants and banks who don't use the company's own payment processing systems. according to the doj's

complaint, 60% of debit transactions in the country run on visas debit network. that leads to more than $7 million in fees each year. is the latest biden administration effort to crack down on corporate middleman following similar efforts against ticketmaster parent libation and real estate company real page. visa called the lawsuit meritless and said the company will defend itself vigorously. on wall street today, stocks posted a second ad this week of modest gains and new records. the dow jones industrial average gained more than 80 points on the day, nasdaq added 100 points or about .5%, the s&p 500 notched a new record closing high. and returning nfl hall of famer brett favre told a congressional committee today that he has recently been diagnosed with parkinson's, a degenerative neurological disease. he was on capitol hill for separate reason, to testify about welfare abuses in his home

state of mississippi, and to address allegations -- allegations that he and others issues millions to build an athletic facility. he revealed his diagnosis when talking about a company with ties to the case. >> sadly, i also lost an investment in a company that i believed was developing a concussion drug. it's too late for me because i've recently been diagnosed with parkinson's. this is also a cause dear to my heart. geoff: brett favre played 20 years in the nfl, mostly for the green bay packers. he did not say whether his parkinson's diagnosis was connected to his time playing football. also on capitol hill today, the man in black, johnny cash became the first musician to ever be honored with the statue in the u.s. capitol. >> ♪ because you're mine, i walk the line. ♪ ♪ geoff: the u.s. air force band

paid homage to cash, with a rendition of his legendary hit, i walk the line. and, with help from sister joanne cash, and daughter roseanne, cash's bronze statue was unveiled in the capitol's emancipation hall. created by sculptor kevin kressy from cash's native arkansa the statue depicts cash with his guitar slung behind his back and a bible in his hand. johnny cash is one of few artists inducted into both the country music hall of fame and the rock & roll hall of fame. still to come on the newshour. the head of the u.s. aid agency, samantha power, discusses foreign assistance in a time of global turmoil. author wright thompson takes a closer look at the people and forces behind the murder of emmett till and rock legend nick lowe releases his first full-length album in over a decade. >> this is pbs news hour and in , the west, from the walter cronkite school of journalism at

arizona state university. geoff: ozempic and wegovy are some of the most popular drugs in the country, driven by their remarkable success treating diabetes and obesity. but the drugs are extremely expensive, and the drugmaker's ceo appeared on capitol hill today to face questions about why those prices are so high. william brangham reports. >> what we are dealing with today is not just an issue of economics. william: chairman bernie sanders pressed the ceo of novo nordisk about why americans pay so much more for the same drugs compared to other nations. >> the net price of was imp it is still nearly 600 dollars over nine times as much as the cost in germany. the estimated not price up we go week is over $800, 4.5 times as

much is it cost there. william: the ceo defended his danish firm, pointing the finger for high costs principally at the u.s. health care system. >> we don't do sized -- decide the price formations. william: he specifically blamed what are known as pharmacy benefit managers. they act as third-party middleman between drug companies on one side and insurers, pharmacies and hospitals on the other. often determining which drugs get covered and at what prices. >> insurance companies can more than double or actually triple profits. william: he argued those prices are high because novo nordisk has obtained rebates to ensure the drugs are covered. more expensive drugs need higher rebates. sanders said he received pledges that would change that equation.

>> they would substantially lower the uses -- users price. we work with this committee and the pbm's? so patients get access to more affordable medicine. william: republican roger marshall of kansas echoed the point that pbm's should -- >> novo nordisk is not the villain in this story. they are a hero. we should be here celebrating this miracle innovation. >> we still have to preserve the profits for the creativity, for drug companies to invest, in order to develop the drugs that are going to affect or positively affect the burden of disease in our society. william: the hearing comes at the same time a new government

study finds that in the last 10 years, the u.s. obesity rate remained largely unchanged at about 40%, and that severe obesity rose slightly in the last decade. >> were talking about the cost of the medicine, but it's really the cost of that disease. william: he told centers at the price of the drugs can -- pales in comparison to the hundreds of dollars it died be -- diabetes and obesity cost the u.s. every year. >> we talk about the cost of the medicine, but the cost of the medicine is less than 10% of the total cost of the disease. william: experts predict that one or both drugs may be involved in the next round of medicare price reductions. for the pbs news hour, i'm william brangham. ♪

