amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the "news hour" tonight, the middle east once again on edge after iran launches missiles at tel aviv in retaliation for israeli strikes on iran-backed groups in lebanon and gaza. amna: the search for survivors continues in asheville, north

carolina, as the long cleanup and recovery process begins. we speak to the mayor about what the city needs. >> the priority is to restore water and power and in the meantime, we have got to get resources to folks that need drinking water, food, and basic necessities for everyday life. geoff: vice presidential candidates tim walz and jd vance are set to square off in their only debate as the election enters the home stretch. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- ♪ the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the news hour, including leonard and norma and -- and camilla and george smith.

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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. amna: -- geoff: welcome to the news hour. tonight, the middle east stands on the precipice of regional war. iran launched a massive attack on israel with at least 180 ballistic missiles. amna: israel is vowing serious consequences. tonight, we have teams in both tel aviv and beirut. we start in tel aviv, where our nick schifrin witnessed the impacts of those strikes. nick.

nick: i watched and filmed iranian ballistic missiles attack israel's largest city. israeli air defense and u.s. air support trying to defeat those missiles and tonight for israel, everything has changed. tonight over tel aviv, grew some deadly fireworks, the largest aerial attack ever launched against israel in direct impacts. dozens of direct impact across greater tel aviv including just outside the city where the bomb squad had to make sure it was safe. this is the impact site for one of those iranian ballistic missiles and if you see the size of this crater, that's about 30 feet deep and may 50 feet wide. you can see all the debris around here and to give you a sense of the targets for these strikes, that white building back there, about 1500 feet behind me, is the headquarters of a spy agency for mossad.

more impacts in southern israel in the negev desert. the location of the airbase base where i traveled with lloyd austin just after the seventh. in the occupied west bank, residents raised a missile tube. its length about triple the height. to try and stop this attack, the u.s. dispatched additional jets and david -- naval assets and despite these videos, today, president biden called the defense a success. vp. harris: the attack -- >> the attack appears to be defeated and ineffective. this is a testament to the u.s. military. >> israel is vowing revenge. the majority were intercepted by israel and a defensive coalition led by the united states. iran's attack is a severe and dangerous escalation.

there will be consequences. >> iran called the strikes a legal, rational, and legitimate response to last week's strike that a u.s. senator says used to thousand pound bombs. israel followed his death with its first congressional ground incursion into lebanon in nearly 20 years and it also acknowledged hundreds of raids into lebanon since last november. the country's largest special forces operation in history. today, the military showed off the hezbollah weapons it captured that had threatened israeli towns along the border. >> we are talking about very precise intelligence and abilities that hezbollah has been planning and making for decades that we have been able to take away a big part of that but there is still a ways to go. >> in bayrou. across the border in lebanon, a sleepless night as news of the israeli ground incursion spread to a backdrop of heavy

bombardment from the air. it shook communities across the south and the capital. today, more fear, more fatalities. the streets of beirut's severance have become a ghost town. overhead, a low hom of israeli surveillance drones in ever present threat. residents have learned fast that where a drone lingers, before too long, bombs will follow. over the past few days, the southern suburbs of beirut have been pounded repeatedly by israeli airstrikes. behind me, the still smoking ruins of a strike from last night. the area is now completely deserted and most of the residents have fled. the air still stinks of sulfur. the idf sometimes issues alerts about impending airstrikes, morning residents to leave the area but these are often published in the middle of the night and cover vast swathes of some of the most densely populated urban areas in the country. evacuating fully at such short notice is not realistic.

two heavy strikes hit next to the local hospital. on the way out, ambulance sirens screaming through the black smoke on their way to pick up more of the injured. there was no warning this time. hundreds have already been killed in the bombing of these tower blocks. and the families who do manage to run, a grim reality awaits. he had his wife fled from their home on friday after the missile strike that killed hezbollah leader hassan estrella. their baby is six months old and the 27-year-old is four months pregnant. they grabbed what they could and ran. once we lived through a terrible and terrifying moment, my wife and i. it was not only one or two airstrikes. there were 10 consecutive strikes. when the bomb hit, our house shook. >> last night, their home and

entire apartment block was pulverized in an overnight strike. they are alive but they have little else left. they have been sleeping in the rain on the tarmac at this roundabout for five days, eating stale bread handed out by volunteers. they are not alone. with more than one million people now displaced by the conflict, there just is not everyone in the shelters. that means thousands of people are sleeping rough on the streets of central beirut. every few minutes, a car or minibus turns out, filled with desperate people who fled with just the bags they could carry and small children in tow. as the conflict intensifies, lebanese across the country are doing what they can to help, bringing food and mattresses for those in need. he is in shock and has not eaten since the attack. they cannot afford to see a doctor. she holds her close, gently rocking as she drinks her milk but their meager supplies are running out.

