♪ >> good evening. i'm geoff bennett. amna nawaz is on assignment. on the newshour tonight, kamala harris hits the campaign trail with republican liz cheney while donald trump uses increasingly karass rhetoric.

israel target banks linked to hezbollah. how it could hurt the militia group but also civilians and an academic initiative works to revive liberal arts as a key part of the college experience. >> i'm not trying to get students away from engineering or business degrees. i'm trying to give them a much more complete education. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the newshour, including leonard and norma and the judy and peter bloom kovler foundation. >> two retiring executives turn

their focus to greyhounds, giving these foreman race dogs a real chance to win.% a counselor gets to know you, your purpose. life well planned. >> as somebody coming out of college it can be very nerve-racking not knowing what to expect and here i deal like it's so welcoming and such an inexclusive place to work. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years advancing ideas and supporting insti institutions to promote a better world at hewlett.org and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions.

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: welcome to the newshour. as we near two-week mark to election day, former president trump traveled to north carolina to see the aftermath of hurricane helene while vice president kamala harris toured swing states alongside former republican congresswoman liz cheney. >> the democratic nominee for president campaigned with unlikely company today -- presentation. >> this election is presenting for the first time probably in certainly recent history, a very clear choice and difference between the two nominees. and i think that is what, as much as anything, is bringing us

as americans together. >> vice president kamala harris spent the day in moderated conversations with former republican congresswoman liz cheney, starting in pennsylvania. >> i spent time working in countries where people aren't free and are struggling for their freedom and i know how quickly democracies can unravel but i tell you, again, as someone who has seen firsthand how quickly it can happen that that is what's on the ballot. >> it's the latest in a string of you know press demented events harris has held with republican figures like cheney. the pair then made their way to michigan for another event. >> what is at stake in this election is so fundamental that it really does cross partisan lines. >> harris's running mate, governor tim walz, spent the morning with the hosts of "the view! >> nothing that donald trump is proposing does nothing for the

middle class. moody's talked about how he would drive up inflation. there's more work to be done. >> former president trump was in north carolina to tour storm damage from the recent hurricane. >> it is vital that we not let this hurricane that has taken so much also take your volleys. you must get out and vote. >> trump repeated baseless claims about the federal government response to the disaster. >> certainly you hear the stories that fema has done a very poor job. they were not supposed to be spending on taking in illegal migrant. >> later, the former perspective again deployed dark and anti-immigrant rhetoric in greenville, north carolina. >> under the trump administration we will take back what is ours. we will end the looting, ran taking, raping and pillaging of north carolina and frankly, every other state in the union.

>> on stunned, sunday, trump scooped french fries and served fast food to staged customers. as trump has accused harass without any evidence of lying about her college job with mcdonald's. trump they think described democrats like adam ship and nancy pelosi as enemies from within. >> you talk about enemy within. that's a pretty -- phrase. >> i think it's accurate but when you look at shifty ship and some of the others, they are to me an enemy within and i think nancy pelosi is an enemy from within. >> it was from a podcast from days earlier with trump. >> these are sick people and bad people. >> speaker of the house mike johnson deflected when asked on

cnn this weekend if trump's vows to use the national guard against edge mys is ok. >> they have been attacking and maligning him from the day he came down that golden-esque later. >> on saturday, in latrobe, pennsylvania, hometown of the late golfer arnold palmer. >> arnold palmer was all men and i say that with respect to all other women and i love women. he took showers, they said oh, my god. >> he said annex me active about vice president harris. >> we can't stand you, you're a bleep vice president. >> harris said the northwestern people deserve better. >> and what you see in my opponent, a former president of united states really, it demeans the office. and i have said and i'm very

clear about this. donald enough should never again stand behind the seal of the american president. he's not earned the right. geoff: turning to the middle east, israel has launched new attacks in bay repute. the target was a financial organization that israel and the u.s. cause hezbollah's bank but the bank also provides loans to lebanese civilians and human rights groups. the u.s. is looking into an elite document revealing israel's preparations to attack iran. >> inch outdoor the beirut airports, an israeli air strike. israel ordered the area eva evacuated before massive air strikes that destroyed entire buildings and burned store