geoff: the us agency for international development is engaged in humanitarian work across many of the conflict zones around the world. from gaza to ukraine, sudan and beyond, nearly 300 million people in the world are in need of humanitarian assistance, the agency's work is crucial in getting that help to the most vulnerable, despite challenges of access and violence. amna nawaz sat down earlier this afternoon with the administrator of us-aid, samantha power, in new york where world leaders have gathered for the un general assembly. amna: administrator power, welcome back to the news hour. thanks for joining us. i want to be in with some news today, just today they are saying that in the spring of this year, usaid submitted a report to two of -- to the state department that included an assessment that saidsrael was blocking aid into gaza, specifically medical and food

aid. that would trigger the u.s. stopping weapons apply to israel. can you confirm that you sent that report, and if so, what happened to it? >> i think we have made very plain our desire to see as much aid as possible flow into gaza. our concerns about a lot of the roadblocks that are been put in the way, i'm not going to commit on any report -- comment on any report other than to say that our focus is as laser sharp on that set of issues around access as the number of trucks flowing in today is not sufficient. amna: the report is not just alleging there are roadblocks, they are alleging that israel is deliberately blocking aid. in your assessment, have they at any point deliberately blocked aid? >> there has to be improvement, particularly in advance of winter. and needless to say in terms of

civilian protection. almost every day we wake up to report of a displaced person camp, school or medical facility being subjected to fire. it's extremely challenging to fight in an environment where hamas is deliberately using civilians as effectively human shields, but the responsibility again on the professional will of terry is to fight in a way that minimizes harm to civilians. amna: as we speak today, the conflict seems to be expanding. some leaders are expressing concern about the way israel is waging war in lebanon. the unicef cheap said their reports of 24 children -- chief said their reports of 24 children dead. can you offer your assessment of the way in which israel is, or are they adhering to international law? >> watching the risk of escalation and expansion of the

conflict has already displaced tens of thousands of people on the israeli side, on the lebanese side, on top of the crisis we were just talking about in gaza, all the human consequences of that are catastrophic. all of our diplomacy is invested in trying to contain this conflict. that is what this week at the you and is about, to make sure that cooler heads prevail. if you need a reminder of what conflict looks like, look at the human consequences in gaza and the fate of the hostages hanging in the balance. look at the displacement that has already occurred in lebanon. if this were to spiral further out of control, it will only be civilians who pay the price. amna: you faced criticism from even within your own agency. staffers on your team who expressed frustration with what they see as hypocrisy in u.s. foreign policy, that the u.s. continues to supply minute

tearing eight on a large scale to try to get into the people of gaza, at the same time supplying israel with weapons to continue to wage that war. some of your staffers have asked about what they see as the biden administrations being complicit in what they see as genocide being waged by israel in gaza. one of the things they point out is the fact that you wrote a book on genocide. they called on you to speak out or to resign. how do you handle that kind of frustration within your own agency, and what are you telling your staffers? >> usaid is an incredibly mission driven agency where people come to work every day to save lives, to improve lives. it is inspiring to work with those people who are incredibly talented, they come to work every day to help people who are suffering in gaza. more than 40,000 people have been killed in gaza, more than

13,000 children and 300 aid workers. i would be disappointed if my staff were not pressing for more. i just feel lucky that i'm in the government, in the room, engaging the israelis, working with the team that is pushing for a cease-fire. that is what is needed most of all. clearly none of us can be satisfied with the way things are. amna: do you share any part of their concern that there is hypocrisy with the u.s. policy there? >> i share their focus on the human consequences of everything we do. that's why president biden and the general assembly today talked about the importance of a cease-fire. amna: we heard the president also speak about sudan and what is now the largest humanitarian crisis on the planet. he recently said that now famine has taken hold, aid trucks have not been able to reach one of the largest camps for displaced people there and access has been blocked by coalition forces. what more can the u.s. do?

