♪ amna:amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i'm geoff bennett. on the news hour tonight kamala , harris and donald trump make swings across multiple

battleground states with only days left until voting ends. amna: the "diploma divide" -- how having a college degree is becoming one of the best predictors of which candidate voters support. geoff: american volunteers fighting in ukraine offer their views on the u.s. presidential election and how a trump victory -- and potential cuts to military aid -- could affect the fight. >> european countries can step up and try and fill those gaps, but in the end would basically be the beginning of the death toll for ukraine. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs news hour has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular. this is a pocket dial. well, thought i would let you know that with consumer cellular, you get nationwide coverage with no contract. that is 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. >> the judy and peter blum kovler foundation, upholding freedom by strengthening democracies at home and abroad. >> the walton family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org. and with the ongoing support of these institutions.

this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: welcome to the news hour. amna: close mallet in north carolina, one of the crucial swing states that could security victory in next week selection. in north carolina, will trump urged voters to send him back to the white house. mr. trump: this election is a choice between whether we will have four more years of gross incompetence. amna: continuing to so doubt about the security of the election. mr. trump: i'm hearing all sorts of stories. we will not have the

result by tuesday night. if you go back to paper ballots -- paper is very sophisticated, believe it or not. amna: over 97% of votes cast in this election will be recorded on paper. the head official in charge of u.s. cybersecurity and infrastructure told the news hour recently. >> election infrastructure, the voting systems where americans cast their ballots, not connected to the internet. very difficult for somebody to hack into those voting machines. secondly, over 97% paper ballots. that voters can look at and verify themselves. amna: vice president kamala harris made her case in north carolina's's capital, raleigh. vp. harris: we have just six days left in one of the most consequential elections of our lifetime. and we have work to do. amna: kim washington, d.c. last night, a crowd in the tens of thousands gathered to see harris

deliver her closing arguments on the white house lawn. the same place trump gave his infamous january 6 speech. vp. harris: we know who donald trump is. he is the person who stood at this very spot nearly four years ago and sent an armed mob to the united states capital to overturn the will of the people in a free and fair election. amna: harris painted trump as a threat to democracy and vowed to represent all americans. vp. harris: these united states of america, we are not a vessel for the schemes of wannabe dictators. the united states of america is the greatest idea humanity ever devised. a nation big enough to encompass all our dreams, strong enough to

withstand any fracture or fissure between us, and fearless enough to imagine a future of possibilities. so america, let us reach for that future. amna: trump made his closing arguments at madison square garden last sunday, an event later criticized for a racist and sexist rhetoric throughout including a comedian calling puerto rico a "floating island of garbage." trump responded to the criticism last night on fox. mr. trump: they put a comedian in, which everybody does. he don't go crazy. it's nobody's fault. but somebody said some bad things. amna: president biden also weighed in on a zoom call with latino supporters last night. >> the only garbage i see is his supporters. his demonization is unconscionable and un-american.

amna: later clarifying he was referring to the comedian's rhetoric, not trump voters. today, harris distanced herself from his remarks. vp. harris: he clarified his comments but let me be clear, i strongly disagree with any criticism of people based on who they vote for and as president of the united states, i will be a president for all americans whether you vote for me or not. amna: governor tim walz echoed that message in north carolina. gov. walz: we can choose a path that adheres to the american values or we can get dark, negative, and sink into a place that is all about one person, donald trump. that is the choice. amna: m campaign pounced with jd vance saying harris and biden should be ashamed of themselves. that comes in the context of a pattern of insulting language from trump. mr. trump: joe biden became mentally impaired.

mollo was born that way. we cannot stand you. you are a -- vice president. amna: including these comments today about democrats. mr. trump: the most corrupt, horrible people. these are horrible people. whoops, we should get along with everybody. they are horrible people. amna: both candidates will travel to wisconsin tonight. harris will speak to supporters in madison while trump rallies in green bay. geoff: while all eyes are on the presidential race there also are , several key down ballot races

that will determine the balance of power in congress. amna: republicans in the house hold a razor thin majority but democrats are honing in on a handful of races to help them win back the lower chamber. lisa desjardins has been following this closely. lisa: republicans are poised to pick up a net of one seat so that's color that in. given all of that, what do democrats have to do? answer your question, they need to flip five seats across the country to regain control of the house. geoff: how difficult will it be for democrats to do that? lisa: let's take a look here. this is how cook political report looks at the map. they need five seats across the country. let's start out with this likely flip. they believe a seat in new york is likely to move from republican to democrat so if that happens, democrats would just need to pick up four seats everywhere else. where would they do that? the tossup races favor democrats .