have got just enough baby milk left until tonight and then they don't know what they are going to do. >> we have children. we don't not more. a lot of children and women have already died. they don't deserve this. i cannot think of the future right now. who even knows if we will live or die. >> layla joins us now from beirut, as does nick schifrin who continues to report from tel aviv. nick, what are you hearing from u.s. officials, from israeli officials about how they will respond to this latest iranian attack? >> prime minister benjamin netanyahu tonight made a strong statement. he said this evening, iran made a big mistake and will pay for it and he added, whoever attacks us, we attack them. that is a clear threat that israel will attack iran directly. after iran attacked israel in april and that was a relatively smaller strike than the one we saw today, and the one that israel and the u.s. managed to

largely defeat, president biden urged netanyahu to take the win and it was seen that israel's response to iran at that point was relatively surgical but the message out of the u.s. is not that. jake sullivan said that there will be severe consequences for this iranian attack and we will work with israel to make sure that is the case. so that is why so many people in this region and inside the administration are worried that there will be a direct flight between the middle east's two largest militaries. amna: you both reported on israel's ground incursion into lebanon. give us the view from there on the ground. how are people responding and reacting to that move? >> well, last night, as it became clear that israeli soldiers had crossed the border into lebanon, people were terrified that 2006 could happen all over again. thus far, it is clear that is not the case. the idf is saying this is a limited operation right now, but

really, the main impact people are suffering is what they suffered all last night, repeated airstrikes throughout the south, in the suburbs of beirut. we could hear those loudly across beirut. it is worth pointing out that all these rockets have landed in israel but across israel, people have shelters and air raid sirens. in lebanon, they don't have either of those anywhere so unless we see these occasional reminders from these warnings about large areas they are going to strike if they could see them in time if they could evacuate in time, people are at the mercy of these strikes and we are seeing hundreds of civilians dying. 50 killed in the last 24 hours by these airstrikes. >> there are a lot of moving parts and there seems to be already sort of a pattern of escalation. when you talk to people on the ground, how worried are they about this turning into a larger regional war? leila: thus far in lebanon, there had been great hope alongside the fear that western partners would try to dissuade

israel from a full ground invasion and air force invasion of lebanon. we saw france cost foreign minister come out and say -- was on the u.s. leaning heavily on israeli partners not to have a full invasion last week. the mood after iran strikes tonight may now have changed. people in lebanon are terrified that they have already been pulled into hezbollah's battle, a group that many do not support and feel are bringing this war upon them. they may now be called into iran's war and if lebanon is trapped yet again as upon in the middle of the middle east wars, many thousands of people here are going to suffer and die. >> right before iran had launched its latest attack, there was a terrorist attack just south of you in john five before then. what happened there? nick: israel's emergency services say four people were killed and several were injured by terrorist attacks by two gunmen who approached a light

rail train in jaffna st a couple of miles behind me and it happened right after all of those sirens went off, warning israel for that in precedented iranian attack and it just goes to show you how people are responding in this city and across the country to a very difficult day for israel and for across the region. >> that is nick schifrin reporting from tel aviv. layla for us in beirut, thank you to you both. >> thank you. >> for the second time in six months, iranian forces launched a massive aerial attack on israel. what does this latest flashpoint hold for the region, after israel's punishing campaign against hezbollah in lebanon? we have perspectives now from two longtime watchers of the region. suzanne maloney is a senior fellow for middle east policy and david is the director of the

washington institute for the near east policy project on the middle east peace process. thank you both for being here. we will start with you. i want to start with your reaction to today's developments. what does it suggest about the future course of this war? susanne: we are on the precipice of something we have not experienced before which would be a direct military conflict between israel and iran. the two countries have been locked in conflict for decades but it has largely been a gray zone war and for their part, the iranians have primarily relied upon proxies including and especially hezbollah in order to reap violence against israel. what we are now seeing in a brian with this latest attack is that they are prepared to violate a taboo that had held for 45 years, a direct attribute attack from iran against israel which does run the risk of a direct interstate war which would have devastating consequences for iran and the wider region. geoff: give us a sense of how