should we be considering air drops and other means of getting aid in? >> all of the above. it is really important to say that we cannot humanitarian aid our way out of the kind of widespread famine that is at risk of breaking out. usaid is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in commodities, but many of those trucks are just sitting at checkpoints. that's just a matter of political will. it's a matter of do these clearly self-interested generals care more about themselves than their country, are they willing to put their own interest ahead of getting the trucks diverted? they could be exercising their leverage, and that's what the diplomacy is about this week. amna: the president calling for diplomacy, is the u.s. doing enough in your opinion to leverage those relationships, to stop that flow of weapons in?

>> every channel that we have two those major players in this conflict, we are using, including some that i have had myself. amna: do you feel there has been progress in those talks this week? >> there's certainly verbal progress, we've heard a lot of commitments to peace that have not been followed through with actual termination of weapons supply. but we also have a responsibility, as you said, to think about airlift, airdrop, even if it's more expensive and less efficient. just as with gaza, we've had to take measures like that. amna: i know just yesterday there was a major announcement when it comes to a particular initiative about eliminating lead and low and middle income

countries, huge increase in funding in partnership with other agencies as well. it's stunning to read that in some places the level of lead exposure to children is more than 10 times the rate of what we are also alarmed to see here in flint, michigan. wise this particular initiative a priority for usaid right now? >> first of all, thank you so much for raising it. it's a silent killer globally. it kills more than 1.5 doing people a year. yet while we spend billions of dollars combating those diseases, up to this point we've only spent 50 moving dollars a year and there hasn't been the salience to this issue to bring what is rudimentary data about lead poisoning that exists in most developing countries. amna: that's one out of every two children in these countries. >> it won't take much to get led

out of paint and cosmetics. these consumer products intended for advanced economies. it did not go to developing countries. we can address something that is literally poisoning kids when they go to school, when they pick up their toys, when they eat the food that their mothers repair because there might be lead residue in some pots. what a tragedy that this is something we could have solved all these years ago. amna: samantha power, thank you so much for your time. >> thank you. ♪ geoff: now some new insights into the caregiving crisis in america. a new report from rand has found one group is particularly struggling, those caring for veterans. lisa desjardins has more.

lisa: the national survey was commissioned by the nonpartisan elizabeth dole foundation and conducted by the rand corporation. they found those caring for military members or veterans are an increasingly large group and stretched increasingly thin. the study estimates more than 14 million americans are caring for a current or former service member. even with the veterans administration in place, those families spend an average of nearly $9,000 a year out of pocket for care. that as 39% of these caregivers are also raising a child. and those children are helping with at least one caregiving task. joining me to discuss this is former secretary of veterans affairs and the chairman of the elizabeth dole foundation, bob mcdonald. now, that figure of 14 million caregivers who have served, that's nearly triple what it was in 2014. >> it was a shock to this, lisa, in 2011, actually, the research began. that original study found 5.5 million caregivers.

but the way we asked the question was it was a very simple, single question. are you a caregiver? this study, the methodology was a little bit different, and we asked the questions of the behaviors of the caregiver. are you bathing the person you care for? are you supplying their medications? are you taking them to doctors? and what we discovered was the real number is, as you said, 14.3 million. and it was shocking to us how big it was, in a way. it wasn't surprising because the population is aging. lisa: there has been some positive news in a sense because more servicemembers are surviving battlefield trauma. but what does that mean on the other end in terms of the mental and physiological care that they need? >> well, that's that's exactly a great point. you're ten times more likely to survive the battlefield today than in previous wars. that means that we have more veterans with more grievous injuries.

