geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna nawaz is away. on the "news hour" tonight, israel marks one year since hamas' deadly attack as war rages on multiple fronts. >> still, i'm here. so, they will have to understand this. nobody is going because they kill us. nobody is going. geoff: the recovery from hurricane helene is complicated by lies, hoaxes, and conspiracy theories spread by former president trump and far-right extremists. and residents of ukrainian town face an agonizing choice as russian forces advanced within a

mile of their homes. >> 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 judy and peter bloom foundation. >> two retiring executives turn their focus to greyhounds, giving these former race dogs a real chance to win. a raymondjames financial advisor gets to know you, your purpose in the way you give back. life well planned. >> the william and flora you would foundation. supporting institutions to promote a better world. hewlitt.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 "news hour." it was one year ago today that hamas gunmen launched a surprise terror attack on israel, killing and wounding thousands, and abducting hundreds more. in israel, and around the world, memorials marked a year of loss,

a year of trauma, and a year of war that is still unfolding. it was not yet dawn. still, families of israel's victims had already gathered to remember. lighting candles and choking back tears for the more than 360 people who were killed at the site of a music festival one year ago. when the sun finally rose, club music echoed. it was the last song that festival-goers heard on october 7, 2023 before the shooting started. and, in pain laid bare, the solemn ceremony pierced by the anguished wail of a victim's relative. families spoke of the moment everything changed. >> it seems to be like yesterday was the last day we saw him. for us, yesterday was the last day of the old life. geoff: in jerusalem, sirens

blared at 6:29 a.m., believed to be the precise moment hamas-led militants began their attack, massacring more than 1200 people and taking over 200 hostages. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu today visited a memorial. the names of the victims etched forever in iron. and, surrounded by his cabinet, held a minute of silence before insisting on strength in the resulting war. >> since that black day, we have been fighting. this is the war of our existence, the war of resurrection. this is how i would like to officially call the war. we will end the war when we complete all the goals we have set. geoff: and indeed, across the world, others paid tribute. president biden and the first lady honored those lost with a prayer, "god full of mercy," and the lighting of a single candle. the solemn anniversary was also front of mind on the campaign trail. former president donald trump

comforted jewish leaders, and visited a memorial gravesite in queens. his running mate jd vance, in a separate event in washington, d.c. said he, and so many others, share in israel's pain. >> we can't ever let our fellow citizens forget that october 7 was not just an attack on israel, and it was not just an attack on jews. it was an attack on americans. geoff: vice president kamala harris planted a pomegranate tree, which represents hope and righteousness in judaism, on the grounds of her residence, and offered words of support and comfort to israel. >> doug and i pray for the family and loved ones of all of those who were lost. and may their memories be a blessing. geoff: in an interview airing tonight on cbs's "60 minutes," harris said this when pressed on the u.s. relationship with netanyahu. >> do we have a real close ally in prime minister netanyahu? >> i think, with all due

respect, the better question is do we have an important alliance between the american people and the israeli people? and, the answer to that question is yes. geoff: for many palestinians, there was grief for the 42,000 gazans that local health officials say have been killed since the war began. and, there was anger for what many palestinians are calling a genocide at the hands of the israelis. >> a year has passed and israel is stumbling. it is committing massacres against our people, our children, and our houses. geoff: for gaza, this day was not so much an anniversary, but a day like all the others. many were still reeling from israeli airstrikes that tore through a mosque and a shelter for displaced people early on sunday that killed at least 26 and wounded nearly 100 others. and, as the war rages on multiple fronts, israel continued its relentless aerial assault on neighboring lebanon in its pursuit of hezbollah militants.

what were entire blocks in beirut's southern suburbs are now craters. >> nothing is left. our whole lives have changed. we have been displaced to the streets, all of us together. geoff: hezbollah launched some 175 rockets into northern israel in return, a tit-for-tat on a tense day in which israel promised to launch more operations in lebanon along the southern coast. and, as the israeli military told gazans across the north to flee south, and told the displaced in khan younis, already to the south, to flee anywhere else. >> they said evacuate and we evacuated. and every time we're evacuated to the streets, i wish they would eliminate us and end our suffering. geoff: for some, today marks a grim milestone. for others, another day in a life upended by a war with no end in sight.

