♪ amna: good evening. geoff: on the news hour tonight, civilians in both gaza and lebanon are once again caught in the crossfire while the u.s. promises to send an air defense system to israel. amna: vice president kamala harris works to shore up support from black voters while donald trump ramps up his dangerous

political rhetoric. geoff: and how prominent colleges are reaching out to students in rural areas that are often overlooked. >> because colleges do not come visit them. ♪ announcer: major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- ♪ the ongoing support of these individuals and institutins. and friends of the news hour including leonard and norma klorfine and the judy and peter blum kovler foundation. >> two retiring executives turned their focus to greyhounds giving these former raised dogs a real chance to win.

a raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your purpose and the way you give back. life well planned. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation for more than 50 years advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world at hewlett.org. announcer: and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ ♪ announcer: 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.

a weekend of death and instruction gave way to another day of carnage in gaza and lebanon as israeli forces struck multiple sites in both places killing dozens. israel suffered its own losses as its troops in the north came under fire from hezbollah. amna: that drone attack killed four israeli soldiers but focus is on gaza and an attack outside a major hospital in gaza's north. a warning that images and accounts of the story are disturbing. senga -- burned alive in a hospital bed, and iv that was supposed to heal became shackles. there were screams echoing through the night as an israeli airstrike hit a makeshift tent village setting the tens and parts of the building on blaze. >> there were people trapped

inside the fire and we were unable to pull them out. a human being being burned alive in front of your eyes and new cannot rescue them. reporter: at least four people were killed and dozens injured. today, as the smoke cleared, doctors attempted to tend their burns without painkillers or ointments. your vipers shifted through the rubble of their temporary homes. >> everything has burned. i am a mother of seven daughters. the tent is collapsed. all of our clothing and belongings are gone. where is the safety? we call on all countries to stand by our side and stop the war on us. we are exhausted and have had enough. reporter: nearby a night of horror for displaced families as the idf struck a school where families were seeking -- were seeking shelter. the attack killed at least 22 people including 15 children.

>> they were sleeping unarmed. they are innocent. she was only two years old. this morning they removed their bodies but the fire was still everywhere. and then there was another wave of airstrikes. the injured and dead are everywhere. we have had enough of this. have mercy on us. they took away their childhoods. they took away our smiles. they have taken away every beautiful detail in our lives. reporter: her son says all he wants is freedom from the ward. he doesn't fear death anymore. >> the fire was burning for three hours while we were carrying the dead and collecting the cut off fingers which we put in a box and took them to the hospital. everyone is going to die. we won't keep going from place to place. reporter: in israel last night and idf unit in haifa was hit by a hezbollah drone.

even as the united states sends a new missile defense system to israel. israelis worry their air defense cannot handle the increasing threat from drones. >> we are required to provide better protection. our mission is to better protect our soldiers and citizens. reporter: as idf troops push further across the border into south lebanon, is really soldiers -- israeli soldiers posted videos of themselves inside lebanese homes. several u.n. peacekeepers were wounded and the israeli prime minister reiterated his demand that peacekeepers withdraw. >> it is time for you to remove them from hezbollah's strongholds. the idf has repeatedly asked for this and only met with refusals. the refusal to have iq a these

soldiers makes them hostages of hezbollah. reporter: the u.n. maintains they must stay under international law and it is incumbent on israeli and lebanese forces to ensure their safety. the idf demanded the evacuation of a further 20 towns and villages and a third of the country is under fire. yesterday, a century old mosque was raised to the ground. 2300 people in lebanon are dead and 11,000 injured. the idf says it will tell lebanese when they can return but many of their homes and villages have been flattened and the bombing campaign has escalated across the country. christian towns in the north have been targeted for the first time and in the capital the strengths continue to expand often without warning. mohammed was left reeling after the streets housing his family home and business in a quiet

neighborhood were hit within five minutes of each other. the area had become home to dozens of displaced families that fled from the south. his family survived but many in their building did not. >> we are all families here. no weapons or hezbollah leaders or anything. i don't know what they are thinking. when you see people dead and body parts all over the place, you don't know what to feel especially after the terror we experienced after the strike. reporter: nearly 100,000 lebanese have fled syria taking their chances. after one airstrike to mandate, she and her teenage daughter left home with what they could carry. >> our heartwe will definitely . i consider my country to be lebanon but one cannot trust israeli. reporter: as a conflict spreads