and that's what's requiring the caregiving. the need for caregiving has exploded. and unfortunately, a lot of the last war was the injuries that dealt with brain injury, which is mental health is something we know the least about. and as a result of that, many of these caregivers are dealing with what we call the unseen injuries of war. lisa: your survey found that many of these families are hitting points of physical and financial exhaustion. when you hear from one of these caregivers, this is tracy brown, whose father was in the air force and now has dementia. >> fatigue. i'm going to put that at the top of the list. also, just being able to to continue to live my life and feeling like i totally lost my identity just to be able to care for my dad. and it's really, really difficult not being able to necessarily find reliable care or care that's going to be high quality. lisa: so many of us are thinking

about and giving care right now. but what's different for military families, veteran caregivers, than the rest of us who are thinking about aging parents? >> well, many of the people coming through the military who are now needing caregiving have relatively low incomes. you know, roughly the rand study found 130% of the of the poverty line qualifying for food, food stamps or snap, as we call it, needing financial help. lisa: what about government resources? and i know that the study found it was about 35%, i think, of of these caregivers, military and veterans that are at 130% or below poverty level. government resources. are there enough or is it just people aren't connected enough? >> it's a trend. when i became secretary in 2014, it was just at the point where senator dole and i worked together. we got some legislation passed

that provided a stipend to the caregivers. over time, more and more benefits have been added, such as mental health care for the caregiver. but there's a bill right now that's gone through committee. it's in congress. it's ready to be passed. lisa: the other part of that question, the tough angle, is that we do have a national debt problem. we have a deficit problem. veteran care is expensive. we don't care on the front end. we don't prevent any sort of care on the other end. what do you say to those who say they're concerned about the rise in veterans costs, even as we're clearly not addressing all of it? >> i would argue that on the backs of veterans and veterans families is probably not the place i would start. we need to take care of our veterans. we're doing everything we can to try to figure out how to make this financially viable. think, you know, elizabeth dole foundation, we use corporate private public partnerships. we work with the va.

we work with companies that want to help. and as a result, i think the the monetary part of it should not be as big of an issue. lisa: bob mcdonald, thank you for an illuminating report >> thank you, lisa. it's been a pleasure to be with you. ♪ geoff: the murder of emmett till is one of the most harrowing events in american history, serving as a catalyst for the civil rights movement. emmett till was a 14-year-old boy from chicago who, in august 1955, traveled to mississippi, to visit relatives. his brutal killing would expose the deep-seated racism and violence faced by black americans, especially in the jim crow south. the events leading to till's murder began when a white woman, carolyn bryant accused him of making an inappropriate advance toward her. an alleged, brief interaction.

considered a grievous offense in the racially segregated south of the 1950s. days later, bryant's husband, roy bryant, and his half-brother, j.w. milam, abducted till, brutally tortured and murdered him. they were later tried and acquitted by an all-white jury. now, bestselling author wright thompson travels back to his native mississippi for a fresh and unflinching account of the conspiring forces behind till's murder, focusing on the place where it happened. it's called the barn: the secret history of a murder in mississippi and i spoke with him yesterday. thanks so much for being with us. your family farm is about 20 miles from the site of the barn were immaterial was beaten and killed. yet you had to leave the state to go to college before you learned anything about it. how did this history reveal itself to you? >> you know, uh, it was shocking

to me, all the things that personally i didn't know, and then as i started researching the barn where emmett till was killed, i realized that the most of america actually doesn't know a lot about this. this is a very famous murder and yet there's been so much erasure and there's been so many intentional things stripped from the historical record that the the book the barn ends up being the story of this murder, yes, but also of the like ongoing process of trying to erase this from memory and the activists who were fighting to keep that memory alive. geoff: yeah, well, tell me more about that. the notion that this barnes obscurity reflects this whitewashing, this effort to cover up the horrendous nature of emmett till's abduction and murder and the complicity and the depravity of all of the people who were involved. >> well, you know, one thing i

certainly didn't know is that, you know, one of the key drivers of this very famous murder was political rhetoric, for instance. mississippi in 1955, had an unbelievable governor's race, you know, the, the, it was a race to the bottom, frankly. i mean, you go read the things people were saying, and it was just super charged violent metaphorically violent rhetoric, and that election happened on a tuesday, and emmett and his cousins and friends went to the bryant's grocery on wednesday. and so he was down there in the middle of an incredibly heated political campaign where the only issue that mattered with school segregation and integration, and so i didn't realize until i started researching it what a role that, that really violent political rhetoric played in this famous murder. geoff: well, over the years,