fronts in hezbollah's storefront in southern beirut. by day, those buildings lay crumpled. the strikes hit from northern lebanon in the hills of the becca valley. >> our livelihood, our god. this neighborhood is all civilian. our store is right there and everything is gone. >> across the country, the targets were hassan, that israel and the u.s. treasury say hezbollah utilizes to use as the groups finances. >> we struck close to 30 targets across hezbollah. hezbollah's financial system. which receives funds from iran and ultimately funds hezbollah's terrorism. >> it is primarily involved in cash and in gold so it is possible, by destroying the

right brick and mortar entities to destroy a lot of their u.s. dollars. >> matt lev it direct the u.s. counterterrorism and intelligence program. >> what the israelis do want to do is make sure that hezbollah can't finance its militia terrorist activity and will have difficulty rebuilding itself. >> but the air strikes have sparked a humanitarian crisis and driven a quarter of the country to three their homes. >> they don't know how to cope because they fear for their life. >> he's the international team leader for the rescue committee which says 90% of the population is unable to meet their basic needs. >> people on the streets will say we just need a roof. people who had a roof will say we need shelter, a blanket, a

mattress, water and food. >> some of the civilian cas casualties have been far too high. >> even today, top presidential envoy blamed hezbollah and acknowledged the destruction the war had without. >> a resolution was possible but it was rejected and the situation has escalated out of control as we feared that it could. >> israelis today remain focused on hezbollah rockets and drones. more than 170 intercepted today. including above the heads of mourners who took cover at a cemetery as they buried a man killed this past weekend by a hezbollah strike nearby in northern israel and israel is preparing to strike iran for its unprecedented attack of 180 ballistic missiles on october 1. an israeli official tells pbs newshour the israeli cabinet hasn't yet approved a response

but a document posted online last week reveals u.s. spy satellites is the picked up long range missiles for israel, covert drone operations but no indications that israel intends to use a nuclear weapon. u.s. officials said today they do not expect additional similar publications to go public. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick shiffrin. ♪ >> i'm stephanie cy with newshour west. the latest headlines. in new mexico water levels are starting to recede after record rainfall left at least two dead. more than 300 people have been rescued since saturday with dozens brought to nearby

hospitals with injuries. the national weather service says nearly six inches of rain fell on roswell on saturday, breaking a record set in 1901 is that sent water bushing down street, trapping vehicles and leaving entire homes sub americaned. tropical storm oscar battered eastern cuba today as the entire island deals with an electrical grid failure. it hit as a hurricane one in the guantanamo prosince. it raised concerns about flooding and mudslides. on the other side of the island -- protesters in havana banged pots and pans amideon going blackout following friday's nationwide power outage. there are concerns that oscar could hurt efforts to get the power back on. the white house has proposed a

new rule that would require health insurers to cover overthe counter conception and birth control at no cost to the patients. the rule would include emergency contraception as well as the new over the counter birth control oh,-bill. it has a 60-day public comment period before it would be timed. the white house today called birth control a fundamental right. >> we have women who don't have the protections they need on their own health care because of roe v. wade, which was law of the land for almost 50 years was stripped away and we have that commitment with the biden-harris administration to protect women and do everything we can. >> if approved, the new rule would increase coverage of contraception for 51 million women of reproductive age who

private health images. a bipartisan task force said that stunning failures contributed to the assassination attempt on former president trump. how a gunman managed to open fire on him on a rooftop near his rally in butler, pennsylvania. one attend yi was killed and two others injured. the report largely blames the secret service. a final report is due in december. secretary of defense lloyd austin promised to get ukraine "what it needs" during an unannounced visit to the company. meeting with president zelensky in the capital of kyiv today, he backed that up with another $400 impact in u.s. military assistance but didn't comment on

supplying of air missiles. instead, he urged all parties to stay the course. >> there is no silver bullet, no single capability will turn the title. what matters is the way that ukraine fights back. what matters is the combined effects of your military capabilities and what matters is staying focused on what works. stephanie: the me once known as the central park five are sawing donald trump for alleged making defamatory running backs during last month's presidential debate. the men write that trump falsely stated that individuals killed a jogger and pled guilty. the five were accused of the rape and beating of a white