the region is no longer boiling, it is burning. for the pbs news hour in beirut. amna: watching the latest developments for us here is our foreign affairs correspondent, nick schifrin. let's begin with the u.s. deployment of an air defense system to israel. tell us about that. reporter: this is the first time u.s. forces will deploy into israel since the october 7 attack. about 100 service members will arrive with a battery. it defense against ballistic missiles and it will be used alongside israeli missile defense against iranian attacks. this is two weeks after iran's missiles got through. that would help defend israel should iran launch another attack to -- in response to an

israeli attack on iran. u.s. officials tell me that they believe israel's leadership is listening but there is no guarantee about their final decision. as for the battery, the president said it will be to protect israel but the u.s. only has seven of them all over the war -- all over the world and they are very expensive. and there is no way to reap -- replenish it. amna: let me ask you about gaza, we have seen israel intensify its us all in northern gaza. the u.n. has condemned the large number of civilian casualties. what is behind that intensification? reporter: a national security council spokesperson said this afternoon that what happened there is "horrifying."

the idf statement said they targeted terrorists operating inside a command-and-control center in a parking lot filled with displaced individuals and the fire was most likely caused by secondary explosions and they are reviewing the incident. the israeli rules of engagement allow israel to target hamas fighters even of surrounded by civilians, even if surrounded by women and children. and israel calls that hamas using human -- using civilians as human shields. airstrike is part of a larger israeli effort in northern gaza. the israeli military has reentered northern gaza. as hamas fighters have regrouped. u.s. officials say hamas fighters have only regrouped

because israel has no strategy for the day after. all aid into northern gaza has been blocked leaving israel's military to deny a plan to starve out northern gaza to create a permanent military zone. today israel published these images, some 40 trucks arriving in northern gaza. u.s. officials have been pushing israel to allow more aid to go in and warning that if it didn't , the u.s. could declare that israel was officially blocking eight and that -- and that could cause a loss of spending by the u.s. in israel. amna: and on lebanon, what is the israeli goal there? reporter: israeli officials say they are trying to get 60,000 people displaced from northern israel and back into his their homes. and to do that they have to go into southern lebanon.

we saw a video released today. israeli forces releasing a hezbollah command and control bunker. the bottom line is the route that israel would need to go in with armored vehicles run right through the u.n. basis. today u.s. says unifil must not be harmed. the last time israel promised a limited invasion of lebanon and that was 1982 and they stayed for 18 years. ♪ geoff: turning our focus to the 2024 presidential race -- kamala harris over the weekend made stops in north carolina while out west former president donald trump ratcheted up his political rhetoric.

tonight, both candidates are in opposite corners of one of the most important states in the election, pennsylvania. reporter: this afternoon kamala harris jetted off to the country's largest battleground states. the vice president is doing in pennsylvania as she did in north carolina over the weekend. she is energizing black voters. meanwhile donald trump increased his extreme rhetoric describing some american citizens as enemies. >> i think the bigger problem is the enemy from within. reporter: in a fox interview yesterday donald trump was asked if election day would be peaceful. >> we have some very bad people. and it should be easily handled by come in if necessary, the national guard or the military. >> this terminology is a terminology of dictators.

initially, he has been doing anti-immigrant rhetoric since 2015. it was keeping people out so you should militarize the border. but now it is the enemy from within and the enemy can be anywhere even in the heart lands such as springfield. and he is talking about using various types of armed forces, national guard, and he says even the military to go and liberate these territories. and this is very dangerous rhetoric. it is turning armed forces against a domestic population and that is what dictators have done in the past. reporter: his language did not stop at fox news. on saturday he described american towns as being invaded as a rally in -- at a rally in coachella, california. >> we are like an occupied country. november 5 will be liberation

day in america. >> this is a strategy, the ultimate goal is to convince americans that democracy is failing and that strongman leadership to fix everything and donald trump would say i alone can fix it is supposed to be the answer. as soon as he would take over and go back to the white house, all of our problems would be solved. but this is based on a fictional reality created by misinformation. reporter: and donald trump made a new immigration pledge -- adding 10,000 agents to border patrol ranks and bump up their salaries. >> i will ask congress immediately for a 10% raise for all agents. and a $10,000 each retention and signing bonus. so we are going to retain them. reporter: across the country at

her own rally in greenville, north carolina, harris who released her own medical records on saturday took a swing at the former presidents transparency. >> he refuses to release his medical records. i've done it. every other presidential candidate in modern era has done it. he is unwilling to do a 60 minutes interview. like every other major party candidate has done for more than half a century. he is unwilling to meet for a second debate. reporter: back in pennsylvania where the stakes couldn't be higher, this festival described by vendors as three days of god, guns and motorcycles, drew huge crowds of trump voters.