israel is calibrating its response in light of this statement from the prime minister that he iran made a big mistake and will pay for it. -- that iran made a big mistake and will pay for it. david: it takes 12 minutes for a ballistic missile to land in israel. these ballistic missiles landed all over the country. this is something israel has never experienced before in 76 years so that threshold has been crossed here, too. i agree with every word she said. she is 100% right. this is a new threshold. i think an israeli retaliation is certain. to me, the only question is the target, the scope, the timing, and, you know, i don't know to an extent in terms of wanting to be sure the u.s. is on board with all of israel's strikes, how much consultations are advanced. tomorrow evening begins rosh hashanah which is a time when jewish families gather with their families where they can be in their safe rooms this

holiday. it is not a way to have a two day holiday so i don't know if the strike will be delayed until there's more consultations and the holiday is over but a retaliation is certain. this is a new threshold that has been crossed. geoff: delving more to intercepted a large number of the ballistic missiles. is iran in some ways showing restraint or is what we saw all that it can be right now? susanne: this attack was not as heavily signaled as the one that took place in april for which the united states was able to prepare carefully with israel and other partners and allies around the region to ensure that there would be a successful effort to repel it. in this case, it was a much shorter turnaround time and i think what we saw today is not restraint on the part of iran

but rather the capabilities of israel's air defense system and the support from the united states which made it possible to ensure that there were apparently only one casualty and that happened to be a palestinian in the west bank. geoff: where does this leave hezbollah, given the israeli stepped up operation in southern lebanon? susanne: it's leader -- >> its leadership has been decapitated. we never saw the entire top-tier tier including the leader himself killed, so i think they have been wanting iran to come to their defense. we heard stories about fireworks tonight in beirut and oman and gaza, saying, finally, here is iran coming to our aid. soleimani was the legendary head of the revolutionary guards. this was his concept, the ring of fire. all the proxies.

hezbollah is supposedly the jewel in the crown of soleimani, of the iranians, and now, they decapitated their leadership because they want to make israel unlivable. both the north and the south where people had to abandon their homes for a full year. they want to know now, ok, we are in disarray. what is iran going to do for us? here is what we see tonight and i expect this to be an escalatory spiral at this point. >> u.s. officials at the state department, at the pentagon, they all expressed this view that a diplomatic solution is the only solution for a lasting peace right now. is that achievable at this point, in your view? susanne: i don't think it is imminent. there has been a lot of diplomatic effort invested in trying to advance a cease-fire in gaza and there has been throughout this long war in gaza a serious effort on the part of the white house to try to persuade hezbollah diplomatically to pull back from the israeli border and to

eventually disarm as required under a prior un security council resolution. i think that there had been some optimism that if one could be achieved, the cease-fire had been presumed to be the first order of business, that the second could be achieved diplomatically. now, with the region aflame and the likelihood of an israeli response against iran, which will inevitably precipitate some kind of iranian retaliatory effort, whether it is another barrage of missiles or effort to try to reactivate terrorism against israeli interests around the region, we are in for a very difficult time ahead. >> and de-escalation has been the primary interest of this administration and that has not been the story of these last two weeks. does the administration have any leverage left or is netanyahu impervious to u.s. influence at this point? david: we put all of our eggs in the cease-fire for hostage deal on gaza. i think we were close at certain points.

the u.s. certainly not lacking the energy to make this happen but in the end could, could not bring it over the -- in the end, could not bring it over the finish line. in the end, it comes back to sin more in a tunnel somewhere. to me that aside. i hope we do not see a regional war. let's be clear, all the arab governments, there is not one one that is for the iranians. we are talking about proxies like hezbollah and people like that but most of the arab states see iran as a d stabilizer. can the usa israel, ok, you will get your retaliation. after that, let's find a way out of this. let's find the off ramp. i think it is possible. i do not think a regional war is preordained at all. but clearly, our first choice was the cease-fire for hostage deal and that now seems, you know, we are geoff: geoff: very unlikely. what does an offramp look like

susanne: at this point? susanne:it has to be a decision by the iranians that they are not going to retaliate once they are hit by israel because that is fundamentally the next step. where we are with the iranian leadership, i would not bank on geoff: any further restraint. geoff:thank you so much for your insights and from -- bank on any further restraint. geoff: thank you so much for your insights. >> thank you. ♪ geoff: we start the day's other headlines with three new world leaders stepping into the limelight from france to japan to mexico, where the country's first-ever female president was sworn in. a scientist in mexico city's former mayor officially kicked off her six-year term after coasting to victory in june's elections. at mexico's congress, she vowed to continue the social policies of her predecessor and laid out what she herself brings to the role.