female having jogger in central park. they said that their pleas at time were made under duress. president biden presented the national of latest national med medals of arts at a private white houser is mean. those honored include missy elliott. edina menzel. queen latifah, spike lee, stephen spielberg and ken ter the event mr. biden hosted a reception for those winners plus the recipients of the national humanity writers, presented to 19 writers, historians, educators and filmmakers. new yorkers are celebrating their first ever wnba championship. the new york liberty defeated the minnesota lynx in game five of the final last night in a trilogy over-time finish. center jonquel jones was awarded

the finals m.v.p. their win caps a historically popular season for the wnba with records broken in tv ratings and game teamed answer. still to come, billionaire elon musk's massive effort to elect donald trump and gain influence over the government act sis that agriculture late his companies. tamara keith and amy walter break down the latest political headlines and alennoxy navalny, and his posthumous memoir. >> this is the pbs newshour at weta in war and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journal itch at arizona state university. geoff: the worlders richest man, elon musk is a powerful mega donor for donald trump. he is campaigning for him in passive and taking aggressive

measures in other keep battleground state. some of those moves are raising major legal and ethical concerns as well. billionaire entrepreneur elon musk unveiling a new tactic, pledging to an domly award $1 million to registered swing total voters daily through election day. the catch? sign his petition in support of the first and second amendments. >> it's very straightforward. you just have to sign appetition saying you believe in the constitution. >> america the pak has already committed $75 million to the trump campaign. some say musk's latest effort could be illegal. federal law rejects accepting money for voter registration or

voting but musk says payments and voter status aren't directly linked. they say voter registration is merely a prerequisite to sign the possession. governor josh shapiro on sunday called it deeply concerning. >> musk obviously has a right to express his views but when you start flowing this kind of money into politics, i think it raises serious questions. >> it might not be legal? yes or no? >> i think it's something that law enforcement can take a look at. geoff: it's not clear whether federal officials are are looking into the payments. in campaign appearances and online musk has spread widespread claims about voter fraud. donald trump has offered him a key appoint in he's re-elected. >> at the suggestion of elon musk, i will create a fast ball

task and making recommendations for drastic reforms and elon, because he's not very busy, has agreed to head that task force. geoff: let's bring in the nimes investigative reporter who's been closely following elon musk and miss connection with trump. thanks for being with us. >> great to be here. geoff: help us understand the agree to which elon musk ekes sprawling tech empire is entangled with the federal government. >> enormously entangled. it's hard to overstate how entangled musk is with the federal government. one, the federal government is a huge customer of his. nasa and the defense department pay him billions a year to launch their rocket. there are 300 contracts in the

federal government for elon musk's companies. the other thing is that he fights with the government all the time. regulators are limiting what he can do, checking up on him. he doesn't like that. so there's a good side and there's a bad side but there's a hugebredth of entang idealments between the two. >> elon musk is pouring millions of dollars into donald trump's re-election effort. what's the connection? what's in it for elon musk as he sees it? >> what he's done is prodded trump to say that if trump is elected he will name musk to be the head of a government commission. the power to recommend huge cuts in spending and the regulation of the federal government. what does that matter for elon? a lot because now the agency that is oversee him, elon now

oversees them. he's the one who can decide how much the your budget going to be? how much cuts am i going to recommend? so now the people who are supposed to be keeping tabs on money, he's going to have a position of power over them. the question is how will he use that power and how will that chill and scare the regulators? >> you and your colleagues report that spacex and tesla, two of must have been's companies account for 53 billion in government contract over the past decades. how did that come about? >> most of that is a story about space x. space k is really good at what it does. it shoots rocket up in the air much more safely and effectively than any rivals. so spacex through some lobbying

but mostly through its own skill has managed to take over the space in this country. spacex shoots up their spy satellites and other stoplights and because the stair link satellite commune occasion service provides this incredible service all over the world for communication. those two agencies along, nasa and the defense department account for a huge part of that spending because they want to be in space and mr. musk's companies are the very best at getting there. >> even know there are those view elon musk as an emblematic or problem matic partner, there's not a way to roll that back as yet.