geoff: the day's other headlines start with hurricane milton, which has rapidly intensified to a category five storm. milton is on track to make landfall in the tampa bay area this week, bringing a life-threatening storm surge of up to 12 feet, a torrent of rain and high winds. authorities and residents there are racing to prepare. for many today, that meant filling sandbags. others have already heeded evacuation orders. all this comes less than two weeks after hurricane helene battered the same area. >> we had a lot of debris left from hurricane helene on florida's gulf coast. that creates a huge hazard if you have a major hurricane hit in that area this week. geoff: helene caused at least 230 deaths.

about half of those fatalities were in north carolina, where apocalyptic scenes still cover the western part of the state. today, the fema administrator once again responded to unsubtantiated claims that her agency isn't doing enough to help the storm's victims. >> absolutely false. we have thousands of people on the ground, not just federal, but also our volunteers and the private sector. and frankly, that type of rhetoric is demoralizing to our staff that have left their families to come here and help the people of north carolina, and we will be here as long as they're needed. geoff: shortly after that press conference, criswell traveled to florida, where she met with state and local officials ahead of hurricane milton. the u.s. supreme court kicked off its new term today. in the months ahead, the justices will hear cases about ghost guns and transgender rights, among others. today, the court declined to hear a biden administration appeal over emergency abortions in texas.

in doing so, the justices left in place a lower court ruling saying hospitals can't be required to perform abortions that go against texas law. the court also turned away an alabama fertility clinic's bid to avoid a wrongful death claim over the destruction of a couple's frozen embryo. the case raised broader concerns about legal protections for in-vitro fertilization nationwide. the justices also declined to hear appeals by singer r. kelly on his child sex-crime conviction and the social media platform x over a search warrant in an election interference case. a russian court sentenced a 72-year-old american man today to nearly seven years in prison on charges of fighting for the ukrainian military. prosecutors say stephen hubbard signed a contract as a mercenary and fought for two months back in 2022 before being captured. he's the first american to be convicted on such charges. hubbard is originally from michigan, but had reportedly been living in ukraine since

2014. russian arrests of americans have become increasingly common, amid concerns that authorities are targeting u.s. citizens for future prisoner swaps. georgia's supreme court has temporarily put back in place a ban on nearly all abortions after about six weeks of pregnancy. the order is meant to give the justices time to consider an appeal of last week's ruling by a lower court judge that found the ban violates the state's constitution. georgia's law was passed in 2019, but didn't take effect until the fall of roe v. wade in 2022. it prohibits most abortions once a detectable human heartbeat is present, usually around six weeks, which is before many women know they are pregnant. 2023 was the driest year for the world's rivers in more than three decades. that's according to a new report by the u.n.'s weather agency. prolonged droughts have drained water levels in some areas to all-time lows, like here in the amazon. the report also noted that

glaciers, which feed many of the world's rivers, suffered the largest loss of mass in half a century last year. the agency's director said that rising global temperatures are partly to blame, and called the state of water "the canary in the coal mine of climate change." and, a pair of americans have won the nobel prize for medicine. the massachusetts-based duo of victor ambros and gary ruvkun were recognized for their discovery of tiny bits of genetic material known as micro rna. a panel in stockholm said their findings, initially studied in worms, are fundamentally important for how organisms develop and function, including humans. after hearing the news, ruvkun said a nobel prize amounts to a quantum leap in terms of recognition for their work. and, ambros explained the potential real-world health implications of micro rna. >> the deeper we understand living systems, the better equipped we are to figure out

what's wrong when these systems go awry in the context of disease. geoff: experts say learning how to manipulate micro rna could one day lead to powerful treatments for diseases like cancer. tomorrow, the nobel for physics will be announced. on wall street today, stocks struggled to start the week. the dow jones industrial average dropped about 400 points, or nearly 1%. the nasdaq gave back more than 200 points. the s&p 500 also ended lower on the day. and, a passing of note. cissy houston, the mother of the late whitney houston and a successful singer in her own right, has died. the two-time grammy winner performed along artists like elvis presley and aretha franklin. she found early success as part of the vocal group the sweet inspirations, who sang backup for several soul singers. branching out on her own, houston wasn't in demand

sessions singer. her vocals could be heard on tracks from artists like beyonce, jimi hendrix, and luther vandross. cissy houston was 91 years old. still to come on the "news hour," tamara keith and amy walter break down the latest political headlines. russian forces advance on a ukrainian town, leaving residents with the painful choice of whether to leave or stay. and a college trains students to become automotive technicians and works to increase diversity in the field. >> this is the pbs news hour from the david m. rubenstein studio at weta studios in washington and in the west at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: among the first targets on the morning of october 7 were communities across southern israel, hit first by rockets, then infiltrated by gunmen who went house to house, killing and kidnapping civilians. among those communities, kibbutz