>> i am a mother, grandmother, scientist, and women of faith, and as of today, by the will of the people of mexico, the constitutional president of the united mexican states. geoff: japan's parliament confirmed to the country's new prime minister. he immediately unveiled a new cabinet and pledged to maintain close ties with the u.s. while focusing on the economy. he also called for a snap parliamentary election for later this month. and the new prime minister of france, michel barnier, gave his first major address to parliament. the longtime conservative was heckled by angry lawmakers as he promised to cut the nation's debt. in north carolina coming election officials say they have their work cut out for them to ensure a smooth vote in november following the hurricane. today, the executive director director of the board of elections said the destruction

is unprecedented and this level of uncertainty this close to election day is daunting. she added the storm closed 12 county election offices in the western part of the state but no voting equipment was damaged. early voting is set to begin on october 17. breast cancer rates are on the rise, especially among younger women. a new report from the american cancer society shows one in 50 women will develop invasive breast cancer before they turn 50 years old. the sharpest increase was among women in their 20's. there was also a steep rise among asian american and pacific islander women. across all age groups, breast cancer rates went up 1% each year from 2012 to 2021. breast cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the u.s. for women although fatalities actually dropped by 10% in the last decade due to more screenings and better treatment. on wall street today, worries about the situation in the

middle east weighed on stocks. the dow jones industrial average gave back around 100 points. the nasdaq dropped more than 250 points or nearly 1.5 percent. the s&p 500 also ended lower on the day. the macarthur foundation has awarded its latest so-called genius grants to 22 luminaries in the arts, literature, academia, and science. this year's fellows included more writers, artists and storytellers than in years past, they include trans cabaret singer justin vivian bond. sterlin harjo, the film-maker behind the 'fx on hulu' series "reservation dogs" about indigenous teens. and, author jason reynolds, whose work often reflects the experiences of black children. each winner receives an $800,000 grant they can use however they want. you can see the full list of winners on our website, pbs.org, / newshour.

former president jimmy carter celebrates his 100th birthday today. he's the first president to live for a century, going from a peanut farmer to the 39th president of the united states. carter won the nobel peace prize in 2002 for his humanitarian work and defense of democracy around the globe. he was also a long-time ambassador for habitat for humanity, which is building 30 houses over five days to mark his birthday. the white house put up a sign today wishing carter a happy birthday. the building's current resident , joe biden was the first , sitting senator to endorse carter's presidential campaign in 1976. the white house shared this tribute video today. >> happy 100th birthday. you've always been a moral force for our nation and the world, i recognized that as a young senator, that's why i supported you so early. put simply mr. president, i admire you so darn much. may god continue to bless you, mr. president, you've been a good friend.

geoff: carter has been spending the day in his home town of plains, georgia, where he was born and has lived for more than 80 of his 100 years. and, we have a passing of note, actor john amos has died. >> you want to run that by me again? geoff: arguably, his most famous role was as the stoic family patriarch, james evans senior, in the 1970's hit "good times". he later earned an emmy nomination for his seminal portayal of the adult kunta kinte in the 1977 miniseries "roots." >> i tell ya, sometimes it seems like being alone and being free, they're all the same for a slave. >> you don't be free. you be dead. >> then, i be free. geoff: his publicist confirmed today that amos died last month of natural causes in los angeles. john amos was 84 years old. still to come on the "newshour", we break down the potential flashpoints of tonight's vice presidential debate port workers

on the east and gulf coasts go on strike for the first time in nearly 50 years and we examine the life and complicated legacy of baseball's banned hit leader , pete rose. >> this is the pbs news hour, in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: hurricane helene is turning out to be one of the deadliest hurricanes to ever make landfall in the u.s. more than 150 people died and hundreds more are still unaccounted for. over a million people still don't have power and the historic flooding nearly washed some small towns away in western north carolina. in north carolina, the city of asheville is still reeling from destroyed water lines, road closures, and lack of basic supplies.