with november for three weeks away, die hard trump supporters are counting down the days. >> we are 23 days. it is like a 10-year-old waiting for santa claus. reporter: for the pbs news hour. ♪ geoff: we start the day's other news with the aftermath of the recent hurricanes. fema has had to make operational adjustments to its work in north carolina following threats to its personnel which follows reports over the weekend about a militia targeting government employees. a 44-year-old man was arrested and charged with a single misdemeanor offense. he was released on bond and local authorities tell the news hour he was acting alone. fema is trying to stamp out misinformation about the federal government's response to

hurricanes helene and milton. officials in taiwan say chin launched large-scale military exercises to warn against taiwanese independence. taiwan's defense ministry says beijing used several warships and 125 military aircraft, record for a single day, to surround the island. officials in taipei say they believe beijing was simulating a blockade of taipei courts and shipping lanes. >> this irrational and provocative military exercise threatens security in the taiwan strait and undermines the security of the endo pacific region and threatens the international order. geoff: china says the drilled were intended to punish taiwan's president after he said in a speech that china has no right to represent taiwan. sri lankan authorities say 7000 people have been evacuated and three have died in severe

flooding. heavy downpours have inundated streets, fields and homes in many parts of that island nation including areas around the capital where schools were closed today. sri lanka has been dealing with severe weather conditions since may mostly caused by monsoon rains. a nasa spacecraft lifted off on a mission to explore jupiter's moon for signs of the building blocks of life. >> 3, 2, 1 -- ignition. and lift off. geoff: the unmanned clipper launched from florida's kennedy space center aboard spacex rocket to begin its 5 -- year journey. it will cover 1.8 million miles before entering orbit around jupiter. the clipper well then do dozens of flybys of the moon looking at what is believed to be a vast ocean beneath its icy surface. if conditions are found to be favorable, it is possible that

life could exist on other ocean worlds much like earth. on wall street stocks rose to new all-time highs. the dow jones industrial average gained about 200 points to close above 43,000 for the first time ever. the nasdaq added more than 100 50 points. the s&p 500 tacked on 44 point four a new record close of its own. and we have a passing of notes. equal pay icon lilly ledbetter has died. her decision to speak out about not being paid as her male colleagues paved the way for the fair pay act in her name. she sued her old employer, does it ring court ultimately told her in a 2000 seven rolling that she had fallen outside the statute of limitations. the lilly ledbetter fair pair act changed that making it easier for workers to pay -- to sue for fair pay discrimination.

and at the 2012 democratic national convention she made clear the fight for equal pay was far from over. >> women who faced pay discrimination like i did now can get their day in court. that was the first step. but it cannot be the last because women still earn just $.77 for every dollar that men make. those pennies add up to real money. geoff: more than a decade later the u.s. census bureau says women still only make about $.83 on the dollar compared to men. mr. obama posted on social media today that lilly ledbetter never set out to be a trailblazer. she just wanted to be paid the same as a man for her hard work. lilly ledbetter was 86 years old. still to come on the news hour, we speak with the winner of the nobel prize in economics about his work in global inequality. and a new initiative aims to

connect more rural students to colleges. and a growing number of latinos who don't speak spanish are read --are reclaiming their identities. >> this is the pbs news hour from w eta in washington and the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. amna: with just three weeks to go until election day, the presidential race is still in a dead heat with both campaigns looking to cut into their opponents margins. for more on strategies and policies i'm joined by our politics monday do well, amy walter and tamara keith of npr. let's take a quick look and set the stage. new national polls. nbc news -- harris at 48 and trump with 48%. the second is from abc news and harris has 49 and trump with

