geoff: good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna: and i'm amna nawaz. on the "newshour" tonight, with election day fast approaching, donald trump tries to appeal to women voters while kamala harris courts disenchanted republicans. geoff: a former justice department official raises questions about whether developments in donald trump's election interference case could improperly influence the presidential race. amna: and judy woodruff visits the swing state of nevada where voters who changed parties the last election cycle could hold

the key to the white house. >> these kind of independent swing voters break at the very end. and so how they break in 2024 is going to matter a great deal in determining who wins this election. ♪ >> 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. >> a successful business owner sells his company and restores his father's historic jazz club with his son. a raymond james financial advisor gets to know you, your passions, and the way you bring people together. life well planned.

>> the kettering foundation working to advance inclusive democracies. learn more at kettering.org. >> as somebody coming out of college, it can be very nerve-racking not knowing what to expect, whether you like your job or not, whether you make friends, whether you fit in. it is such an inclusive place to work. you just feel like you are valued. >> upholding family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. supported by the macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. more information at the website

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. amna: welcome to the newshour. with just 20 days until election day, for both 2024 presidential candidates, the battle is on, to find and reach the few remaining voters who can still be persuaded. geoff: vice president kamala harris and former president donald trump held events today to try and broaden their appeal. here is lisa desjardins. lisa: former president donald trump digging in at a fox town hall, repeating that other americans are the enemy and making a declaration unprecedented in modern times. he would use the military to quash dissent. mr. trump: it is the enemy from

within. they are very dangerous. they are marxists and communists and fascists. lisa: he made these comments on sunday. mr. trump: the bigger problem are the people from within p it should be very easily handled if necessary by the military. lisa: those words vice president harris has called unhinged. vp. harris: donald trump is increasingly unstable and as has been said by the people who works closely with him even when he was president, he is unfit to be president of the united states. lisa: this as trump was aiming to reach across the gender gap in front of an all woman audience where trump face questions on reproductive rights, claiming to be pro-ivf despite republicans recently blocking ivf legislation at the u.s. capitol. on abortion, the man responsible for overturning roe v. wade says

he now thinks some red states have gone too far with restrictions. mr. trump: they are too tough and those are going to be redone because already, there is a movement in those states. lisa: he faces a voting gender gap. men support the former president by 16 points but women back his opponent by 14 points. the hunt for votes meant reaching across the aisle. vp. harris: no matter your party , no matter who you voted for last time, there is a place for you in this campaign. lisa: in pennsylvania, a nearly must win for her, harris appeared with nearly 100 republicans who disavowed donald trump. her message was for conservatives and others unhappy with the former president. vp. harris: the coalition we have built has room for everyone who is ready to turn the page on the chaos and instability of donald trump. lisa: with it came broader

symbolism. the event was near the site where george washington famously crossed the delaware river during the revolutionary war. the president who urged voters to choose country over politics. vp. harris: to compose the constitution of the united states, that work was not easy. the founders often disagreed, often quite passionately. in the end, the constitution of the united states laid out the foundations of our democracy. and now, the baton is in our hands. lisa: the vice president's courtship of those outside her party continues tonight when she sits down for an interview with that there -- brett. today, jd vance also stopped in pennsylvania. the swing state will see all four candidates this week as he campaigned for 2024. he was asked about 2020 and why

he has not admitted trump lost. he gave a new response, fueling the lie that trump won. sen. vance: did donald trump lose the election? not by the words i would use, ok? lisa: in georgia, the first day of early voting on tuesday shattered records there with over 300,000 ballots cast. state election officials say they expect another potential record today. in polling places, the enthusiasm was palpable. >> this was the most important voting season of our lifetime. it is imperative that every single person vote to save democracy. >> i think this is an existential election and it will have implications for my children and three grandsons and more to come. lisa: in georgia, two court rulings blocked efforts by republican officials to change the rules in the state. one ruling barred election officials from refusing to certify the results and another said no to making the state

can't the final ballots by hand. double-double decisions -- pivotal decisions in a pivotal race. for the newshour, i am lisa desjardins. amna: we are joined by james carville. he served as a lead advisor on bill clinton's presidential campaign and is the subject of a new documentary titled carville: winning is everything, stupid, which chronicles his efforts to get president biden to step down from the top of the ticket. james, welcome back to the newshour. james: thank you. always a pleasure. i have been a big fan for a long time. amna: let me start by getting your take on the state of the race. there is a new npr analysis out today in the seven battleground states. it looks like mr. trump has his first need in the polling average in those specific battleground states since harris moved to the top of the ticket. it is a microscopic lead, less than half a percentage point but i wonder what you make of that.