joining us now to discuss the dire situation there is asheville mayor esther manheimer . thank you for being with us. what are conditions that are like right now? what are the most pressing challenges you are facing? mayor manheimer: we don't have water and power to most folks who are living in asheville and the surrounding area in buncombe county so the priority is to restore water and power and in the meantime, we have got to get resources to folks that need drinking water, food, and basic necessities for everyday life, so that could be diapers, formula, all the things that you would think of that you need to live in your home. that is really our priority at this point but the area that was devastated by the flooding is being inspected from top to bottom. i was just visiting with the fema folks set up here, working with all of the organizations from around the country that have come in to assist with the

effort to sort through all of the damaged area, make sure that every one is accounted for. that is not complete yet. geoff: how is the search-and-rescue operation progressing given the challenges presented by impassable and destroyed roads and bridges question marc mayor manheimer: it is difficult but it is amazing. she just got done seeing a lot of it in action and you know, they have brought ground crew's everywhere. they have got all kinds of equipment in here. they are trying to do their best to methodically move through the entire affected area and do a complete review of everything to make sure they have accounted for every one but also look for dangerous hazards like leaks and so on and so forth and then began the tedious task of removing all the debris but we do have some areas that are completely impassable because

the road outages -- they have had to figure out how to get in and make sure they are able to account for everyone. on top of that, we had a complete loss to communications. no one's cell phone worked. it is only today that we are seeing some broad restoration of communication abilities so simply trying to call someone who got landlocked from a road washout or a bridge washout was something that could be accomplished. geoff: president biden says he has directed fema to stay in nashville until the situation has stabilized. do you have what you need from the federal and state government? mayor manheimer: we do but we need that effort to continue to grow and they can't. the president has called me. we have had a conversation. he's going to be here doing a flyover of our area tomorrow. we are eager to have him see the damage firsthand which you know can be much more helpful to understand the gravity of it than just seeing pictures and images so the governor has

already been here on the ground so we are seeing that support and as i mentioned, i was just down where fema is headquartered and took a look at what their operation looks like and it is amazing. folks from all over the country here are helping in the effort. geoff: asheville. was the city adequately prepared for the flooding in advance of the hurricane? mayor manheimer: i don't know how you would prepare for this kind of devastation. we have two major regions. they flooded at historic highs. water levels never seen before. so yes, i mean, we are use to some flooding. we have rivers throughout our city and tributaries so we have historically had flooding issues

and flood damage but nothing like this. nothing on this level and just looking at the waterline on these damaged structures that i just saw firsthand, they are way above the flood stage for building code so the answer is no because we have never in the history -- the documented history of this city seen flood levels like this. geoff: anyone who spent time in nashville knows it's a haven for entrepreneurs. it is an economic engine for western north carolina. what does it mean to the state and what does it mean to you? mayor manheimer: it is devastating for our city, for our region. there are many people whose livelihoods depend on the ability to have folks travel here and dying in a restaurant, stay in our hotels, support our local economy. as that of terrorism, we also

have all kinds of other economies that are functioning here that are at a standstill, a complete standstill. some of those will, we will be able to ramp back up. some of those experienced so much damage that it will be sometime before they are functional again. geoff: thank you for joining us. our thoughts are certainly with you and all the people affected by helene. mayor manheimer: appreciate it. amna: vice presidential nominees governor tim walz and senator jd vance square off later tonight in the final scheduled debate of the presidential campaign. geoff: for more on how the candidates are preparing and what to watch for, let's welcome in our panel. that's our own lisa desjardins and laura barron lopez, as well as republican strategist kevin madden and democratic strategist ameshia cross. with a welcome to all of you. lisa, jd vance is coming into

this with less experience as a candidate. how is the term campaign getting him ready for tonight's debate? lisa: there is official debate prep. he has been preparing in cincinnati and over zoom calls with someone personifying him and that person is tom emmer who happens to be the number three house republican. now, i am told that this prep is something that they have done in earnest but at the same time, political reported that on a phone call with teamsters, jd vance said that he has not had to do all that much because he is focused on the policy and that they feel good about their policy. that is in contrast to a press call that the trump campaign had yesterday in which they tried to downplay jd vance's ability and say they thought tim walz was going to be a tougher debate opponent. it is clearly the expectation game. i'm told they are prepared for two different kinds of personas, whether it is the jocular dad or

someone who goes on the attack. amna: tell us about how the democratic presidential nominee is preparing here. is he trying to speak directly to any kind of target audience? laura: governor walz has had a very traditional debate prep. very similar, i am told, almost idencal to the kind of debate prep vice president harris went through for her debate with vice president trump and he had help from pete buttigieg who played jd vance in their mock debates and sources told me that governor walz is essentially trying to exit this debate the same way he entered it which is with a higher favorability on average across polls and jd vance has. i'm also told that governor walz is expected to try to make moments on abortion, on project 2025 as well as on trump's past comments saying that he has a concept of a plan for getting rid of the affordable care act.