47%. that is within the margin of error. a close race getting closer. >> if you think about where we were say in september, and of september, it had been a pretty momentous few weeks for kamala harris. she gets the nomination. the base rallies around her quickly and we go to the dnc. she has a successful debate. the momentum -- i don't know if the word is plateaued or hit a wall and there is a sign in national polls that there has been some backsliding and that trump is doing better at independent voters. all three networks came out with their national surveys. there is the sense that on the issues that -- there is also the fact that on the issues that voters are most concerned about like the economy, donald trump still has the lead. the most important thing in the nbc poll to me is that voters

look at donald trump's presidency retroactively a lot rosier than they did a year ago. and probably more rosy than they did when he was sitting as president. harris' focus is on trying to make the case that he should not be brought back into the white house but right now use almost -- or a plurality of voters in the nbc poll saying they thought trump's policies helped them. amna: we have been seeing the harris campaign rolling out surrogates including president biden, president clinton trying to reach male voters, lachman specifically. we saw some new economic proposals from the harris campaign today. >> that demographic is important. in a race that will be decided on the margins, she cannot afford to lose these voters. i was in north carolina last week reporting in a part of the state where black voter turnout

was down in 2022. and it has been falling in recent years. talking to voters, went to barbershops and i spoke with voters when joe biden was on the ballot and i went back and spoke to them again. though euphoria at her rallies was not present in those barbershops. and a few people said specifically that while they were supporting harris, they weren't sure that all of their male friends and family would because they don't believe their friends and family are ready for a woman leader, for a female president. and they are talking to their friends about it and going back and forth but this is a real concern that was voiced by former president obama at a campaign event in pittsburgh. he said, the enthusiasm particularly among black men wasn't -- isn't what it was when it was for him.

he called out some people that weren't feeling it. does that persuade? does that move people to the polls? i don't know. but they are being quite open about their challenges and she will be appearing with charlamagne tha god doing a town hall style event. trying to reach that key demographic. amna: so much more to unpack that we won't have time for but the harris campaign also announced she will do an interview with fox in pennsylvania on wednesday. is it risky for the democratic nominee to go on the pro-trump network? >> we talk about fighting on the margins. the other margin is where she does with white voters especially white voters with a college degree. for as much as her coalition is not looking like the biden coalition with voters of color, where she is doing better than biden did and if it holds than

any other democrat has ever done is with white college-educated voters. that again, you are not going to win over a lot of fox voters but i think what she is also trying to do is goad donald trump. she needs donald trump to be in the spotlight. more specifically, some of the things he says and does -- just like the recent piece, when he said, we have to worry about the enemy within. aching that a centerpiece of her campaign and one way to do that is to go on sources of news that are not necessarily friendly. amna: there has been an escalation of some of the more dangerous kinds of rhetoric from donald trump now saying that if he was reelected he would go after the enemy from within with

the u.s. military. and jd vance once again refused to say in an interview that donald trump lost the election. these are antidemocratic messages. >> these are antidemocratic messages. however, he is not trying to win over new voters. he is not trying to expand into suburban women that didn't support him last time and probably won't this time. he isn't trying to win over a people that language alarming. he is trying to excite people that want that, who are here for it. and who are excited about the idea of returning the country do something that it was in a different time. that is why you have him running these ads on repeat with different narrators targeting different demographics talking about trans athletes and harris supporting trans people.

saying she is for they them and not us. this is messaging targeted at young white male voters and others who are uncomfortable with changes happening in society and who are looking to him to take them back and make america great again, if you will. and so that language, yes, it will turn off the people that are already not going to vote for him but it could excite the people he needs to get off the couch. in the competition with the couch, he is escalating the rhetoric to make the stakes higher. amna: we will hear from harris this week who will lean into exactly that which is -- we cannot allow this kind of rhetoric or let this person back into the white house. ramping up the same distress signals to her voters who might be sitting on the couch.

that is where both of them are right now. the greater fear is not that they will lose swing voters to the other side but to just sitting at home. amna: competition with the couch. amy walter, tamera, great to see you both. thank you. >> you are welcome. >> you are welcome. ♪ geoff: the nobel prize of economics was awarded to a trio of economists who have published work that looks at what accounts for inequalities and how the role of government, institutions and colonialism effective prosperity generations later. the award was awarded to james robinson, an individual from m.i.t. and his colleague, simon johnson, also from m.i.t.. simon johnson joins us now to talk about the award and some of the findings. congratulations.