james: everybody says this. in every election but one in this century, both candidates are going about thinking they have a chance to win the election. 2008 being the only kind of exception to that. the polling is tight. what generally happens is the election breaks one way or the other until the end but we will wait and see. i have no prediction of anything like that. i am trying to work as hard as i can but everything indicates type polling everywhere. >> was 20 days left, what do you think it would take to break one way or the next? there's no big events left on the calendar, right? james: to be honest, i think the campaign is getting sharper, getting more visible. and frankly, he's getting, if anything, less attached to reality even for him than i am seeing before.

some of the stuff he is out there saying is really wild and they have the weird rally. i don't know what you call it. i think he is suffering from what i call madness and dementia at the same time. considerable evidence that he is in a pretty severe state of deterioration right now and we will have to keep monitoring and i think she's doing a little better. i really do. amna: i want to ask you about one piece of advice you wrote. to be the certified fresh candidate, miss harris must clearly and decisively break from mr. biden on a set of policy priorities she believes would define her presidency. in your view, has she done that enough? james: she has an 81 page economic plan. like many other people, she was asked a question in town hall.

she pointed to all the things she is going to do. biden has been somewhat different from president obama was and president clinton was. she has her own ideas that articulated a plan and i think she could talk about that more and more, i do. absolutely. amna: she has adopted a somewhat unconventional media strategy which you referenced. she has been going on podcasts to directly reach millions of women on fox, to directly speak to republicans and this reports she could go on joe rogan's show, howard stern. i these potentially high-risk, high reward scenarios for her? james: i'm not worried about it anymore. she has performed at the convention, performed during the debate. she has been on any number of different media platforms and she has performed well. i think what theyre trying to

do is get her in front of as many people as they possibly can and the strategy they decided, they were going to do a lot of interviews and that's fine. seeing a lot more visibility from her than i had seen between the debate this past weekend. i'm very encouraged. she's doing a lot of different kinds of forms to talk to different kinds of people. i think that is a good idea and doing it quite well, frankly. amna: the gender gap in this race is one of the defining features of this campaign cycle. you have harris with a 14 point lead among women and trump with a 16 point lead among men and we have seen harris's support with young men in particular has been sliding what is your view on that? why do you think so many men have trouble supporting her? james: let's just back up a second. what she is really doing well is

with white college-educated men. that is a key demographic for her. it is true that she's not doing quite as well with young non--- nonwhite males as she did in 2020 but she is doing better and i think she will have to improve on that, absolutely. i have been very outspoken about the democrats -- 48% of this. we had to take it seriously and i think we can do a little bit better and there is no doubt that we are not hitting the numbers we need to among males. amna: i want to ask you about the money in all of this, too. the latest filing shows democrats have a huge fundraising advantage over the last three months over the republicans and former president trump. in these last 20 days, what kind of a different scan that money make and where should it go? james: if it did not make any difference, everybody is trying

to raise as much as they can so somebody thinks it matters but you look at volunteers, i mean, they are flooded with volunteers. trump has no ground so we have never known what it means to have a robust effort, robust voter contact effort in every place i talked to, democrats are really putting this together. he's not putting anything together. he's trying to outsource some of it. we have a fundraising advantage, enthusiasm advantage, volunteer advantage. i think we have a visibility advantage and you have to keep pressing your advantage as you get closer and closer to election day and hopefully, i tell people that it is just the way it is. as you get close to the election, it will break it. that is the hope. i think it can happen. amna: always great to hear your insights and your thoughts.