even though tim walz is very much liked by progressives, mayors campaign is hoping that his everyday dad persona, his relatability, can speak to centrist republicans, specifically nikki haley voters which the campaign is aggressively courting. they got a boost today from a specific group of former nikki haley voters who voted in the republican primaries in their states. they launched a seven-figure digital ad campaign today. they share the details first with news hour and i spoke to craig snyder, chair of the group, who said the goal of these new ads is to create a permission structure for republicans who may be considering voting for a democrat for the first time in their life. >> our argument is pretty simple and that is that the vice president is a candidate of the

enter of american politics. she may center left and these voters may be center-right but the keyword in that sentence is center. this is a pragmatic individual who is seeking in this campaign a coalition with people across the aisle. >> these ads are featuring lifelong regular republicans who voted in the primary and who are intending to vote for kamala harris come the november election and they will be featured across platforms like metta, youtube, as well as the max at. >> i was so eager to bring you into this conversation that i jumped the gun. i was speaking with a hair campaign aide who said harry -- they need to tell the story of kamala harris and advocate for her because voters are looking at the top of the ticket, not at the vice presidential race. what do you think he needs to do tonight? >> he's going to have to clear the working class message. one of the issues we have seen is that working class voters are

going to the right and that is a problem for the democratic ticket because we are looking at decades of that level of movement and this is the largest cap the democrats have seen in a longtime kid he will have to talk about her story and narrative but also the economic agenda. the top thing on voters minds is the economy and he will have to sell her economic message and the opportunity economy and what that means for everyday individuals and he's going to have to lean in on women's reproductive rights for you he's debating against jd vance who found himself a way to deter women from both sides of the aisle and everywhere in the middle and he will have to push on that really hard. amna: we know the overarching mantra for the campaigning and tonight's do no harm so for jd vance with no struggle with favorability ratings, what is the potential there to either help or hurt the republicans? >> one of the problems he has had right now is that he has been the focal point of too many attacks. donald trump has had to explain statements that jd vance has

made in the past and one of the stickier attacks has been the childless cat ladies things and the democrats use that very adroitly. his main charge is very different from tim walz's in the sense that while tim walz would be out there trying to tell the story of kamala harris, i think jd vance will be trying to tell the story of kamala harris but he will be trying to fill in the blanks with a bit more of a negative frame. tie her to some of the more extreme positions she has on everything from the economy to immigration to national security and then also really try to focus on what donald trump would do for the future. those would be the main changes. i think one of the other things is tying harris to the biden administration. harris has gotten a little bit of a free pass as an incumbent. she has been the new face of change so i think it is going to be upon him to sort of really bring in that sort of, you know, kind of yoke the harris -- yoke

harris to the failures of the biden administration. geoff: how would you gauge the harris ticket ability to cast themselves as a change ticket? >> for kamala harris, she is doing it on her own. she is a lot further to the left when it comes to things like legalizing marijuana. we've heard her talk about that the other day. we are watching her expand the conversation around abortion rights, women's reproductive rights. that was a sticky point for president biden because of his catholic religion. the other thing i think that she is leaning in on his understanding that the american public is very frustrated with the cost of things, housing, grocery prices, whatever that is, and for her, it is leaning in on the successes of the biden administration but also acknowledging that people are feeling pain. one of the things that was hurtful for president biden was bright and makes is great. people are saying this is not working for me and there was a

failure to acknowledge the fact that many people across this country from rural to urban areas could not afford basic needs so she is leaning in on that, talking about plans and policies to reduce the cost but also speaking to the grievances. >> we know there will not be immediate fact checking from the moderators. there will be online but fact decking. we will have our own fact checking in our coverage as well but who does that resent the biggest challenge to? >> both of them will be very contentious in trying to fact check each other. i don't know if there is necessarily an advantage there. one of the interesting things i think we will see early in the dynamics of this debate as that -- is that these are two candidates who do not like each other and they have been sniping at each other from afar, calling each other into question on their past statements and policies and this will be the first chance for them to really get up close and do it in person. i expect there would be a pretty contentious tone during this