be'eri, where nick schifrin looks back on a day that has changed the country and the region, and upended the lives of its 1000 residents. some images in this story might be disturbing. nick: one year later, the bachar home in kibbutz be'eri, three miles from the gaza strip, is frozen in horror. evidence of a community that will never be the same. a family that will never be whole. and a safe room that couldn't keep them safe. >> they get into the house and you hear the steps on the floor and they know that people are still alive, are in the safe room. so, they go straight to the safe room. they try to open and you close and they try to open and you close. and they told me open the door. nick: avida bachar lived there with dana, his wife of 32 years, their son carmel, and daughter adar. the home stands as it was 365 days ago. a clock frozen to the time of

the attack on this house, and a safe room where adar bachar recorded these messages for a local chat group. >> they are burning us. we can't -- they burn us. come now, now, now, we're being shot! they shot us! come now. >> they shot me through the door. this one bullet took my arm here in the side, and a few seconds later, i collapsed. carmel, both hands go, because you're holding like that and the bullet goes -- hit his arm. nick: the bullet holes, and his blood and blood from his son, still stain the door. >> help us, please. they threw three grenades at us. please help us, we are dying here. >> my whole leg is injured, my whole leg is punctured. dad, all his legs, carmel, too. mom is going to die. i'm telling you, help us, anyone

who can help us, please. i love you, we love you, we all love you. carmel stay with us. don't close your eyes. mom stay with us, don't die. >> dana, she told me, i can't breathe, adar. she tried to clean a bit and she told adar, adar, it's done. i don't have nothing in this world. and she died. carmel, he told me that when you bury me, please do it with my surfboard. a few seconds later, he got this short breath, and he died. nick: a few weeks later, he and avida led the funeral. a family split in half. a country in mourning and in shock. a son's final wish granted. carmel buried with his surfboard. bachar's leg was amputated and

he spent five months in the hospital. how does your leg feel today? >> good. practicing. nick: today, he is more sure of his step and a lesson taught by tragedy. >> when you say thank you for something, i'm not believing god. but, i can say thank you to dana. about 32 years with me. i met her, she was 17. you got your wife for 32 years? why are you crying? you got everything. you are like more than the rich people in the world, you got everything. so, i can thank you for her about this time. and i can also thank you also to carmel, about 15 years, because i got a great son. nick: be'eri's 1000 residents lived in about three square miles, invaded by more than 340 gunmen, some wearing israeli uniforms. civilians killed point blank.

dead bodies discarded or denied any dignity and taken back to gaza. a couple, embracing each other, burned alive. in total, 101 civilians, more than one tenth of be'eri's population. and more than 30 security personnel were killed, including a friend who fought alongside yonatan alfia. >> the chaos was so high, none of us understood what's going on. nick: alfia is a reservist and former paratrooper. he and others came from all over to join a handful of israeli special forces to fight back. it took them nearly two days to declare be'eri liberated, and bring shocked survivors out of their safe rooms. >> the main feeling of us fighters in this area was that we came to the battle unprepared. i, for example, came only with my personal handgun. when the other side, hamas terrorists, fight us with rpg's, rockets, suicide drones,

automatic weapons, mortar bombs, and a well-prepared command. nick: the idf's own investigation into actions here in be'eri admitted that it failed the residents here. that the early response was characterized by a lack of coordination and command and control. and that the residents of be'eri were largely left on their own for the first seven hours. be'eri's founders came here in 1946, when it was nothing but negev desert. they were pioneers hoping to help create a country and build an agricultural settlement with residents who lived as a commune. >> this kibbutz, there was nothing here because there were no water. everything that you see here is planted. everything is manmade. nick: nili bar sinai has lived here for a half century. lured by yuram bar sinai, one of the kibbutz's original architects. they started a family and advocates for the kibbutz's founding principle, cooperation. >> he's cooperative and not competitive, that he wants to

live together. it's the saddest irony of all that, you know, that we think in such cooperative terms and this is what they do to us. nick: you live on the opposite side on the kibbutz? >> yeah. nick: and your husband came here on the morning of the seventh? >> on bike, yes. nick: one year ago, yuram bar sinai rushed to this house, their daughter's, to help defend her and the grandkids. >> they stopped the car and went up. seven of them. and he shot and they shot and that was it. and my daughter was there with three kids. and she's heard the sound. and then, she heard steps coming and she hoped it was him, but it wasn't. somebody opened with this thing. and she slammed the door on him. and she stayed there holding the the handle for 20 hours, i think. he was a cooperative guy. he could handle anyone, including me. he could take me for 50 years. so, you can imagine. he was a good father and he was,