recount the moment that you learned you were a nobel prize winner. >> i woke up at 6:00 which is my normal time and i looked at my phone, routine and saw some text messages. i did not believe it so i did some checking on the internet until i was convinced that i had indeed won the prize with my colleagues. geoff: your work examines the different types of colonialism and how it ended up with some nations being poor and some being rich. >> a big part of the prosperity gap particularly with countries formerly con -- cologne realized by the europeans was the way they were colonial iced. in some places european colonial authorities decided to bring in more europeans and then they wanted to make that attractive so they would give more rights to the people they were trying to bring in. in other places they just try to control the local population. and those places set up

institutions and a lot of those initial ones, including those that were bad for most people, have persisted or the effects have lasted in ways that we still live with today. geoff: what drew you to this type of research? >> i personally came to this after 10 years of working in the former eastern bloc after the collapse of the soviet union. i was frustrated with the fact that some of our standard economic tools were not working as expected. i started to think about it and study corruption, the unofficial economy and i met my colleagues who work already studying political economy and we came up with an idea of digging deeply into what causes institutions, social, political and economic arrangements to be so different across countries. geoff: how do you see the role

of institutions in countries around the world right now given the rise of popular-ism and authoritarianism across the globe? >> i think there is a big challenge for institutions and democracy. over the last four decades we have not delivered on the kind of shared prosperity that was previously promised in the postwar period. people are disappointed. the middle class has been squeezed. this is a problem in the u.s. and other industrial countries. there has been a delegitimization of the institutions and a challenge in a way that politics has been organized. and this is real. an artificial intelligence is arriving, it is a major new challenge to economic opportunities for the middle class. it is an opportunity to do things better but it is not an option we have grasped yet. geoff: what does that look like, harnessing technology and making it accessible to the greatest amount of people for the greatest good? >> think about your iphone.

or any mobile technology. is it helping people with a lot of education? people that can be quite sophisticated in the use of computers? or is it empowering people without education to acquire the education and skills to manage their lives better and be more productive in all kinds of jobs? that is a critical element. if you can boost people's productivity and deliver high wages, then you have the basis of a genuine shared prosperity. but if any technology that arrives including our digital technologies undermine the middle class, if the focus of corporate america is replacing people with machines and algorithms, the we have a problem because you are pushing more people down and out of the middle class. geoff: winning this award is such incredible validation of your work. how might it influence you going forward? >> we have a research center

called shaping the future of work. we already have the agenda we believe will carry us for some decades which is how to get more good jobs in the united states and around the world? it is simple to state the problem but hard to deliver. it requires and all of society approach and not just academics. there is a lot of work for corporate people. i work in a business school. any productive and hard conversations to be had there. it is also an issue for policymakers. we can do better. some episodes in the past we have managed things including the technology driven benefits. we need a course correction. geoff: nobel prize-winng economist, simon johnson. thank you for joining us and again, congratulations. >> thank you very much. ♪

amna: students in rural communities graduate from high school at a rate above the national average. but when it comes to applying to college or getting their degrees, the same students' attendance and completion rates are well below their peers. stephanie sy reports from new mexico on an initiative to help narrow the gap. it is part of our series, rethinking college. reporter: questa is a remote village in new mexico. it's high school has just 18 seniors and yet on a recent fall morning, a bus full of representatives from selective universities had arrived for a recruiting visit. >> your identity and community is a strength and an asset and not a disadvantage. reporter: college access advocate explained to 11th and 12th graders why the colleges had come. >> they were not built for you

and they have identified that. but, they are realizing that they're missing that voice on their campus. reporter: last year at less than half of the graduates enrolled in college and those that did into in-state schools according to this counselor. >> these kids have not had the exposure that there is opportunity out there. reporter: in rural new mexico, 20% of young adults complete college compared to 32 percent in urban areas. >> a lot of them don't know what colleges are out there. reporter: there is a lot of reasons for that statistic. >> they don't know how to pay for college. they don't know the process of applying. reporter: and they may never have thought of going out of state. marjorie is an admissions officer at the university of chicago. she grew up in a small town in georgia and can relate. >> they are not given the same information that they're puro's are getting in urban areas.

colleges don't visit them. they don't get opportunities to ask questions or learn about different scholarships. reporter: traveling for hours to schools where there may be only a few dozen students to meet with takes real commitment and nonprofit funding. >> we want to give you a chance to think about college research. reporter: the admission officers held workshops prompting students to consider various aspects of college such as campus social life. there were sessions on paying for college. where students tried running the numbers. >> you are going to look at a financial aid package. reporter: and a college fair where kids could collect information about visiting schools and speak with college representatives one-on-one. >> my mom is excited for me to go to college because she did not. reporter: she was curious about