historians and journalists have pieced together a deeper, more accurate account of what happened to him. what did you discover over the course of writing this book? >> i mean, some really harrowing things, i mean, uh, i found out that the murder weapon was uh in a safety deposit box in a bank in greenwood, mississippi. you know, i had carolyn bryant's memoir sent to me on a thumb drive where she essentially doubles down and takes her lies to the grave, uh, you know, the sheer tonnage of what we don't know is to me as much about the, as much a part of the story as the things we do now. geoff: on september 23, 1955, an all-white jury in tallahatchie county, mississippi acquitted the two white men who were charged with murdering emmett till, and at the trial, 8 of the jurors, a defense attorney, and the sheriff, it turns out, were all from the same extended

family as the two men on trial, roy bryant and jw milam. help us understand that aspect of the story. >> it wasn't too random people who killed another random person. i mean, it was a tribe of people killing the child of another tribe of people, which every west point professor will tell you is an act of war. these were folks who were all from the same very tight knit community in the hills up above the mississippi delta. i mean, one of the jurors' fathers was jw milla's contact when he joined the army. like, who's the person who always know where you are? so, i mean, this wasn't just a jury of his peers, as they say. this was a jury of people who were part of the same tribe. geoff: you're from the region that you write about in this book. this book is part a meditation on emmett till's murder. it's also part memoir. how did unearthing and investigating the story help you reckon with your family's

history. >> you know, i, i love that, uh, i think it's the malcolm x quote that everywhere south of canada is the south. so, you know, it was very important to me to learn my own family history, but i also think it's very important for all americans to read about this square of land around the barn where emmett till was killed, and think about their own square of land, and, you know, i, i think that the project of, of continuing the american experiment feels to me rooted in the idea that we first have to agree on a common history. and i hope that this book is a tiny pebble in the lake of that. sends out some ripples, but that that was that investigation, reckoning, interrogation, whatever the verb you want to use is absolutely essential to this project. geoff: wright thompson, the book is the barn the secret history of a murder in mississippi. thanks for being with us. >> thank you so much, geoff. ♪

geoff: one of rock and roll's greatest songwriters is out with a brand new album. it's nick lowe's first full-length effort in nearly a dozen years and it debuted as number one on the billboard charts in the americana folk category. special correspondent tom casciato has the story for our arts and culture series, canvas. >> ♪ i'll be a long tall daddy. ♪ ♪ tom it's hard to find rock n : roll credentials more solid than nick lowe's. from punk rock to new wave, he built his rep in the '70s, solo and in the bands brinsley schwarz and rockpile.

he was also a producer for graham parker, the damned, and elvis costello. he even penned one of rock's most memorable anthems, made famous by costello. >> what's so funny 'bout peace love and understanding. >> but if rock n roll is all you know about nick lowe and his 75 years on the planet and well over 50 in the music business well, let's start at the start. nick lowe: my father was a career raf officer. he was a pilot. he met my mum during the war. she was in the women's royal air force. she came from a show business family, sort of vaudeville, really. and she was a very good singer. she taught me how to sing inchworm from hans christian andersen, the danny kaye thing. >> ♪ inchworm, inchworm nick lowe: and that's got this lovely descant, where the kids sing one tune and there's a counter melody. i figured out how to be able to sing another tune while somebody was singing a different tune.

and a third element is created. and i kept on bugging her to do it again, come on mum, let's do the inchworm song. >> he recalls more seeds his mother planted, the country of tennesse ernie ford. >> ♪ fatback louisiana, usa. ♪ ♪ >> the jazzy pop of nat king cole. >> you know, sinatra, peggy lee. pre- beatles era music which i love. >> but then came the beatles, and scenes like this lead straight to rock and roll. >> you know, i wanted to be famous, on the tv. and i thought i'd meet more girls, you know, that way. that was my main ambition at the time. but it didn't take me too long to realize that if i wanted to have any kind of long career, i had to learn how to write songs. >> so a composer he became, writing songs he still performs today. >> ♪ and where it stops nobody knows. ♪ ♪ >> but as he gained confidence, he also learned humility, as when he produced costello's