you know, a local kibbutz like, i mean he was an army officer. and he was playing guitar, he was throwing, you know, it was just the best you could get. nick: 25 miles to the east, another kibbutz, hatzerim, has opened its doors to be'eri's displaced, and built them new prefab houses, including for ayelet hakim. >> what was done to us on the seventh of october is unimaginable. and i don't think anybody invented a word for it. and my life since, it's just, it's just the same. you know, i have a house, but not a home. nick: hakim knows how lucky she is to be here and have her family whole. that's her sister, raz ben ami, abducted to gaza one year ago today, alongside her brother-in-law, ohad ben ami. two of 30 hostages taken from be'eri.

raz was released during last november's ceasefire. but, ohad remains a hostage. >> i tried to tell myself, convince myself he's still alive. because we know about dead hostages. so, if we know about the dead hostages, the other ones that we don't know about are still alive. as far as we know. and hopefully, they'll do something about it and bring him back. nick: back in be'eri today, at the epicenter of their loss, residents rallied for the hostages and hoped they heard a message. you are not alone, they chant. that's also a reminder for themselves. >> we're back to be'eri because this is our place. i'm born here. i'm going to die here. we're going to rebuild be'eri again. >> my mother was killed 50 years

ago at the lod airport. and now, my husband. and still, i'm here. so, they will have to understand this. nobody is going because they kill us. nobody is going. nick: determination despite devastation. but, this community and country are still traumatized. and one year later, be'eri and october 7 remains an open wound. for the "pbs news hour," i'm nick schifrin in kibbutz be'eri, israel. geoff: former president donald trump has for several days now spread lies and spouted conspiracy theories about the federal government's response to hurricane helene. disinformation that's causing real-time confusion among some of those most desperate for help and answers. we are joined by juliette kayyem, former assistant secretary at the department of homeland security.

her latest piece in "the atlantic" is titled "the fog of disaster is getting worse." thank you for being with us. juliette: thanks for having me. geoff: as you note in the piece, the spread of rumors and misinformation has always been a problem during major disasters, especially when the usual channels of communication breakdown. what is a real-world harm inflicted by lies and conspiracy theories about the hurricane relief effort? juliette: there's a couple of direct impacts. the first is how the government works and functions. it needs the support of communities and populations. if there is distrust, rumors, rampant lies being spread, in particular by the former president, it makes the work of government more difficult. the second is the driving of resources. in normal disaster management, a lot of what the government finds out comes from local sources. a mayor, a local newspaper, a

citizen saying this is here, we have a problem there. they drive resources that way. if there's a lot of noise in the system, not just disinformation, someone gets something wrong, but actual misinformation, it actually impedes the ability to move resources. finally, i have talked to people on fema, the concern or animus towards the government that is being spun up by so many right now is causing some of them to have to be deployed in pairs. that basically means you are wasting resources on safety and security issues that don't normally exist in a crisis. when people generally do come together. geoff: donald trump's claims have focused on undermining confidence in the federal response and trying to tie that to his political opponent, kamala harris. here's a sampling of some of the false things he has said in recent days. >> kamala spent all her fema

money, billions of dollars, on housing for illegal migrants, many of whom should not be in our country. they're offering them $750 to people whose homes have been washed away. and yet, we send tens of billions of dollars to foreign countries that most people have never heard of. geoff: here's the fact-check. there is zero basis for claiming that fema disaster money is being diverted to undocumented immigrants. the $750 he mentioned is merely the immediate upfront aid that survivors can get to cover basic supplies in the days after disaster hits. you mentioned you know a lot of people at fema. there's this other false notion, this conspiracy theory that the federal government is trying to buy up land from people. tell me more about that and how it has resonated. juliette: that's right. there are all these rumors basically undermining trust. that is so essential in a crisis. trust not just in your

government, but trust in your other citizens. that people will come together. all of these lies breed distrust among ethnic groups or racial groups or red states and blue states. that has been a lie that trump has been pushing that resources are not going to red states. one very harmful lie but is being spread is that the government -- this is the opportunity for the government to take your house. that is not true. fema cannot take your house. they can pay you and urge you to be bought out so you don't build your home in the same place. it is a long process. it does not happen overnight. but you can imagine people worried about, well, my home is going to be taken away. they believe these lies. what do they do?they don't evacuate . we have a new hurricane, a deadly hurricane coming to florida right now. the idea that people will stay put because of a lie, that the