right now, 14 vulnerable republicans are in tossup races that could go either way compared with 11 democrats. that is something democrats feel very good about. however, if there is kind of a red wave, if there is trump momentum at the top of the ticket as you were talking about, then these other democrats who are in slightly safer seats, they could be affected. this is what republicans hope for, to convert these heart of -- harder to get seats in this election in order to keep the house. amna: take us into a little bit more detail here. where is it republicans are most vulnerable? lisa: this is where it gets very interesting. a reminder that some of these seats, the biggest bulk of vulnerable republicans are in democratic states. five races in california republicans, so that's nine seats right there. remember, democrats just want to flip four at this point so of these nine, something else that is important about them, eight of them are in districts that joe biden won.

these are republicans running against the wind, trying to get some split ticket voters. this is new york's fourth district. where is it? long island. right there. nassau county. the republican is a former police detective against laura galan, attorney, also a former town supervisor. this is a place where democrats think abortion is bolstering their chances and this came up prominently in their debate. laura guillen talked about her personal story where she had a fetus guy in her second trimester. she told that story during the debate. >> i needed to have a procedure called a dne and that procedure saved my life. we must protect reproductive freedom in this country. it is not a state's right. lisa: he says he opposes a

national ban and he has been is construed as -- misconstrued as extreme. his position that a physician should have to attempt to give lifesaving care to a fetus or baby that survives an abortion. he says that that has been misconstrued. >> the law says the doctor has to provide every bit of medical care to that living baby that was just born. if the care is not provided, to keep it alive then yes, the , doctor would be responsible. that doesn't seem like extremism, that seems like common sense. lisa: one more note about this race. there was a bombshell report that he paid and hired his mistress to work at his congressional office. he has not denied that but said he did nothing wrong. there are vulnerable democrats and a lot of them in swing states. two races in pennsylvania, two in michigan. he democrats on defense in

maine, virginia, colorado, all over the map. let's look at one particular case. this is pennsylvania's seventh district, a swing area. susan wilde has been in office since 2018. ryan mckenzie challenging her. in their debate, abortion did come up but the economy is a bigger issue here. in their debate, these two went back and forth over who is to blame for cost-of-living issues right now. is it the biden administration or corporate america? >> susan wiles voted for every plank of bite and onyx. that massive overspending and washington, d.c. what has caused the inflation and high prices that we are all struggling with so we need to reign in that wasteful spending and washington, d.c. and that is something i would do if elected to congress. >> i do my own grocery shopping. i pumped my own gas. i'm very aware of prices and although i am happy that gas prices seem to be coming down, believe me, i understand what people have been going through. people at the top, the 1%, they

are doing just fine so we have got to make sure that we are cracking down on corporations that are price gouging. lisa: this is just one of the roughly four dozen races that will determine control of the house and also in a presidential year where we have a real tossup, control of the house means will the president have someone who works with them or will there be a balance, a check on that power? geoff: lisa desjardins, we appreciate it. lisa: you are welcome. geoff: we start the day's other headlines in spain where at least 95 people have been killed in catastrophic flash floods. rain storms that started yesterday quickly overwhelmed rivers and sent torrents of muddy water gushing through streets. authorities carried out helicopter rescues for those who were trapped in flooded homes. the valencia region was among the hardest hit and is now

facing unprecedented damage. some survivors say they have lost everything. >> i own the bakery on the corner and with eight feet of water, i had to escape through a window when the water started coming up to my shoulders. it took everything. about 300 to 400 cars. i have to throw everything out of the bakery. freezers, ovens, everything. geoff: authorities are searching for an unknown number of people who are still missing. they say the death toll is expected to rise in what is already the nation's worst natural disaster in recent memory. spain's government has declared three days of mourning, starting tomorrow. in lebanon, israel is expanding its military campaign yawn the country's south as it targets what it calls hezbollah strongholds. israel issued evacuation orders for the eastern city, home to a unesco world heritage site as well as surrounding villages. a few hours after that order, lebanese tv caught this fireball