debate. geoff: so what are you watching for tonight? >> the interest of both of these men to rise above it and to talk about policy and to be focused on that. that is what persuadable voters say they want to hear but it's going to be hard for anyone who is a number two to donald trump to not take swings and on the campaign because on yesterday, it was a dozen different things that jason miller, who is one of those involved in debate prep said they want to go after him on so how does vance do that? does he try and change his persona, home he is perceived -- how he is perceived and be above it? or throw punches? geoff: same question to you. what are you watching for tonight? laura: one thing i found interesting is that sources close to the harris campaign told me that they believe jd vance is going to be able to land some punches on tim walz so a bit of expectation setting from the harris campaign that they think jd vance is a far

more experienced debater than tim walz. geoff: our thanks to all of you. our panel will be joining us later tonight for a simulcast of the vice presidential debate. you can watch the debate followed by live analysis right here on pbs and on our website starting at 9:00 p.m. eastern. amna: tens of thousands of dockworkers among the gulf coast walked off the job this morning. william brangham has been covering the story. this essentially freezes operations at ports that handle half of all u.s. imports and exports? >> this strike is being called by the international longshoremen's association and analysts believe this strike could cost the u.s. economy billions of dollars every single day. today, the president of a union local in philadelphia made clear that workers intend to use every single bit of leverage they have.

>> we may be 60,000 members from maine to texas. what we can put in the economy is billions of dollars every day , every day, ok? what we want them to do is share. >> to understand what this means for u.s. consumers, we are joined by peter goodman, global economics correspondent for the new york times and author of how the world ran out of everything. peter goodman, great to see you back on the news hour. we've got about 50,000 workers on strike that 14 major ports across the eastern gulf coast. what are they striking about? what is it that they want? >> they want higher wages. they want a piece of the action after years in which international shipping carriers have racked up record profits, and they also want assurances that there will not be more automation without their permission that major ports. they see automation as a way to replace them with robots.

of course, they are not paranoid to have concluded from history that if you go back to the beginning of containerized shipping in the 1950's, the people who own ships use machinery as a way to make themselves less vulnerable to work stoppages by labor and they would rather pay machines than human beings who can go on strike, who can be homesick, who can be wanting to do other things that moving cargo. >> the u.s. maritime alliance, they said they offered a nearly 50% wage increase, increases to the retirement benefit plans, and specific language about automation in this regard. it sounds like they are not anywhere close to a deal. >> you know, it is unclear how much of this is posturing. maybe they are closed. we are in the final stretch and the union's posturing to try to get more. i mean, their initial demand was reportedly 77% increase in wages over six years.

their argument was not only are the carriers making record profits but their own wages have not kept pace with inflation. in the years when inflation has been very high so they are playing catch up. the automation question, we would have to see the nitty-gritty of the contract proposals to know how far apart they are but we know certainly from spending my day in new work, which is the busiest port on the news close -- east coast, talking to striking dockworkers and looking at their placards that they are very concerned that automation is a way to hurt their livelihood and replace them. >> this is the first major strike along the east coast in almost 50 years. we don't know how long it will last but what are the implications here? who could get hurt by this strike? >> if it doesn't last more than a couple of days, it will end up being a blip because there was so much anticipation of this strike by companies that move product that as one guy, the ceo of flex port it to me, most of

the customers are sitting on two months worth of excess inventory. they diverted shipments to west coast ports, anticipating there will be problems. if this lasts longer than a week or two, then we will really have a problem because ships cannot come into these ports which means they are stuck waiting for a chance to load and unload. any ship that is stuck in a floating queue off sannah or houston is a ship that cannot be deployed somewhere else in the world so suddenly, you have scarcity elsewhere. you also have congestion at ports like los angeles and long beach, these two ports together which are the gateway for roughly 40% of all imported goods reaching the united states by container. people will remember that during the worst of the pandemic, had 50, 60, 70 ships stuck miles off the coast of southern california, waiting for their chance to load or unload at the docks and that could happen again and we could have product shortages.