government is going to take their home if they leave it is going to cost lives. this is why it is not just, oh, these are lies being spread around. they have direct impact on the life, health and safety of millions of people either impacted by helene or all of these hurricanes coming through now. geoff: as a sign of the times, fema has devoted dispelling rumors on its website. what did you make of the federal government's efforts to combat misinformation? juliette: it is much better than it has been before. no one's going to actually believe it. we now know that these lies, they fill the vacuum that has been created by platforms like x, that contribute to the misinformation. political leadership like donald trump that then amplify it. remember, a communications network that is essentially down. it is hard for people to get online.

it is hard for them to get those media resources they used to have. there are all sorts of rumors at this stage. fema has taken a step. i commend republican governors and mayors that are pushing back against a narrative that is being asserted by donald trump as part of his election campaign. it's obscene at this stage, but we will see more of it. geoff: lastly, you right in your p that emergency managers regularly urge people to stockpile 72 hours worth of food and water, but americans should also be planning their disaster media diet with similar care. what does that look like? juliette: this is where, no offense to us, national media matters less. you want to follow local emergency managers, local media radio. people who are in the community and telling you what to do. of course, to listen to what is being asked of you. if evacuations are not done casually, the kinds of

evacuations we are seeing in florida right now are serious. there's a lot of waiting going into them. this is where people before the disaster, much like they would retain 72 hours of water and food, really think about how that i going to get my resources and information in real-time? you can build for that now even before the disaster. geoff: thank you so much for sharing your insights with us. we appreciate it. juliette: thank you. geoff: with just under a month to go before election day, all eyes are on the key battleground states set to decide the presidential race. our politics monday duo is following it all. that is amy walter of "the cook political report with amy walter," and tamara keith of npr, who joins us from one of those key states, north carolina. tam, you are in raleigh this evening. jd vance has said it would be

very hard for the trump campaign to win this election if they don't hold onto north reline up, so how are things looking -- north carolina, so how are things looking there? tamara: he's actually right about that. it has been very close at the presidential level going back several cycles. republicans still feel very confident about this state. however, we know that the trump campaign realizes that they could lose. that is why trump and vance keep traveling here. and, what i have been learning about today, and i will be looking into more, in particular, the state is working on figuring out how to respond to the hurricane and the state election board met today to talk about making sure that people can actually vote when early voting begins later this month. and, certainly, the campaigns are also working on figuring out how to mobilize voters in areas that have been affected by the storm. where getting to a polling place

is not the top priority or the easiest thing right now. geoff: amy, this race is exceedingly close with less than 30 days ago. what stands out for you in terms of polling and the early voting so far? amy: to me, what stands out is the fact that we've had a lot happen over the course of a few months. geoff: fact-check -- true. amy: it seems every week, we have one of these events that is really quite remarkable. yet, the numbers just really don't move that much. what you saw, the most movement in this race was from the time that biden drops out, harris is on the ticket. she consolidates much of the democratic base. now, we have not seen much movement one way or the other it is just continuingly on this very marginal -- it is the knife's edge of polling. so, what we are looking at for every single one of these states -- this is why to tam's point in north carolina, literally every

single one of those voters in a place that has been destroyed by a hurricane, making sure that they are able to cast a ballot. these are 13 counties that have been impacted. it is obviously not as many people as say a big urban area but that is still in estate that was decided by 70,000 voters. the other thing that really matters and it has mattered all along, but in sharper focus now is the state of pennsylvania. it is the one place where both campaigns are basically spending equal amounts of money and time and energy. both candidates have a path to win without pennsylvania, but it is very difficult. so, when we think about where is the place where this election will be decided, you look at the kinds of voters in pennsylvania that are the most important and we will be talking about them i am sure going into this next election. but, in between, suburban

voters, the gender gap, and these working-class voters, all seeming to move in different directions and at what pace they move is going to tell us who wins. geoff: let's talk about the candidates because vice president harris is spinning the rest of the week hitting the airwaves with a series of major media interviews. she will sit down with howard stern, stephen colbert, the hosts of the view. she also sat down with the call her daddy podcast. we said we were going to get it wrong. she was asked about arkansas governor sarah huckabee sander'' criticism that kamala harris did not have anyone to keep her humble because she does not have biological children. here's how she responded. >> i don't think she understands that there are a whole lot of women out here who, one, are not aspiring to be humble. family comes in many forms and i