over the city skyline. israel says it struck hezbollah fuel storage throughout the region. meantime, in his first speech as the militant groups new leader, he vowed to carry on with hezbollah's war plan. >> we will continue to confront the aggression. if the israelis decide to stop the aggression, we say we accept but with the conditions we see as suitable and eve -- and efficient. we will not back for a cease-fire as we will continue fighting matter how long it takes. geoff: those remarks came as mediators ramped up -- and in gaza, palestinian officials say new israeli bombardments killed at least 30 people in the gaza strip one day after israel waged one of the deadliest single strikes of the conflict so far. north korea's top diplomat is in russia for talks today. her visit comes as the deployment of north korean troops to help russia's war effort in ukraine raises

concerns in the west about a possible expansion of the conflict. today, lloyd austin met with his south korean counterpart at the pentagon. he said north korean troops wearing russian uniforms and carrying russian equipment are moving to the cursed region near ukraine's border. he called the deployment a dangerous and destabilizing escalation. >> this is pretty serious. again, we will continue to watch it and work with our allies and partners to discourage it. i call upon them to withdraw their troops out of russia. it does have the potential of lengthening the conflict or broadening the conflict if that continues. geoff: it is all unfolding as russia and ukraine exchanged dozens of drone strikes overnight that killed at least four people. in ukraine's capital, kyiv, nine people were injured including a child after strikes hit an apartment building in a kindergarten.

there have been more voting related developments here at home. the u.s. supreme court is allowing virginia to proceed with purging the voter registrations of 1600 people whom republican officials suspect are not american citizens. all three of the court's liberal justices dissented. the ruling comes after virginia appealed a federal judge's ruling that deemed the voter removals illegal. it is rare for noncitizens to try to vote in a u.s. election but donald trump and his republican allies frequently raised fears about immigrants voting illegally in november. authorities in portland, oregon, say the suspect a hind a series of ballot box fires is likely an experienced metalworker based on the design of the incendiary devices involved in the blazes. they described the suspect as a white man between 30 and 40 years old who they say maple -- may plan more attacks. authorities in the city of vancouver, washington, say ballots were salvaged from a fire on monday.

an unknown number of others were destroyed. they are working to find voter information so they can contact people about getting new ballots. the fbi is among the agencies investigating. no arrests have been made. the u.s. economy grew at a healthy clip of 2.8% in the latest quarter when compared to this same time last year. that is thanks largely to ongoing consumer spending which rose by 3.7% despite still high interest rates. today's reading was actually down a bit from the 3% growth countries out in the previous quarter. it still signals ongoing strength in the u.s. economy as voters head into the final days before the u.s. election. on wall street today, stocks slipped as investors focus on the latest corporate earnings. the dow jones industrial average fell about 90 points on the day. the nasdaq gave back just over 100 points or half a percent. the s&p 500 also ended in negative territory. and a common practice has become the law of the land in new york

city. jaywalking is now legal. the city council passed a bill last month allowing pedestrians to cross the street at will. it became law over the weekend after time ran out for mayor eric adams to veto the measure. jaywalking used to carry a fine of $250 and buy one count, more than 90% of those targeted last year were black and latino. there are concerns the new measure will lead to more pedestrian deaths but for many new yorkers, it is simply an acknowledgment of life in the busy city. still to come on the news hour, we look at the stark divide between kamala harris and donald trump's health care policies. a new federal rule requires airlines to automatically offer refunds for significant delays and cancellations. a photographer travels to politically divided communities to document the things people still have in common. >> this is the pbs news hour from the david and rubenstein studio from weta studios in

washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. amna: we have less than a week until election day. kamala harris and donald trump are making their final case to voters, laying out starkly different visions on a number of key issues. that includes health care. our white house correspondent has been covering this as part of our ongoing deep dive into the candidates promises and policies this election. good to see you. laura: good to be here. amna: you reported about abortion access and reproductive rights. there is a lot more to talk about broader with health care policy so let's are with vice president harris. what are her key plans on health care? laura: some of her proposals are to build on the inflation reduction act, cancel more medical debt, renew the affair -- affordable care act subsidies that are expiring in 2025, and expand access to birth control pills. and it comes to the inflation reduction act, she wants to expand that cap on insulin that