could have inflation. it could be very bad. we have seen estimates of $5 billion a day in damage if the strike continues. >> can we talk a little bit about the politics of this? we are just a few weeks away from the election. president biden said he will not intervene even though he has the federal authority to do so. what are the political implications if this strike really drives out? >> if it drives out, it will be bad politically because it will probably exacerbate inflation. we could have producshortages and was, this is an election that could hinge on economic sentiments at a time when people are very unhappy about higher consumer prices. the problem for biden and harris is that labor is a core democratic constituency and the optics of stepping in to intervene and undercut the leverage of the union could be very bad, could anger the rank and file. of course, two years ago, biden did something similar in imposing a settlement on a real workers who were threatening to

strike. that also threatened real supply chain disruptions and he imposed a settlement that had lower wages than the union wanted and it had no paid sick leave which really angered rank and file workers so there are no good options here for biden and harris. >> peter goodman of the new york times, always great to talk to you. thank you so much. >> thank you. ♪ amna: finally tonight, remembering baseball legend pete rose. the all-time hitting king who was later banned from the game for life. questions about his legacy and whether he belongs in the hall of fame are still hotly debated. jeffrey brown has our look back at the player better known as "charlie hustle." >> pitch. into left-center. there it is. rose.

that is number 4192. jeffrey: december 11, 19 85, pete rose breaks the record held by ty cobb for career hits. by any measure, rose was one of baseball's greatest ever players, especially in his years as part of the cincinnati reds big red machine. later with the philadelphia phillies. the most valuable player award in 1973, three-time world series champion, three-time batting champion, 17 all-star appearances. >> a fight breaks out. pete rose and buddy harrelson. jeffrey: he was known for a ferocious, nonstop style. >> this is the way rose plays the game, 150% each and every time. jeffrey: sliding headfirst into basis, running to first base after every walk. he spoke a bit with his manager, sparky anderson. >> i just like the wind.

a lot of that is because of my father. jeffrey: the most famous or infamous incident in 1970 all-star game when he ran headfirst into ray fosse, winning the game, but injuring ray fosse in what was essentially a meaningless showcase. rose's on-field exploits would become overshadowed as long rumored concerns over his betting on sports contests including baseball were confirmed in a 1989 report. he was then manager of the reds and was banished from the game by bartlett giamatti. >> the banishment for life of pete rose from baseball is the sad end of a sorry episode. one of the game's greatest players has engaged in a variety of acts which have stained the game. >> regard us of what the commissioner sack today, i did not bet on baseball. >> he denied the charges for years to come, only admitting it publicly in a 2004 autobiography

he also spoke to abc's charles gibson. >> did you bet on baseball? >> yes, i did command that was my mistake, not coming clean a lot earlier. jeffrey: he fought for years to be reinstated as the ruling kept him from any work in baseball and shut out of the hall of fame. beloved and reviled, baseball hero and shamed villain, one of the greats, and the center of one of the games greatest scandals. rose said this in 2015. >> my fans have stuck behind me and i appreciate that. i can't tell you the ongoing support i get everywhere i go, and i think that is probably because of the way i played the game. jeffrey: pete rose died yesterday in clark county, nevada. no cause of death was given. he was 83 years old. for the pbs news hour, i am jeffrey brown. ♪

geoff: and remember to join us at 9:00 p.m. eastern for the for our simulcast of the cbs news vice presidential debate. we'll have live coverage of the debate plus additional analysis. amna: and coming up before our debate coverage tonight on pbs, american experience presents a timely film, "the american vice president." the documentary explores the little-known story of the second-highest office in the land, tracing its evolution from a constitutional afterthought to its current position of enormous political consequence. "the american vice president" -- political consequence. >> mr. vice president, are you prepared to take the oath of office? >> i am. >> it is this weird situation with the vice presidency. it is historically seen as a political death sentence. >> the founding fathers did not give the vice presidency much thought. >> all i have, i would have

given not to be standing here today. >> mortality is a major factor here for presidents. >> you want to be sure there is no gap in terms of where the executive power is. >> it is shocking we don't pay more attention to the seriousness of the office. amna: "the american vice president" airs tonight at 8:00 p.m. eastern on pbs, and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. we'll see you right back here soon. >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular. this is sam. how may i help you? this is a pocket dial. well, somebody's pocket, thought i'd let you know that with consumer cellular, you get nationwide coverage with no contract. that's kind of our thing. have a nice day. ♪

>> moving our economy for 160 years, bnsf, the engine that can access. >> carnegie corporation of new york, working to reduce political polarization through democracy and peace. more information at carnegie.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.

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wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. xfinity internet. made for streaming. hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour and company." here's what's coming up. as israel keeps up the attacks across the middle east, what will the end game be? we discuss the strategy of assassinations. and, how will iran react, as israel delivers battlefield blows to its proxies? i ask expert ali vaez, senior