think that increasingly, you know, all of us understand that, you know, this is not the 1950's anymore. geoff: this appearance was aimed at reaching younger women. walk us through the campaign strategy of having vice president harris speak to different media figures and platforms. tamara: that podcast is i think the number two spotify podcast. it is a usually popular podcast with young people, in particular young women. and the struggle they harris campaign has had, and there is a corollary to the trump campaign, but the struggle they've had is reaching voters who do not want to be reached. these are people who are actively avoiding politics. well, that is a podcast where people go to talk about sex and other things. and, politics came to them in the form of this interview with

vice president harris. if you look at the swath of interview she's doing this week, she's hitting a lot of demographics. men, younger men listen to howard stern. "the view" is another audience. "60 minutes" has the largest news audience. she had a lot of earned media. she was just getting a lot of attention just for being new than for her convention. the debate and now it is a phase of the campaign where their campaign is now going out there and trying harder to get to voters, like everywhere. especially this univision town hall is another area, another key demographic for voters. geoff: donald trump returned to butler, pennsylvania, the sight of the first assassination attempt. he and some members of his family suggested that democrats are somehow behind these attempts on his life.

take a listen to this. >> over the past eight years, those who want to stop us from achieving this future have slandered me, impeached me, indicted me, tried to throw me off the ballot, and who knows, maybe even tried to kill me. >> with all the hatred they have spewed at president trump, it was only a matter of time before somebody tried to kill him. >> guys, they tried to kill him. they tried to kill him, and it's because of the democratic party. they can't do anything right. geoff: claims without regard for evidence or propriety. what are your takeaways? amy: remember when we were at the rnc and it was just days after that assassination attempt and we had republican official after republican official say this event has changed donald trump. this is going to be a new donald trump. this is going to be a more unifying, more somber donald trump. and, i think, as we saw in his

final speech at the rnc, that donald trump showed up for about half of it and then the regular donald trump showed up. but, this was also a donald trump who is feeling incredible confident and the party was feeling very confident they were going to win. the donald trump that returned to butler is a candidate that feels like they are not winning or at least it is to close for comfort. so, going back into how am i going to be able to get my team, my side fired up? what he traditionally goes back to is not a unifying message, not how we will go together to bring the country back from a really traumatic place, it is it has to be us versus them. i think we will see this continue for the next 30 days. geoff: tam, one less topic i want to get to. the new york times putting a focus on donald trump's age and

mental cognition. they write that donald trump's speeches have grown harsher, less focused, more profane and increasingly fixated on the past. there is this question of where is the outrage and criticism that joe biden saw when the question was focused on his age and mental capacity? tamara: certainly, that debate performance that president biden had really opened the floodgates of conversations about his health, conversations that voters had been having already. i think that former president trump, his health, his age are fair game. he is now the oldest candidate in the race and he has never released a full health report. he has said he has aced his cognitive exams, but is never released non-superlative medical reports. geoff: tamara keith and amy walter, thank you both. appreciate it.

♪ the frontlines in ukraine's east are long and deadly, but all along them, as russian and ukrainian forces hammer each other day in and day out, civilians are caught in between. and, as we now too often see in war, it is the civilians who sometimes suffer the most. in this case, one of the most agonizing choices -- to stay and face the unknown or flee? special correspondent jack hewson reports from eastern ukraine. jack: the wind is blowing against ukraine in the deserted streets of myrnohrad, a name which means peace town. the familiar signs of russia's destructive advance are everywhere. ruins, rubble, and the distant sound of shellfire. russia is on the brink of taking this town, two miles east of the

vital strategic hub of pokrovsk. but, there is little left to occupy. 28,000 people have been evacuated from here in the last two weeks alone, and that's because the russians have been making gains towards here at 300 meters to a kilometer a day, the fastest gains they've made since the original invasion in 2022. as often in this war, it is civilians that suffer most. at the daily evacuation bus are some of the last to leave. among them is inna. she already escaped bombardment in avdiivka, a city 25 miles southeast, that fell in february. >> after i survived all those horrible things, when i was woken up by the glass that was shattering and falling on me, i'm not ready to feel that fear again. when i heard the shots here, my body jerked each time uncontrollably. my nervous system can't stand that. i'm scared. i just want to wake up and see