that is james carville joining us tonight. james, thank you. james: thank you very much. you bet. amna: in today's other news, israel resumed punishing airstrikes on beirut's southern suburbs and across central and southern lebanon. more than 130 strikes targeted what israel says were hezbollah operatives and locations. israel's military said 90 hezbollah rockets were fired into northern israel today. layla milana allen reports. >> slim hopes for a cease-fire dashed. yesterday, lebanon's permanent service that he had guarantees from the united states that the bombing of beirut would cease. today's skyline told a different story. after a few days of relief, the bombardment of the suburbs

resumed, heavier than ever. there has been a huge increase in the frequency of the airstrikes here and much of these southern suburbs are devastated. it is one of the most heavily populated areas around beirut and that means tens of thousands of people have to leave their homes. >> a meeting of the mayor and his municipal workers became this region's next graveyard. the target of the israeli strike was the crisis management hub, meeting to organize and distribute aid to displaced families. the mayor and his team were all killed. the death toll is 16 and rising. more than 50 were injured. as volunteer first responders tried to save their colleagues, they sent out desperate voice messages. >> the mayor's inside. everyone is inside. no one could survive this. they are all dead. >> when the idf told residents to leave earlier this month, ox

med and his team refused. they felt they had to stay to help the thousands of lebanese still stuck. increasingly, off by the bombardment in towns and villages across the governorate. she is one of a group of mothers and beirut, raising funds to provide essentials to the more than one point 2 million lebanese made homeless by this war. she was coordinating with the team. >> they specifically said they wanted milk and baby diapers. two hours later, we got the news that there was a raid on the municipality that was organizing all the relief efforts and we learned the person we were on the phone with was killed. >> many here from across lebanon's political and religious spectrum increasingly view this as a war waged against them not just by israel but by the united states. including some of its own citizens. >> they had every opportunity to have stopped this more and they refused. they refused.

they continue to send weapons to israel with taxes i am paying for because i am an american citizen. i mean, that carte blanche the israelis, what it means is -- what it means is killing, what it means is destruction. it means destroying villages and homes, destroying our trust in the world. we have lost trust in the world. >> and every day as the world watches, more death and destruction unfolds here. for the pbs news hour, iam in bayrou. amna: also today -- i am in beirut. amna: the five-part plan includes a formal invitation to join nato and permission to use western supplied weapons to strike deep into russian territory among other measures. both have met with resistance by ukraine's allies so far but speaking to lawmakers, zelenskyy

insisted these measures are needed. >> we can he and stte together with our partners must change the circumstances so the war ends regardless of what putin wants. we must all change the circumstances so russia is forced to peace. >> russian officials brushed off the plan, calling it a set of incoherent slogans and western leaders do not fully support zelenskyy's plan either with the head of nato stopping short of an endorsement. >> i will not comment on every element in the plan but it is of course a strong signal from zelenskyy and his team that they are now taking it forward and it doesn't mean that i can say i support the whole plan. >> zelenskyy spoke to president biden who declined to support the victory plan. the white house did announce a new 425 million dollars security package for ukraine today.

nebraska's high court ruled today that felons who have completed their sentences can register to vote. the state legislature passed a law that restored voting rights for felons earlier this year but the republican secretary of state, bob, deemed it unconstitutional. today's ruling said he did not have authority to do that. the decision could have national implications given that mostly red nebraska splits its electoral college votes by congressional district. many who can register to vote live in the omaha area. their ballots could impact a closely contacted house race there. bencic in nevada has sentenced a former las vegas area politician to 28 years in prison for the murder of investigative journalist jeff garamendi of the las vegas review journal. a jury found him guilty of killing him in august after he wrote articles critical of his conduct in office. the judge added eight years to the minimum 20 year sentence set

by the jury, citing his use of a deadly weapon in the crime. he had denied killing him. his attorney says he plans to appeal the conviction. in nigeria, more than 140 people including children are confirmed dead after a gasoline tanker crashed on a highway and burst into flames. dozens more were injured. it happened in the northern state. nigeria is the most populous country in africa but it lacks an efficient railway system to transport cargo petrol. cellphone video captured the fiery scene overnight. by morning, the tank's wreckage was still up turned on the road. witnesses say many victims were trying to salvage the spilled fuel with cups and buckets when the truck exploded into flames. >> when you travel around nigeria, what you see is hunger and when people get hunger, when they get hungry, they get desperate. it is an opportunity to make