the out-of-state visitors but even though she is a top student -- >> i think about tuition so i think about in-state college. >> what did you think about the colors today? reporter: the counselor says that finances way on the minds of many here. >> my upperclassmen say they want to go to college but that their parents didn't go and their parents don't have money. and the economic challenges are big here. we are part of their free lunch program because all of our students are below the poverty limits. reporter: maddie told the group they could qualify for serious tuition discounts. >> some schools in the room will cost $90,000 for a year. that college is going to cost you zero dollars to go there. reporter: but for dominguez, raised by a single mother, the idea of traveling out of state is daunting. >> it would be hard to leave new

mexico because i've never been far from my family. you just start a new chapter in your life and go far from what you have known. reporter: what do you hope college would mean for your future? >> that i could provide more. i want to be able to provide for myself and future kids. i want them to not have to worry. reporter: 30 miles south, taos high school was the next stop. at that college fair this junior , santiago, visited every table. >> i want to become a doctor. but i also want to gain experiences of independence and being away from home. reporter: he has ambitions to go out of state for college even though it would be a big change. >> being part of a small community, when you go to a bigger college, you would definitely feel a culture shock. reporter: she says that can be a

barrier for other students here that are first-generation. >> it is difficult to get here, to leave here. culturally, this is a singular stage. leaving new mexico for a first-generation student or low income student means you would be the first of your family to go. reporter: this teacher encourages his students to keep an open mind. >> we have a lot of students that stayed in our community for whom the college path may not have been for them. we want to build the next set of traditions for our students. maybe a four year university or college degree is something to strive for. reporter: mine set aside, rural students off -- often phase academic barriers. new mexico ranks last in education among all u.s. states

and thd to last in child economic well-being. in many rural districts operate on a four day school week with strained budgets. >> these students might not have access to dual roman, honors classes or ap classes. which might limit which schools they can even apply to depending on admissions requirements. reporter: dominquez says questa doesn't have as many advanced classes at the -- as other places. there are certain courses they don't offer here. columbia admissions officer page says they do take into account what resources applicants have access to at their high school. >> that type of contextual information makes my job easier at trying to uncover if the student is doing as much as they can. reporter: within the confines of

the curriculum offered at their school. >> exactly. reporter: bentley from the university of chicago says the schools that came here are committed to improving access. >> these are pretty competitive colleges. you already have a lot of students applying. but what we don't have is something representative of the united states as a whole. when we looked at the first analysis of our class we found that 3% of our entire campus was students coming from small-town high schools. more than 30% of the united states are small-town so they were massively underrepresented. reporter: is because rural students were not applying or because they weren't admitted? >> a little of both but mostly because they were not applying. and we looked at our pipelines, they were pretty scarce. reporter: bentley leaves a network of colleges trying to expand the pipelines and her message to rural students --

>> you are welcome to, we value you and you bring an important perspective that a lot of our campuses are missing. and we want to support you. reporter: bentley has seen progress at her institution where their share of rural students has increased to 9%. the hope is that these bus doors lead to long-term relationships between rural high schools and top-tier colleges. for the pbs news hour i'm stephanie sy in northern new mexico. ♪ geoff: there are 65 million people in the u.s. who identify as has panic or latino and within that large demographic group are many different and vibrant cultures. latin america plays a big part in those cultural identities and is predominantly a spanish-speaking region. but younger generations are asking if language is crucial to

determining identity. and what about hispanic americans that don't speak spanish. our own reporter tells us more. reporter: language can connect people to their culture and be a source of pride. for others it can bring embarrassment and anxiety. 78% of u.s. hispanics say it is not necessary to speak the language to identify as latino or to the culture. but 54% of those that speak little or no spanish say other latinos have made them feel badly about it. we spoke to latinos around the u.s. who shared their spanish-speaking journeys with us. >> i am gracie mercedes. i'm from new york and my family is from dominican republic. >> i live in los angeles, california. i identify as latina, indigenous. >> i currently reside in northern california.