the sunshine and hear birds twittering, you know, i want silence. jack: it's scenes like these that inna is fleeing. in the pokrovsk area, shellfire has terrorized civilians in recent weeks, prompting a government evacuation. but, some residents are determined to stay. we drive to the town's southern limits to find them. past these tank defenses, it's open road until the front. russians guns are just a few miles from here, and drones may be watching, so we seek cover in the back streets. searching for water and basic supplies, we find valentina and oleksandr. >> oh, god, this shelling, i just don't know what to say. jack: we ask them, for the all the dangers and their obvious

distress, why do they choose to stay? >> let it be what it will be. we don't have anywhere to go. >> we're old and we are afraid to lose our house. >> also, money is needed to leave. to rent an apartment somewhere else is too expensive, and we don't have money for that. >> it's scary in here and we are very afraid. >> so, let it just be what it comes. jack: but while some are unable to leave, others are not inclined. the people who wait, or "zhduny," is a term meaning "russian sympathizer." many don't want to show their faces. they have turned their backs on kyiv. fearing judgement, they refuse to talk. but even for those that hate the russians, bitterness and paranoia are growing in donbas. back at the evac bus, there is anger at how the area's defenses have crumbled.

>> why weren't the russians stopped? why weren't those bastards stopped in avdiivka? people here are afraid and suffering. jack: we try to interview this man further. >> and then, rumors spread that donbas was given up to the russians. but, that's not the point. the point is that it was necessary to defend it in advance. jack: as we put a microphone on him, he is pulled away by his wife. even in their anger, some fear being judged pro-russian if they are critical of the war effort. ukraine's surprise incursion into kursk in august has exacerbated disquiet in donbas. images of ukrainian soldiers occupying russian towns and villages has provided the country a much-needed morale boost and challenged the narrative that kyiv is losing. >> today, commander-in-chief syrskyi has already reported several times on the frontline situation, and on our actions to push the war out into the aggressor's territory.

jack: but, military analysts have questioned the wisdom of this move. while ukraine has gained in kursk losses have accelerated across donbas, notably in vuhledar, toretsk, chasiv yar, and here in the pokrovsk area. if russia takes pokrovsk, it cuts off the region's most-strategic supply route and threatens to split the eastern front in two. for now, the evacuation continues, but with pokrovsk train station in artillery range, evacuees instead are bussed 60 miles northwest. we're at pavlohrad train station where a large number of evacuees from nearby pokrovsk and other areas under threat from the russians have come to get out of here. there's a general sense obviously of resentment against the invading russian forces, but some are also angry at how the handling of the defense has gone in recent months. as troops have been pushed to kursk, they wonder has it come at the expense of defending places like pokrovsk.

we asked mariia, who recently fled the town of ukrainsk 75 miles southeast of here, if she supported the kursk offensive. >> i have some thoughts about that, but i don't want to share and say them out loud. but they should not have done that. jack: outmanned and outgunned, there are only hard choices for ukraine's leadership. but for mariia, losing her home has been harder. >> i never cried so hard. even at my husband's funeral, i wasn't crying as hard as i was crying while leaving my city. pardon my tears. jack: mariia and many others journey into an uncertain future. waving goodbye to homes they may never see again. for the "pbs news hour," i'm jack hewson in donbas, ukraine. ♪

geoff: from self-driving cars to electric vehicles, automobiles are becoming more technologically advanced, and there's a shortage of workers who have the diverse skills needed to keep them on the road. ali rogin visited one college focused on training the next generation of the automotive industry, including many people who may have once thought there wasn't a place for them there. it's part of our series, "rethinking college." >> for this assignment, we will be tearing down the engines like you guys are. ali: at weber state university in layton, utah, it's no coincidence that the automotive program shares a building with computer science. >> we have autonomous vehicles now. we have adaptive cruise control. we have a full-on hybrid and full-on electric vehicles now. so, the old days of just being able to pick up a wrench and work on your car are falling farther and farther behind. ali: weber state instructor caid kroeger trains his students for the cars and the jobs of the

future. >> you are no longer just your average mechanic that's diagnosing base engine concerns. you are i.t., you are an engineer, you are a tech expert at this point. ali: weber has been keeping students on the cutting edge of the auto industry since 1922, not long after henry ford launched the model t. the university works with companies like toyota, gm, and chrysler to make sure students are learning the most in-demand skills. many students already work in the field and can translate their professional certifications into credits towards an associates' degree. they can stop there, or keep going, or come back later for their bachelor of science in automotive technology. >> fundamental knowledge about their particular field is important to us and we build that up. but, we build it up in a kind of a gradated or stackable way so that students can earn degrees and credentials as they move along. ali: brian rague is the associate dean of the college of engineering, applied science and technology. it seems like this hybrid