people -- we take that chance. i think we need to do better as a community and nation. people cannot just continue to live a life of hunger. amna: deadly tanker accidents are common in nigeria where vehicles often fail to meet international standards on preventing fuel spillage. 48 people were killed in a similar crash next month. italy made it illegal for people to go abroad to have children through surrogacy. the senate passed the measure today after a seven hour debate. the government's conservative majority says it is seeking to protect women's dignity. critics say it is meant to target same-sex couples. italians who seek surrogacy in places like the u.s. or canada can face up to two years in jail and more than $1 million in fines. on wall street today, stocks ended higher after some strong earnings from corporate america. the dow jones industrial average added more than 300 points to

close back above the 43,000 point level. the nasdaq rose about 50 points on the day and the s&p 500 also ended in positive territory. family members, pop stars, and dignitaries of the democratic party paid tribute today to ethel kennedy, the late widow of robert f kennedy, at a funeral service and barack obama attended. joe biden delivered the eulogy. >> ethel was a hero in her own right, full of character, full of integrity and empathy. genuine empathy. amna: ethel kennedy carried on her late husband's work following his assassination in 1968 and she also raised their 11 children. at the kennedy died last week at the age of 96. still to come on the news hour swing voters in nevada explained their views on this year's election. the efforts to find thousands of

north carolina residents still missing weeks after hurricane helene. a russian metal sculptor who opposes the wording ukraine makes a new life in oregon. >> this is the pbs news hour from the rubinstein studio at w eta in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. geoff: as donald trump's election interference case continues to make its way through a d.c. federal court, some legal analysts are questioning the justice department's handling of the case. after a federal judge this month unsealed a legal brief through jack smith containing new evidence in the case, it debate has focused on why the doj allowed the collection of evidence to be released so close to election day with some arguing it could influence the presidential race. one of those scholars is jack

cole smith whose recent essay is titled jack smith owes us an explanation. he is a former assistant attorney general in the george w. bush administration and now a professor at harvard law. we spoke with him yesterday. thanks for being with us. jack: thanks for having me. geoff: you take particular issue with the timing of his brief. what do you say to those who argue the special counsel was simply complying with the rules that the judge in this case laid out? >> the justice department has a set of norms, one of which is the so-called 60 day rule which says don't take action or make a disclosure close to the election that could impact the election. the judge asked the special counsel whether he had any objection to having these close to the election. he said he had no objection at all so he seemed to think there was no prohibition on doing so and he had no objection to her

timing and releasing it before the election. geoff: it is my understanding that the special counsel has set on the record that the justice department's internal so-called 60 day rule does not apply to cases that have already been charged or that are being litigated, to which he would say what? >> i don't think he has made that clear at all. you are referring to the miami documents case. there was a very important inspector general report in 2018. they talked about the 60 day rule. the dominant understanding is conveyed in that report. the rule prohibits actions close to the election that impact the election. there were some people that believed what you just said but the inspector general said in 2018 that this rule needs clarity and the justice department never gave clarity. they have not explained why this

disclosure was consistent with these norms. geoff: is there a rule or policy or expectation that prosecutors conversely sit and wait for the outcome of an election that could determine whether or not this case could even move forward? >> this case is completely unprecedented. i don't know what the proper expectation is with regard to that question. the point i have raised is there is this rule. there is a big issue in 2016, an issue in 2020 about not having disclosures to impact the election. the only thing i am asking for is for the department to explain clearly why it thinks that what it did is consistent with that norm. it is important. the department has these norms to ensure that not only that they in fact do not act politically but they appear not to act politically. this is an unprecedented

prosecution of a former president. the biden administration is headed by the president and vice president who were and are running against this president and this election and in this context, more than any other context in the departments history because this is the most sensitive investigation in its history, it needs to be clear and explicit about why it is complying with these norms and it just has not been. geoff: there are also those who take issue with the supreme court's role in all of this. the conservative majority refused jack smith's request to expedite consideration of donald trump's claim of presidential immunity and the ultimate ruling on immunity has further delayed consideration. amna: it is -- >> it is true that it further delayed consideration. that is absolutely true. that is irrelevant to smith's duty to comply with the norms about not impacting or appearing to impact an election so what the court did, and we can debate that if you like, but what the