>> that's right. even know elon musk says if kamala harris is elected, i'm going to jail, going to lose my contract. that's not going to happen. as we've seen from boeing's attempts to rescue its own astronauts from outer space, there's no one else they could even give nose contracts. there's nothing harris could do because the government is so dependent on his companies. >> there's lots of attention on the legality of these swing state voters who sign his petition. what questions does it raise for you as you report on elon musk and these perceived conflicts of interest? >> whether this is effectively buying a vote. is he paying you to vote for trump or paying you at all if he knows you're a stuarter of trump? legally he's signing you to sign a petition. that probably as far as it goes

is legal but if it comes a way to paying to vote you for trump that becomes illegal. however, the enforcement mechanisms for u.s. election law is so weak that if it's just a borderline case, i doubt anything happens here. >> david, thank you for being with us. >> thank you. ♪ geoff: elon musk's political efforts are just one hi high-profile effort by trump allies to win over voters in key battleground states. i'm joined by our politics monday duo. amy walter of the cook political report and tamara keith of npr. hello to you both. the trump campaign has outsourced some of it get out the vote effort to these third party super pacs including elon

musk. the elon musk pac is having trouble hitting door knocking goals and that some canvassers ha lied about the number of voters they actually contacted. on a race that is on turnout. this seems to be problem matic for trump. and, a lot of these people are very good at getting attention. we don't know if they're very good at a ground game and the one case study that we have of a campaign saying all right, i'm going to farm it out. we're going to have this super pac do it and we're going to focus on things like ads. that was ron desantis and it was a disaster. it was not a good case studio in what you want to do. so there is a very open question about whether these efforts will work or whether elon musk is

proving himself very good at burning millions of familiars and we won't really know until the election. the other thing i would say, a counter balance to this is that there are a lot of people whole, includeling democrats that donald trump doesn't need a ground game because he is his observe ground game. his voters are so motivated that they will crawl over glass to vote for him and you don't need a big door knocking effort to get to them. >> and that's the lesson of wink, that trump can win even with a de centralized or disorganized campaign. >> even the polling in 2020 suggested he was not going to hit the numbers he ultimately came up with. but the reason we're paying so much attention to the ground game is the kinds of voters that trump does best with are the kinds of voters who don't show up traditionally to vote.

and those people are harder to figure out who they are or how to motivate them to vote. so traditional door knocking or sending out pieces of mail, they don't necessarily respond to the same messages that your voter who touches out in every single election is going to respond so to. that takes a level of sophisticated targeting and messaging that you just don't put together on the fly but ultimately do i think that if donald trump loses it's because he outsourced his ground game? no, i don't. >> the harris campaign is going all out to reach nose unsatisfied republicans. what are you seeing on the ground and what does it suggest about your strategy? >> i was traveling with harris all weekend. she is making a concerted effort to speak to what you would say are nikki haley republicans and this is an ongoing effort that includes today stops in all three of the blue wall states,

doing events in suburbs specifically targeted at college-educated voters, republicans, people who would have been republicans if it wasn't trump and trying to convince them to get over whatever discomfort they have and support her and the reason that the campaign is putting so much effort into in. which in theory in a normal year would feel like a long shot or afterthought is that vice president harris, they're concerned that she may not do as well with black voters, particularly black men that trump is making some inroads into latinos and the traditional democratic base, also traditional working class white voters. they're working towards the tens of thousands who voted for nikki haley after she dropped out. >> in the campaign with liz cheney this morning, this is a

place where after the hailey campaign was over. she had dropped out of the race. there was still a primary in pennsylvania. she got about 10,000 votes in chester county and, remember, pennsylvania has a closed primary so only republicans could vote in that primary. so theoretically there are 10,000 votes for somebody. obviously the harris campaign hoping it's them, to pick up in a state that's been decided by 60,000 votes, 80,000 votes? yeah, 10,000 is nothing to sneeze at. geoff: can we look at a latest poll? >> sure. geoff: this is the "washington post" poll of likely voters in battlegrounds states. this shows a slight harris lead. tam, how is the campaign feeling about a poll like this? >> i think they feel about this poll like they feel about all polls. the way harris said it this

weekend and the way she's been saying it for a while, this race is close. they acknowledge it's close. it's going to take a lot of work to make it better than close for them and she has said they're running like underdogs. she has said repeatedly that either you are running scared or stupid and they would rather run scared. now, would they love to have better poll numbers? of course they would but this race has been incredibly stable. we are talking about all of these movements are within the margin of error all of these movements are ot even that significant. geoff: amy, when you dig deep into these numbers that i'm sure you have access to. what do you see 15 days out? >> i think there are two questions. one, who are these undecided