approach to higher education is really well geared to this national moment that we're in. >> it requires of the university to be attuned to what the needs are out there. you get that information from the industry partners, and then, you make the curriculum kind of fit those needs. that is not an easy thing to do at a university. ali: one of the biggest needs is the workforce. according to one study, the u.s. auto industry will need more than 300,000 new auto techs over the next four years to keep up with demand. many of those jobs will need to be more technical than mechanical, making it an opportune time for the horsepower industry to rethink manpower. women represent almost half the american workforce, but only about a quarter of the automotive industry. experts say that's a missed opportunity. >> i think there are a lot of fantastic women and there are a lot of brilliant women that are in other industries that we are missing. ali: jessica slater is the department chair of weber's automotive program.

>> where would the automotive industry be now if those women had been a part of it? if maybe they had entertained a stem or an engineering field, where would we be now? it's a curious thought. i think we would be somewhere else entirely. ali: today, women are a little over 10% of the undergrad auto program at weber and the college hopes to boost those numbers, in part by offering college-level courses to students at 16 local high schools. >> we want to get in front of these young women again before any preconceptions are developed on, you know, this is what i'm capable of doing because i'm a woman. we want to get to them when they're 12 years old and they think they can do whatever a boy can do because they can. ali: it can be easy for young girls to lose that attitude. luckily, 20-year-old delanie long held on to it. >> since i was young, my dad always worked on cars and stuff like that. and he actually tried and show my brother everything and get him into it. so, i just tagged along and i enjoyed it more than my brother.

ali: you're a woman going into potentially a very, right now, male-dominated industry. how do you feel about that? >> at first, it was really intimidating, to be honest. but, i do feel welcome here. it's fun to show, like, the boys what's up. ali: not just the boys. her father, too. >> it's also fun, like teaching him some things i've learned here that he didn't know. he's shocked, but proud of me for sure. ali: but, attitudes take longer to change than tires. a 2020 survey of the auto industry found that 91% of female respondents believed there was a bias towards men for leadership positions. only 47% of men felt that way. but, weber alum beth miya, who now works for the cummins engine and generator company, says the industry has improved since she started out over two decades ago. >> i couldn't get a job turning wrenches when i first started out in the automotive industry, even though i had more experience than some of my male counterparts. it's obviously a very, very different world, you know, i mean, i graduated from weber state in like 2004.

i think that, you know, just the assumptions that females shouldn't be there is gone. ali: but, miya says she still deals with sexism in the industry. >> everywhere i go, they think i am the marketing girl or the secretary that's helping. and then, i get up and i'm presenting the technical information. i always feel that i have to prove myself when my male counterparts can walk up and they just listen. i have to kind of show them why i'm there first. and so, that's still an issue. ali: so, miya is paying it forward, speaking when she can to younger students who are curious about the automotive field. >> it would have been nice for me to see a female instructor and all that would have been encouraging for sure. as cheesy as it sounds, anywhere i can actually appear and be a female is a good thing. ali: caid kroeger says the industry would benefit from more women joining. >> i have found that our female students, the women in the

industry, approach diagnostic in a very unique way and they end up being great at solving problems. ali: plus, these days, the auto industry isn't just looking for gearheads. >> much like the days of old, we still get the students that love automotive for the horsepower, the loud noises. but, the other side of that, though, too, is now i have a lot of students that are interested in i.t., that are still interested in cars or interested in battery design. ali: jessica slater says there's more opportunity in automotive than outsiders realize. >> there's a misconception if you go into automotive, you're just going to be a grease monkey, that's all you're good for. and that is entirely inaccurate. there are so many channels and avenues for this industry that people just don't know about. ali: that's why weber state is working to change stereotypes about the industry, and the people who work in it. for the "pbs news hour," i'm ali rogin in layton, utah.

geoff: join us again here tomorrow night for the latest as hurricane milton charts a path towards florida's already storm-battered gulf coast. and that's the "news hour" for tonight. i'm geoff bennett. for all of us here, thank you for spending part of your evening with us. >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- >> on an american cruise line's journey, travelers experience the maritime heritage and culture of new england islands. our fleet of small cruise ships explore american landscapes, seaside villages, and historic harbors, where you can experience local customs and cuisine. american cruise lines. proud sponsor of pbs news hour. >> i love seeing interns succeed. i love seeing them come back and

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