court did day delay the trial which smith was pushing. it also raised questions under department norms. there is no doubt that what the court did delayed the trial but that is not relevant to smith's duties in the run-up to the election. geoff: why hasn't the doj cleared up these perceived questions about the 60 day rule? jack: it is a real mystery to me . the inspector general in a widely read report in 2018 explained that this rule was ambiguous and uncertain and needed to be clarified here he asked for clarification and it has been six years now and the department has not clarified and i don't know why. it is exactly what i think the department should be doing. they should have clarified it in my opinion before this most sensitive of prosecutions and they should have explained what the rules were upfront before they started applying them in secret. let me be clear, i do believe

the department believes it is complying with all relevant norms. it has stated so. attorney general garland has stated so and i believe they believe that p and all i am asking for is that they explain it to the public so it does not appear like they are allowing disclosures that could impact the election. geoff: does this raise questions for you about the work or approach moving forward? >> this is the only case where this is relevant for the election. i don't believe there is anything going on right now and the documents case that i am aware of that implicates this concern. geoff: jack goldsmith, thank you so much for sharing your insights. we appreciate it. jack: thank you so much. amna: in a deeply divided electorate, one group of voters is increasingly coveted by both sides. swing voters. in the swing state of nevada,

judy woodruff recently listened to two groups of voters who chose donald trump in 2016 and joe biden in 2020 as they discussed their thoughts on the state of the race in the country. it is part of our ongoing series , america at a crossroads. judy: las vegas, the crown jewel of the critical swing state of nevada. the most important democratic stronghold in a hotly contested purple state. vegas is a hub for tourism, entertainment, and spectacle, but behind the flashing lights of the strip, democrats and republicans are scrambling to shore up support for their respective candidates. and even in a state where democrats narrowly won in 2016 and 2020, one name moves above the rest. >> i thought trump as a businessman would be able to do something that professional politicians could not do.

>> i like the fact that he is a businessman. i thought that could bring fresh ideas to the table for the economy and he was not a politician which i thought would be refreshing. judy: everyone in these two focus groups voted for donald trump in 2016. >> was i duped? i was. the election was passed. trump did not ever shut up because i thought maybe if he gets in, he will shut up. he didn't. >> i was gung ho trump. but then after we went through that time period, started kind of going off the rails a little bit. judy: in 2020, they soured on president trump and checked the box for joe biden. >> i am sure they both want the best for the country. trump, i just feel, say or do something wrong and just cause more chaos. once i thought that for all of the positives he may have created in his four years, his vice of this was ridiculous.

you know, he could not leave the good things alone. he had to follow it up with something that made you shake your head and go, really? judy: republican strategist and hope of the focused group podcast, sarah longwell. >> a lot of times, elections are decided by the way these independent swing voters break at the very end and so how they break in 2024 is going to matter a great deal in determining who winds this election. judy: she is the publisher of the bulwark, a center-right media outlet opposed to donald trump. she runs focus groups like these across the country using a nonpartisan approach to better understand all voters thinking. from the control room of vegas pbs, i watched as she engaged with these 14 nevadans on a range of issues. judy: is it possible to know what percentage roughly of the electorate this group represents

, the trump to biden voters? >> people who went from trump to bite and is much closer to a six or 7% swing but they are determinative when it comes to who winds elections in these critical swing states. judy: their reactions to president biden's performance so far were mixed. how many people would give joe biden an a during his time as president? how many people would give him a c? about four. how many people would give him a d? are you an f? >> we are at a high rate right now food insecurity. people don't know where they are going to eat so as long as that is the case, then the economy is not moving forward for the masses of this country. >> things are too expensive nowadays. the cost-of-living is going up and we definitely need to, you

know, find a president or get a president able to lead this country in the right way. judy: for some of these voters, vice president harris's ties to the top of the ticket was cause for enthusiasm. >> how many of you were glad to see vice president kamala harris take over for joe biden question might raise your hand if you were glad. >> i was not for her and when it went in, i was so surprised. i felt like i had a wrath of fresh air. it was shocking to me but i think it was like, oh my gosh, somebody else. it infused so much energy and i was like, i like this. >> i want some forward thinking. i don't want to be living back like being told what to do. women can't do this. if a guy can get pregnant, they would probably be abortion clinics on every corner, you know? it is just sad that that is the way it seems. trump wants that power and his followers are like, yes.