voters? overwhelming they are younger. it's a more diverse group of voters. they tend to be more heavily female and on paper those would look like democrats except they also tends to be more economically sensitive and very, very worried about the economy. which is why when you see the harris ad that is running the most, it is talking about the economy and middle class economy and calling out trump for being for billionaires and not regular people. she obviously has a lot of different messages to a lot of different groups but if you're talking about who are those last bags of swing -- bastion of swing voters, undecided voters, the economy and being able to sell her on the economy then is the key. geoff: tamara, you were just with the harris campaign in nebraska's second congressional district?

tamara: yes, this is known as the blue dot or the purple dot that could be the blue dot this time and if harris were to only win the blue wall of michigan, pennsylvania, and wisconsin she would be at 169 electoral vote, one shy of what is needed to win the presidency and that is where omaha comes in. the harris ground game, they have three offices there. think also have a gettive house rates there. but they have volunteers, i was watching them phone bank, they were chasing ballots and there's also this quirkily grassroots efforts that has sprung up with people putting blue dots in their yards. more than 10,000 signs have been made and then republicans responding with some red pacman things to eat the blue dot and also, big red state of next.

it is fun to see a place where they believe that their vote matters and they're incredibly politically engaged and it's not super toxic. geoff: thank you both so much. >> you're welcome. geoff: online on tick tock. we've been counting down to election day, giving us a fun and insightful fact each day. here's what they have today. >> only 15 people have become president after being vice president. geoff: we'll call it the death of the humidities. that's been a -- humanities. that's been a leading story about colleges over the last decade or so. majors in english and history are down by a third. humanities enrollment overall is down by almost 1/5.

but jeffrey brown took a trip to purdue for a higher education series, rethinking college. >> there's nothing wrong if you lying to them figure. >> welcome to the mack valle school of management. today's from therints push militiad in 1588. >> because men are wretched creatures who would not keep their word to them, you need not keep your word about them. >> back and forth debate about ethics in today's world. >> good or bad argument? >> i think it's a bad argument because it's basically saying that you have to expect that you're going to be is sucker. >> a philosophy professor working with business and marketing majors. >> he pushes us. he says why do you believe that? andhe makes us come up with clear arguments and defend our

reasoning. >> the course is partf cornerstone, a general program what injects the liberal arts into all parts of academic experience. >> it's about cultivating your inner life and understanding the world and having empathy for other people. >> history professor me linda stuck runs cornerstone. >> giving students that more holistic education that will have courses where they read classic text, have them experience the arts. >> proud to showcase its more than two dozen plait graduates, including neil armstrong and also experiencing its version of a national trend that saw the numbers of humanities graduates fall by nearly a third in the decade before the pandemic.

>> liberal arts had lost 20% of itself majors. >> david ryan gold took over as purdue's dean of college of lib alarts in 2015. >> i could show you some approximates showing that by 2024 there would be no students left in this college. >> the reasons? the higher cost of college. a shift away from social sciences to technology, and a de valuing of the very idea of a cannon of great books. for ryan gold it added up to a reality that struck at the heart of the point of which colleges are for. >> some of the domains that gave rise to the research environment are either withered or nonexistent, we've lost what it means to actually have a university. >> democratic? >> yeah. >> ok, good. >> the answer here, cornerstone.

which begins with a two-semester slate of classes that replaced written and oral education requirements for freshmen. to liberate liberal arts into the overall curriculum. >> you to have take over requirements and that's what we did and we do it through great books which we call transformative text. >> 00ly and shakespeare but also scott mom day and wilson. >> here's octavia butler. >> duck zucker and the teachers choose from an ever evolving list of more than00 authors. across generations and races. students perform music and art classes and take classes with actors and also acts out some of their own work based on text