she and biden passed for medicare recipients. she wants to expand that to all americans and she wants to cap every american's prescription drug costs at $2000 a year, which currently only applies to medicare recipients. recently, harris proposed there should be an at-home care benefit covered by medicare. vp. harris: currently, if you need home care and you do not have some money to hire someone, you and your family need to deplete your savings to qualify for health. that is just not right. so we are going to change the approach and allow medicare to cover the cost of home care. so seniors can get the help and care they need in their own home. >> that home care benefit would cover people with disabilities that are on medicare and policy experts we talked to said that

could end up covering millions of seniors. amna: those are the plans we heard from vice president harris and how do those differ from the plans we heard from former president trump? >> some of trump's top health care positions archery. and replace the affordable care act and he wants to lower health care insurance premiums but does not have details on how he would do that. he has been silent on protecting medicaid and he also wants to institute an anti-vaccine mandate for public schools. recently, donald trump also said that he would put robert f. kennedy, jr., a staunch anti-vaxxer, in charge of health care policy. mr. trump: robert f kennedy cares more about human beings and health and the environment than anybody. i'm going to let him go wild on health. i'm going to let him go wild on food. i'm going to let him go wild on medicines. laura: health experts say that appointing someone like rfk junior to potentially meet health and human services the centers for disease control

could end up spreading more public health disinformation because he has been known to do that. on the medicaid front, trump has said he wants to reduce federal government spending and he wants to cut taxes and that he doesn't want to touch social security or medicare to do it so health experts are concerned that that means there's going to be a big target on medicaid. amna: so those are the plans but you also looked at their health care policies. how do their outlooks differ on this? laura: a lot of it comes down to the affordable care act which covers 21 million americans. donald trump tried to repeal it in 2017 without much of a replacement plan when he was president. it didn't work and seven years later, he says now that he has concepts of a plan to replace it, his running mate has filled in some of those concepts. jd vance has floated repealing a mandate within the aca that requires insurers to cover people with pre-existing

conditions and if trump and vance were successful in repealing that mandate, larry levitt, vice president of health policy, said it would have a huge impact on sick americans. >> if you start segregating people into different pools, that leaves people with pre-existing conditions at risk. we know what insurers do when they are not required to cover people with pre-existing conditions or charge them the same premiums as healthy people. they exclude them from insurance. laura: bottom line is that under trump, young and currently healthy people would receive lower premium costs but sick people and people with pre-existing conditions would end up not being covered by insurers. also this week, we should note that house speaker might johnson agreed -- mike johnson agreed there should be no obamacare. multiple outlets have reported, according two to video. the difference between him, donald trump, and harris is that

she wants to expand on what is already in place. the issue is that many of her policies rely on favorable numbers in congress and it is looking like the senate may flip to republicans and democrats may control the house so being able to expand on subsidies that are already in the affordable care act could be difficult for harris to do. amna: the experts you have been talking to have been running the numbers, examining them. what did they tell you would be the overarching impact of these proposals? laura: experts say that ultimately, both candidates appear to approach health care as an economic issue, but the big difference is who they are trying to save the money for. >> trump is focused particularly in his comments around the affordable care act on government spending, on making programs less expensive. for the federal government. and harris, we have seen a focus on health care as every day

pocketbook issues, so whether that is improving premium subsidies under the affordable care act and lowering the premiums people pay out-of-pocket and trying to relieve medical debt. laura: those expanded subsidies that larry was talking about there, they expanded the number of people who qualified for financial assistance and the amount of help that they received and they are set to expire in 2025. harris says she wants to extend them but if they expire under a donald trump presidency, it could have a huge burden on everyday americans. amna: thank you very much. laura: thank you. amna: -- geoff: americans are divided in many ways including based on their education backgrounds. that is especially true in this presidential election. a recent pbs news poll found