judy: others felt they needed to know more about her. >> i am uncertain about her and there is just a feeling i'm going to do lots more research before i vote. there are rumors and things i need to research more. still leaning towards him a little bit more. >> rumors about her like what kind of rumors? >> sleeping her way to the top. anybody can say that about a woman. i am tired of hearing that. hopefully, it's not true. >> what about the men who slept their way to the top? there's a lot of them, i'm serious. trump has done a lot of that. there you go. [laughter] >> i'm tired of hearing about women. she went to school. >> why bring it up now? >> these are ruors i need to research. >> she was elected to all of her positions so there is no sleeping her way to the top with that. judy: we heard skepticism about vice president harris's record

on the economy. despite low unemployment, falling inflation, and record numbers in the markets. >> i don't see a real plan that we are going to have a better economy in four years. >> i think it's going to be four more years of biden onyx and what we have just gone through with present -- bidenomics. judy: there were concerns about how former president trump would use his power if reelected. >> he's running from himself to keep himself out of jail. i don't trust him. i don't believe he respects the constitution and he will come in and he will change as much as he can and i worry it will become a dictatorship in the united states. >> she snagged that dictatorship or for me right before i was going to use it. i would not be surprised if he tries to pass a thing where he can say president for the rest of his life. >> does the fact that donald

trump didn't engage in the peaceful transfer of power, does that bother you? >> it bothered me but at the same time, i have watched trump ever since he was in new york in the 1980's. i expect -- i don't expect him to do the right thing in most circumstances because he never has before but the rhetoric and what have you between the two parties, it was there before trump showed up. he just brought it to light to the american public did not know what was going on. judy: i asked her why she thought some of these voters were planning on voting for trump despite their concerns. >> people have a lot of reasons when it comes to donald trump. they have very firm opinions on him and so the question really is for a lot of these swing voters, no matter how much they dislike donald trump, does their belief that donald trump is better for the economy or

immigration, does that move them back to him or have they decided that they still dislike donald trump and are willing to vote for a democrat or are they actually being persuaded that kamala harris is the right person at this moment? >> there was one thing most everyone agreed on. >> how many of you think our politics has gotten worse? why do you think it has gotten worse? >> more political violence in our own country. look at the insurrection. that is unprecedented, terrible, and people do not respect each other's differences anymore. you cannot have a civil conversation if you disagree with a lot of people. you are seen as the enemy on both sides. >> there is more money in this country than there has ever been and each party is trying to get some of that money and they are trying to grab at it with both hands. >> do you think there is something really wrong with how people in the country are viewing politics right now? >> everyone has the right to

their own opinion and it should not cause violence or any disdain between people because it is really not that important. i mean, it is important. are our relationships with each other important? judy: many said they feel political divisions in their own families. >> i sister and my parents don't speak and they have not for three years now and what sparked it was politics. judy: on the question of which candidate would do more to get the country together, the consensus among these swing voters was clear. >> do you think the country will become more divided under trump or less divided under trump? how many do you think it will get more divided under trump? how many think it will become less divided under trump? less divided? how many of you think trump will bring us back

together and heal our divides? >> i think trump will make the economy better but he will not bring us back together. >> even people who were saying they were going to vote for donald trump do not think he will do anything to heal the divisions in the country and i think that this is something that is very common among this type of swing voter which is if they can get there on donald trump and they are willing to go back and vote for him again, it is almost -- almost always in spite of his personality, in spite of his rhetoric, in spite of the fact that they don't necessarily think he is good for the country in a number of ways but they tend to on a couple of key issues believe that donald trump would be better than more or less any democrat. amna: for this still undecided voter, a decision remained just out of reach. >> i am not republican, democrat. i am more -- i want what is best. i cannot commit.