they're reading. including a trial of victor frankenstein from shelly's novel. in 2017 the pilot program comprised 100 students. now there are more than 5,000 taking cornerstone classes. >> it is so different from what i thought it was going to be. >> students like that than yell who is studying neurobiology but finds here something different. >> i was really worried at first. being a stem major but being here now is so grate. we've been doing a lot of a plato readings. it's one of the first times i've found a lot of joy in my reading. >> really? joy in what sense? >> my professor really pushes the idea that what we're reading can be applied for us. the point of the class is finding how what's in the

reading can be applied to you. >> other schools are paying attention and cornerstone based programs are spreading to more than 0 colleges across the dunn. that includes communities colleges, home to more than 40% of all undergratz. >> historically there's not been a lot of thought about what that experience in general education at community colleges would really be. >> so this government professor set out to change that at austin blount college in texas. a graduate education requirement level class and he sees a benefit that goes beyond the individual students. >> you have people from all playses in life. younger people, older people. people that want nothing to do with politics and people that won't shut up on it and they're all in the same class together

and you're having hope the talk about homer. that's the only time they'll ever get that. >> you're making the argument it benefits them. >> not only benefits them, i think it benefits us, representative democracy which has at its core the requirement that we're able to talk to each other across differences that actually matter. >> while corner stone might be good for the stem students, does it ultimately foster and reserve the liberal arts disciplines themselves? at purdue it's hoped that students ex posed to formative texts as a requirements will wants more. and the success of cornerstone has already allowed purdue to hire more than 100 new liberal arts faculty, bucking trends elsewhere. those they're required to teach

at least hatch their classes in the cornerstone s.e.c. >> obviously the philosophy department doesn't want to see the teaching commitments of their faculty pulled away from their core discipline but we're tie trying to find a middle ground where we can have a rebust department as well as working to serve the broader population. >> and what does serving students mean to me linda stuck? >> i'm not trying to get students away from engineering or business degrees but give them a much more complete education while they're here at purdue. i often look at my students and think your life is going to be filled with crucial choices, will you make the right ones? and if you don't know anything

about the world or yourself or others, how can you? >> as the famous greek inscription at the temple of adellify put it. know thy self. i'm jeffrey brown at purdue university in west lafayette, indiana. ♪ geoff: in february of this year, alexei navalny tie died in a russian prison camp three years after returning to his homeland. his vladimir putin's most prominent critic. he survived a nerve agent poisoning by russian operatives in the summer of 2020 but assisted on -- insisted on returning to continue his fight for his nation. his family away is being pub

accomplished tomorrow, posthumously, his wife met amna nawaz yesterday in new york to discuss her husband's life and his work for this memoir "patriot. amna: ilya, thank you for being here. welcome to the newshour. >> hello, thank you so much for having me. amna: it's been eight months since your husband died. how are you doing? >> everything has changed in my life. this work on the book and all these meetings these politics conferences. they give me a power but very much different than eight months ago. amna: it gives you a power, you said. what do you mean by that? >> to continue alexei's fight, to continue to do things to keep his legacy. to continue to keep memory about

him in people's minds. everything of this is very important for me. amna: there was one moment that really stood out to millions of people. when you and alexei returned to russia in january of 2021 after he had been recovering in germany after nearly dying from being poisoned by rush agents and you and he walked through the terminal after he landed and then he was immediately arrested in customs and imprisoned never to be free again. did you know at that meet that that may be the last time you were together? >> i didn't think about that at that moment. i knew that we were going to our homeland. we wanted to go there. i knew that it was very important for my husband to come back too russia to show that he's not afraid. to show and to encourage all his supporters not to be afraid. i knew that it's very important

for him and i knew that it could be dangerous. but i knew that he would never do it in another way. amna: he began writing this as he recovered in that german hospital but he continued to write during his time in prison, his last time. why was it so important, do you think, to him to continue to write in this way? to make sure that these words got out? >> you are right, he started to write in germany and continued to write in prison. he wasn't allowed to have a notebook and a pen. more than for one hour a day. amna: he wrote this in one-hour indecreements? >> yes, and even the last month, even less but still, we are very lucky to get some of his prison diaries. nobody knows how many of them

are lost. because after his depth, they got nasty from prison. no personal belongings were given to us back. amna: so you think there could be more of his words, more of his writing? >> i know in what conditions he was in, everything was taken by police and i'm sure we will never get anything from his personal belongings. amna: he was known to the entire world as vlad near putin's feast fiercest, critic, and political opponent. unflinching against the forces of political corruption but i was struck in reading in by how funny he was, by his sense of humor. is that something that stood out to you? >> it's one of the parts of him when i liked a lot.