that donald trump is leading among voters without a college degree by 10 percentage points. kamala harris is leading with college graduates by 21 points. to explore this so-called diploma divide, judy woodruff visited two neighboring but very different counties in michigan where both candidates have repeatedly made their case as this year's campaign nears the end. it is part of her ongoing series, america at a crossroads. judy: do you still consider yourself a democrat? >> i do now. judy: diane doyle smith has spent much of this campaign season canvassing door-to-door to try to boost the democratic turnout near her home in michigan. less than 30 miles northwest of downtown detroit. >> i was a republican for many years. i never voted for clinton or obama. judy: despite her voting record and the fact that she lives in oakland county, a once reliably

republican stronghold, smith is now the vice chair of her local democrats club. >> when donald trump got the nomination in 2015, i did not want him to be our candidate after -- candidate. after he won, i cried for probably two days and then i looked online for our local democratic club and i went to the next meeting. judy: when you realize he was running again for president, what was your thinking? >> shock, dismay, disbelief that they would choose him. i still cannot get over it especially after january 6. judy: smith, now retired, worked in sales and study criminology in college but a short drive away just across the county line in macomb county, political momentum has shifted in the opposite direction. his small group supporting autoworkers for trump gathered outside the assembly plant in

sterling heights. >> gave us tax cuts, prison reform. it was all better all around so inflation was at an all-time low. judy: chris works for stellantis and is a member of autoworkers for trump. he was born and raised in this stork clear blue county and still lives there with his wife and three children. >> i feel more like the democrat party has left me, not that i have left them. judy: he points to policies that he says have hurt the auto industry. michigan has lost more than one third of those jobs since 1990. in part because of trade policies like nafta, increasing automation, and companies moving factories to nonunionized plants in the south and overseas. >> they don't realize how much they damage our employers with the regulations and the mandates and the uncompetitive position that we are forced into. judy: that message has resonated

with michigan autoworkers who have historically voted for democrats. macomb county, home to many union and blue-collar workers, has been seen as a political barometer that has flipped republican at the top of the ticket amid economic downturns. >> trump becomes a different type of president in the fact that he recognizes the strategic importance of manufacturing. he sees that this is the greatest way you turn a commodity into something that has got more value. there is a great importance in manufacturing. judy: actually putting the pandemic and global economic downturn aside, manufacturing jobs under former president trump and president biden followed a similar pattern. growth in the first two years in office followed by losses in the third year. but there is another reason why these two neighboring counties vote so differently, education.

in oakland county where democrats won decisively in the last two presidential elections, 51% of adults have a college degree. next-door in macomb county, it is 27%. it went decisively to for donald trump in the same two elections. it is a phenomenon playing out across the country, a contrast with the class and income divisions that defined political parties for much of the 20th century. >> has been the biggest change in american politics over the last few decades as college-educated voters moving toward the democrats and those without college education moving towards the republicans. judy: matt grossman is a professor of political science at michigan state tor watts are of a new book, polarized by degrees. how the diploma divide and the culture war transformed american politics. >> the college-educated voters used to have a very small proportion of the population, not enough to really make up a

voting constituency and now, they have. they also dominate our social and cultural institutions. they dominate the media, academia, nonprofit world, and even the corporate world and it is reflected not just in voting but in pretty much everything we see around us and the culture war inflaming our society. judy: the number of americans with four-year college degrees has increased dramatically. in 1960, less than 8% of american adults held college degrees. by the last couple of years, that had grown to over 37%. but who they are voting for has changed. >> college-educated voters used to be more likely to vote republican but it was not education. it was really income that was driving that relationship. instead of having the rich vote republican and the poor vote democratic, what you have is the more educated wedding aquatic and the less educated voting

republican so that it is almost no difference based on income anymore. judy: that is a good reason that difference exists. >> i think when you come up with a blue-collar background, there's a lot more wanting to get down to work and get down to your life. and that when you are on the more removed from that, that it is more like let's go up to university and we will have a party for four years on dad's dime and i did not have any interest in that and of course, college university systems largely become reeducation centers where we take these kids that may have grown up with -- in traditional values and we fill their heads up full of new ideas that are basically meant to tear everyone apart. judy: a few miles away in oakland county, the -- a mechanical engineer in the auto industry says her degrees have broadened her perspective. >> for a long time, i was a political and then i kind of