classic debut album. >> i started the record with elvis saying, right. elvis, i think what you should do here is this, that, and don't sing there. then after about two days in the studio i was turning up and saying, good morning mr. costello, what would you like to do today? >> in 1979, nick achieved hitmaker status on his own. a british documentary from the era, shows him looking very much a rock star. but, he says, that involved a certain amount of role play. >> i realized really soon that i wasn't the sort of person who could sustain that. >> so you didn't think rock superstardom sure to follow? >> no, no, no. you know, i'm not an elton john or cher. and i've always thought that the most fun you can have is just before you make it. >> in the 80s, just after he'd made it, it sure looked like nick was having fun. maybe the time of his life.

>> you watch the videos and you look like you're on top of the world. >> yes, i suppose i suppose it did. but i thought that was me in decline. i could feel my pop star status waning. i was drinking and taking too many drugs in a bid to try and cheer myself up and write better songs. and it doesn't work, boys and girls. but also my pop star schtick was boring me as well. >> it sounds like it was hard for a time for nick lowe to be nick lowe. but in the ensuing decades, he abandoned the rock star stance, and took on the role he has to this day: that of what rolling stone has called a master songwriter who never takes himself too seriously. >> you are, you know, britain's songwriter, right? >> well i think that paul

mccartney might have something to say about that. >> he gained that status partly by reaching back to the music he learned from his mum. a lot of the music you've recorded from the nineties on, i think, has as much of a relationship to that pre-beatles era as to the rock era. nick lowe: yes, that's nice of you to observe that. >> nick and the band have a new album, indoor safari, in which they've rerecorded some of his favorite compositions of recent vintage. >> ♪ trombone come play your song ♪ ♪ >> and he's got a few things to say to the kid who once struck a rock star pose. and he still strikes a good pose, but he's got a few things to say to the kid who wanted to be a rock star.

>> well, johnny cash once said to me incredibly disappointingly, i thought at the time, nick, what you've gotta do is figure out how to be yourself. i didn't really know what he meant. i thought, is that the best you could do, john? but actually now i do. because when you're young you're trying to sort of cop an act. you are always trying to be somebody that you're not. and you've got to sort of welcome in the things that you don't really like about yourself, you know. but welcome it in! because if you can figure out how to be yourself, it makes things so much easier. >> ♪ what's so funny about peace, love, and understanding ♪ ♪ >> for the pbs newshour, i'm tom casciato in tarrytown, new york. ♪

geoff: a news update before he go, the man suspected of trying to kill former president donald trump at his florida golf course has been charged with attempting to assassinate a major presidential candidate. he allegedly came to rifle through shrubbery at the west palm beach golf course while mr. trump was playing on it. he was initially charged with two federal gun offenses. the upgraded charges come after prosecutor said earlier this week that the suspect left a note describing his intentions. later this evening on pbs frontline presents the latest installment of the choice come the film takes a closer look at the lives of kamala harris and donald trump as they seek the presidency, drawing on insights from those who know both candidates revealing key moments that could shape how each would lead the country if elected. it premieres on pbs and streams

on youtube at 9:00 p.m. eastern. check your most -- check your local listing. that is a news hour for tonight. for all of us here at the pbs news hour, thanks for spending part of your evening with us. >> consumer cellular, this is sam, how may i help you? with consumer cellular you get nationwide coverage with no contract. that's kind of our thing. have a nice day. >> i absolutely love my job because i love the people i work with. everyone is trying to connect on a personal level. >> we look out for one another. we love to see our teammates drive. >> you don't have to change how you walk or how you talk. >> we can bring our authentic selves to work and do our best stuff. that is joy.

♪ >> carnegie corporation of new york, working to reduce lyrical polarization through pill -- philanthropic support. for information at carnegie corporation.org. and with the ongoing support of these institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] ♪

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, and welcome to "amanpour and company." here's what's coming up. when you get out of a dungeon after eight years, you don't just return to a normal life. >> the longest held american prisoner in iran, siamak namazi, tells me about his traumatic eight-year ordeal, in an exclusive