he was really funny and i'm happy that the book is written so and even in english you can feel how funny he was and the main thing why people loved him so much, why people supported him so much. because he was a very ordinary man. amna: you made each other laugh? >> a lot. [laughter] amna: there's a real love story in these pages too and there's this moment he shares about the very first time he saw you when you two lock eyes. he writes in the book that he says to himself at that moment, this is the one. this is the girl i will marry. do you remember that moment differently when you read it? >> i remember it differently. amna: what's your memory? >> issue liked him a lot. he was very funny from the first day. he was very clever but, of course, i didn't have such thoughts like he will be my

husband one day. no. amna: when did you realize? >> when he proposed to me? amna: not before then? [laughter] >> that's what i remember. amna: he didn't arrive at his political views on an impulse and he goes into great detail and really great historical detail in the book about why he came to believe what he did. why he came to distrust the system and challenge the system and he offers the chernobyl nuclear plant disaster as an example from his youth. why was that part of a formative experience for him? >> part of his family lived in chernobyl and it was very obvious to him that parents discussed one thing at home and then when he would switch on and watch tv, there was other news.

amna: this idea of officials who lie to their people, he comes back to that again and again in the book. was that the source of his inspiration, his dedication to his book? >> i don't think it's about lies. the biggest part is about corruption, about that these people, they are not serving their country. they are not serving their people. they're serving their own interests. amna: i guess the question, if it's so deeply entrenched, can it ever be changed? >> of course, it can be changed one day. it's a difficult process when you're living under tyranny and there's a dictatorship in russia. amna: there's an obvious question. as you're raising your kids and considering your leaves ahead. a lot of people will wonder why did you go back and why did you stay? did you ever think we shouldn't

go back? >> i knew that if we would stay in exile, he wouldn't be happy. amna: but he may have been safe. >> that's true. amna: it was worth it to you, even after he nearly lost his life, after being poisoned by russian agents, knowing the target on his back you still feel was worth it to go back to russia? >> now it's a difficult question but i knew at that moment that he wouldn't change his mind and he would come back. amna: knowing what you know about vladimir putin, do you believe he would have your husband poisoned in prison. >> of course, i'm sure that he did it. amna: what does justice look like for you if that's the case? >> there are two things which i would love to see. vladimir putin in prison, in russian prison, like my husband was and the second is that

russia will become normal, democratic country. about which my husband so dreamed. amna: do you see that happening, knowing where the opposition movement is right now, knowing that your husband is no longer there to lead it? how do you see that happening now? >> that's very important to believe. it's very important. like my husband said, not to give up. just to do anything you can do. confident every day. amna: -- every day. amna: what role do you see yourself in that? >> it doesn't matter about role. i would like to come back home to russia. i would like to live in russia. i never dreamed to live somewhere else. amna: the opposition in russia suffered an enormous blow with the death of your husband and there are reports of it being leaderless. when you look at the opposition

right now in russia, where do you see signs of heap? >> everywhere. i think that we all the time every day need to keep our hope and all these people inside russia who are against war, i hope that one day everything will change but it's just not hope, it's belief. i understand that it could take a long time but still, as i said, we just need to do anything every day. amna: just visiting your husband's grave is an act of resistance. what do people do or say when you visit, what do you hear? >> there are still a lot of fresh flowers still after eight months passed. some of the people say my husband changed their minds. they believe in politics and in russia again. i hope to come back too russia

one day and the first thing which i'm going to do, to go to the cemetery. >> thank you so much for sitting and speaking with us today. we appreciate it. >> thank you. ♪ geoff: there's a lot more online right now including a lock at how the cherokee nation is finding solutions for a lack of affordable housing. that's as pbs.org/newshour. that's it tonight. i'm geoff bennett, thanks for spending part of your evening with us. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> on an american cruise lines journey, travelers experience the maritime heritage and culture of the maine coast and the new england islands.

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this is pbs newshour west from the david m. rubenstein studio at weta in washington and from the walter cronkite school of yourism at arizona state university. ♪

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