there's so many things we have not even got into. there's so many things on the other site. amna: sarah longwell told us these swing voters are more accepting of people who did not disagree with them that are diehard republicans and democrats. they are clearly as worried as anyone about the country's divisions. for the pbs news hour, i am judy woodruff in las vegas, nevada. geoff: it has been nearly three weeks since hurricane helene began its devastating march across the southeast, killing at least 230 people in six states. nowhere has the storms impact been more destructive than in western north carolina where entire communities were swept away and thousands remain without power and search crews continue to hunt for at least 80 people who are still unaccounted

for. to help us understand the complexity of that search and the challenges those teams are facing, we are joined by ryan cole. he is the emergency services assistant director for buncombe county, home to asheville, and has been on the ground working on this recovery. we appreciate it. how has -- how is the recovery process progressing, trying to find people who are still unaccounted for? >> we have worked through several lists of people where they have been unaccounted for and they are still working to try to identify those people that are still missing and unaccounted for. and as we do that, then we are doing targeted searches in specific areas where the high probability that we might be able to locate any of the victims paid whenever we go out, the targeted searches include removing large amounts of debris and working through hazardous

materials and other items to be able to try to work through those to get to victims that might be in those areas. geoff: paint a picture for us of the challenges facing your team. how destructive was it? >> we had significant disruptions through the river valleys from flooding. we had significant damage there. throughout the watersheds as it took out the sides of the hills. we have flooding in the water rises up. it inundates an area with slow-moving water and no moving water. the mountains and watersheds as the water comes out, then that goes down through the mountain valleys, collecting all the water as it goes, creating significant turbulence and destroying things in its path, taking out trees, taking out cars, buildings, anything in its path.

on top of the flooding, we also have significant landslides that occurred in the riches as well as your due to the rains and unstable ground that we had from nine inches of rain and prior to the storm even arriving, the ground was saturated with water and as more of the rain comes in, it caused some of that land to dislodge and start down the hill. once it starts down the hill, it takes everything in its path, ars, forest, everything through that until it comes to a stopping point. geoff: the governor of north carolina spoke of what he called a persistent and dangerous flow of misinformation concerning fema and the recovering effort. how has that affected the work you and your teams are doing? >> we had misinformation that has been out and anytime we have misinformation that occurs that slows our progress, to be able to help out the citizens in most need. fema has been on the ground and

in partnership with us along with the state of north carolina. many resources throughout the state and united states to assist us in the process of getting to recovery. geoff: he'll lean was followed directly by molten and much of the focus shifted to florida. what does western north carolina need to get back on its feet? >> the first thing, first and foremost, the greatest thing that we need is to remain in the thoughts and prayers of the people across the united states. that is the greatest thing that we can use right now but the biggest thing that we are facing is the infrastructure that we have lost. the power companies have done a significant job in western north carolina in restoring the power and responders have done a significant job throughout the communities in supporting each individual community and taking care of them. we have had volunteers that have supported through donations and

getting things out to the community to support those people but now, we have the infrastructure issues with roadways that are gone for many roadways have been alongside the river banks and those river banks, as they floated, they took out the roadways and it will take quite a while to build that up and a lot of people are looking and they want to do something and they want to give so the one thing that we ask is if you are looking to give, look for those monetary donations that you can do to some of the partnering organizations such as united way. continue to give us your thoughts and prayers and the support that you have -- you are giving us so far. geoff: we appreciate it. ♪ amna: the ongoing war in ukraine has impacted tens of millions of people including russians who

have ukrainian relatives. cap wise recently spent a day with a russian artist whose life took a dramatic turn after the war broke out in 2022. her report is part of our arts and culture series, campus. -- canvas. >> the walk is a long way from home. born and raised in a city on the outskirts of moscow. today, he is an internationally recognized mental sculptor who spent a lot of time over the past 20 years working with forges and fire. his craft requires patience and speed. after the metal is hot enough, he is less that she has less than one minute to shape it. >> i studied to become an artist