i identify myself as a second generation chicano. >> my name is carmen blanco. i identify as latina. i also identify as african-american. growing up my grandmother would speak spanish to me and i would answer back in english. i grew up in the 80's and 90's at a time when assimilation was everything. >> spanish was my first language but when i got to high school, i lost my ability to speak spanish. >> my father is from nicaragua. i'm first-generation. my mother is african-american. i did not really grow up with it in the household. my father was in that assimilation phase. english was really important for him. >> growing up, i didn't speak spanish fluently. it wasn't until my grandma passed away in 2016 when it

really sparked my interest. >> my latin identity has been challenged because of my spanish fluency. >> definitely shame is felt and given from family members, community members and it is not a good feeling. i have taken it upon myself to learn more because i want to connect with my family and i want to be of service to my community. >> there was always a feeling of being the only family member that was biracial and also not mastering the language. i definitely felt ostracized. >> not all latinos speak spanish. some speak portuguese or french. the fact that we are saying that you have to speak spanish to be considered latino is wrong. >> i've always identified as being latino. >> since i've gotten older i've

recognized that there are different aspects to the culture. i've been able to connect with the culture though i may not have the fluency. >> as a person of color in the united states, it is often hard to feel truly american because we are constantly other-ed and put in a box and i think that is the experience of so many latinos that are second, third generation. >> it is not just the language, the music, the food, the culture and the traditions --there are a lot of things. >> not speaking the language does not mean you are not a value, that you don't matter or belong. you have to give yourself grace for your story and how that has contributed to where you're spanish is today. amna: i'm joined by the director of race from the pew research center.

i'm just going to say right off the bat that i cannot speak spanish. i was not taught spanish by my parents. i'm fourth-generation mexican-american. and many that he myself incded , feel stuck between two cultures. a lot of it is tied to fluency and the spanish language. why is that? >> 65 million people -- many are recent immigrants who are in many cases spanish dominant. you have the u.s. born children of immigrant parents who grew up speaking english and spanish. the fastest growing group is the group that is of the third or higher generation meaning they were born and the united states to u.s.-born parents. you're in a mix where new immigrants are arriving that are spanish-speaking but we also have a growing prideful latino population that also speaks mostly english. amna: in your study and some

that we spoke with expressed embarrassment. they had the language or lost -- and lost it or if they never spoke spanish and say they often face jokes or teasing from other latinos shaming them for that. i experienced that myself in high school. why do you think this is such a common experience? >> there is a certain amount of street credibility --are you truly hispanic? you only archewell he has panic if you speak spanish. that is a common theme. you also see it in recent cultural events. there was an event where a young boy was interviewed by a spanish language television channel. the young boy did not speak spanish. immediately you could hear commentary from the studio and the background where people referred to him as a " i don't

know" kid. amna: i want to talk about that trend. shaming for not being fluent. a "no sabo kid". what is the new trend? >> as you noted from the report, 78% of latino adults say you don't have to speak spanish to be considered latino in the nation today. there are many latinos who are proud to be latinos. and at the same time they are also proud to say they don't speak spanish. amna: how do different generations and age groups view this? is there a group when you're --is there a gap?

>> older generations are more likely to be spanish dominant. what you do use -- but you do see that it is younger latinos experiencing that shaming. more than 60% of college students that are latino say they have been shamed at some point for not speaking spanish. that speaks to the current phenomena. another part of this is data from the census bureau. among those latinos 5-17, only half speak spanish at home. you look at older latinos and 70% plus speak spanish at home. there is a mismatch. amna: so many tie hispanic heritage to the language but many don't speak the language, they may speak portuguese or other languages.

what about the other languages and how they do or don't fit into being hispanic? >> the federal definition of hispanic is clear about people that trace their roots to the spanish-speaking countries of latin america and spain. --'s countries are not part of the definition. but the general sense among the public is that if you want to be latino, you are latino and that includes people of resilient background. this is not just a story about has panic -- spanish speakers. amna: is knowing the language of the culture critical to keeping the culture alive? >> more than half we speak to say it is important. however, there are other ways to do it. and many has panic parents want their kids to speak spanish. but going back to the data and the experiences, the proof is in the pudding. many u.s.-born latinos are not necessarily picking up spanish or not being fluent in it.

they may take high school or college courses. amna: i would like to say that my family and i believe yours still has the culture. it is an important part of the upbringing. mark hugo lopez, thank you for your time. >> thank you. ♪ amna:amna: and that is the news hour for tonight. geoff: for all of us here at the pbs news hour, thank you for spending part of your evening with us. announcer: major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- on an american cruise line's journey, travelers's experience of heritage and culture of the maine coast and new england islands. our fleet of small cruise ships explore american landscapes, seaside villages, and historic harbors. where you can experience a customs and cuisine.

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♪ hello, everyone and welcome to "amanpour & co." here is what's coming up. israel attacks a residential neighborhood in beirut, the deadliest strikes there since 2006. correspondent ben wedeman reports from lebanon. then 369 days of failure. "atlantic" staff writer franklin ford dissects america's feckless middle east policy.