. after i tried working with metal, i realized this is the material i would >> >> use my entire life. his intricate works which can be found among other places on the streets of russia and in a memphis museum may look like they were cast from moments but they are all hand forged. seamless welds and carefully placed rivets hold together the individual pieces are each sculpture. >> i simply consider myself first and artist and only then a blacksmith. i don't want to prove anything to explain anything with my art. first and foremost, this is my world and then people connect to it and understand something, find something of their own in it, draw their own things. my art allows people to fantasize. >> very huge metal. >> the distinctive approach to metal art has been sought after,

taking him from russia to international museums, art schools, and professional workshops where he has been invited to cheat -- teach and artistic competitions where he received recognitions and awards. for the last 2.5 years, bend and this workshop has been his life and his refuge. he and his wife were also russian and arrived in the u.s. in mid february 2022 to teach at blacksmithing events. >> we were planning to spend about three months and then russia invaded ukraine at the end of february. and we realized we are not able to go back to russia. >> going back, they say, would have put him, who spent a lot of time with family in ukraine when he was younger and opposes the russian government at risk of

jail and -- or worse. >> when the war broke out, it cut through everything and completely broke me because i spent half of my life in ukraine. my mother is ukrainian. it was already an extreme point with crimea and of course eventually, the war. >> after russia seized crimea from ukraine a decade ago, he joined protests and with a project celebrating the annexation. how were you impacted as an artist by your political views, by your opposition to the government? >> i was cut off everywhere. i was not accepted into competitions and i was not accepted to the union of artists of russia. there was a block on me everywhere. >>'s opposition has also come through in his art including a series of haunting soldier sculptures he began making in 2012 with his brother who was also a metal artist called the

leaves cover the war. in the works were created with old metal they found in world war ii battlefields in russia. >> this was the main idea of our works, to show all the horrors of the war and that it is the most horrible thing that can happen to someone and in fact the world. >> the turmoil in their own lives following the outbreak of the war is fading day by day as the couple have adjusted to their new life in bend where a community of fellow artists and blacksmiths have been offering support. once an essential craft, today, they are estimated to be only 2500 professional blacksmiths in the u.s. and one of them is joe elliott. >> he is going to be influencing the world of metalworking for a very long time to come. >> elliott, who has been a blacksmith for the past 40 years, first met him at a workshop. >> we made a praying mantis and

i remember him rolling out the drawing and we taped it to the board and it was the drawing itself which dropped. >> now, we see each check -- they see each other just about every day. he owns the forged business where he has been working and they often collaborate. earlier this year, elliott worked with several other local artists on a life-size eagle, now on permanent display at the high desert museum in bend. >> having him in the shop puts new wind in my sales but anton has brought to me this whole other way of looking at metal, coming up with a substantial piece by lots of little pieces. i am fascinated by it. >> he has also been learning from elliott who was -- with encouraged him to explore new art forms like jewelry. some of those pieces and others are now for sale at the

workshop. online and will be shown at upcoming art shows by the couple who are now focused on the future. their application for permanent asylum in the u.s. was recently approved. for the pbs news hour, i am in bend, oregon. geoff: before we go, a news update that shocked fans across the music world. liam payne, a former singer for one direction, fell to his death from the third-floor balcony of a hotel in argentina's capital, when srs -- argentina's capital. he succumbed to serious injuries. he was 31 years old. and that is the news hour for tonight. i am geoff bennett. amna: on behalf of the entire news hour team, thank you for joining us. >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by

-- >> on an american cruise lines journey along the columbia and snake rivers, travelers retraced the route forged by lewis and clark. -- lewis and clark more than 200 years ago. the fleet of modern riverboats travel through american landscapes to historic landmarks. where you can experience local customs and cuisine. american cruise lines, proud sponsor of pbs news hour. >> zoe: the ongoing -- >> the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions and friends of the news hour including jim and nancy builder and the robert and virginia schiller foundation. the ford foundation, working with missionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. funding for america at a crossroads was provided by --

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. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] >> you are watching pbs.

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. israel keeps up attacks on lebanon and gaza. as the death toll rise, n netanyahu. i will have an um date. then -- >> who she really is. the world needs to