shifted towards the democratic side because it felt like it aligned with my values a lot more. judy: i asked her if she thinks her academic background has impacted her views. >> the demographic i work with are very highly educated and because they are highly educated, they pay more attention to science and data and we also may be a little more affluent so we can afford to think more about what is the long-term see what this or the long-term effect of this instead of people living paycheck-to-paycheck and all they can think about is why are these groceries costing so much right now? judy: matt grossman said this new fault line in politics has contributed to increased polarization and resentment of the other side. >> it is reflected not just in voting by inputting much everything we see around us and

the culture war inflaming our society. republicans have become less stressful of experts. republicans and democrats now disagree about all kinds of cultural and social issues that they didn't use too, things that did not used to be about politics are now about politics. we are experiencing it in our everyday lives. you can see the signals of people on the left or the right in far more places then you use to. judy: which is happening faster, that democrats are gaining among higher educated voters? or that they are losing among voters with less education? >> they are gaining lately at a faster clip among college-educated voters than they are losing among white voters without a college degree but the declines among white voters without a college degree are much more long-standing. some of them date from the 1970's onward so that is a trend that has been more long-standing but is currently slower than the

trend on the other side. the trend we are looking for in this election is due those extend to minority voters? minority voters have not divided along educational lines anywhere near the level that white voters have and they maintain a stronger attachment to the democratic party. if that breaks and they start to divide along educational lines like white voters have, that would be good for the republican party's electoral chances. amna: one -- judy: one more division in an already polarized america and this one could be the deciding factor in next week's presidential election. for the pbs news hour, i am judy woodruff in macomb county and oakland county, michigan. ♪ geoff: just weeks before the holiday travel season kicks into gear, new airline refund rules have gone into effect across the

country. that could mean big changes for when and how tens of millions of americans get paid back for things like flight delays or mishandled baggage. they also put an end to some haggling, communication breakdowns, and all-around frustrations for passengers. to help walk us through them, we are joined by brian kelly, founder of a popular travel website. thanks for being with us. these rules were first announced by the biden administration in april because previously, airlines set their own policies when it came to delayed flights or flight cancellations. help us understand the changes. brian: these changes are great for consumers because they give clarity on exactly when you can get a full refund. now, what has been happening is airlines have been giving vouchers to consumers instead of refunds. now, the regulation states that consumers are owed a refund to their original form of payment if a flight is delayed, whether three hours or more domestically or six hours or more

internationally or if the flight is canceled for any reason by the carrier. so you know, cash is king so this is a win for consumers because getting the refund is much better than a voucher that will eventually expire. geoff: these are automatically funds? brian: these are supposed to be automatic if you choose not to be re-accommodated. most airlines will give you the option to take the next flight or different routes. if you choose not to do that and say i am just going to mix -- ni x this trip, you should automatically get it within seven business days. if you don't see that, it is time to request it from the airline and if they don't provide it, you can file a d.o.t. complaint. hopefully automatic. geoff: what are the rules around mishandled baggage and situations where you pay for wi-fi on the plane and it doesn't work? brian: the new rules that were put in place were meant to protect consumers whenever they paid for extras which are becoming more and more common like seat upgrades or checked

baggage. if that checked baggage does not show up within 12 hours domestically, you get that baggage fee refunded. in the past, it was up to the airlines to decide if they wanted to do that. this is in addition to compensation if the airline loses your bag. every airline has different policies on what they will reimburse for missing luggage. always check with your credit card company, too. any of them will reimburse you those missing bags. if the wi-fi didn't work or if the airline changes your flight and adds extra connections, which happens a lot, you do not have to accept them. if you book a flight and they try to change it, you are owed a full refund which is great news. geoff: how have the airlines responded to these new rules? brian: there was a lot of grumbling. i thought they might try to protest the new rules because there's a lot of -- that has to go into this but so far, have not seen that. my professional opinion is the airlines are waiting to see what happens on election day because if there is a change in

administration, i expect there will be some heavy lobbying to either watertown or get rid of these new regulations altogether which is in the purview of whoever runs the d.o.t. come next year. geoff: i want to ask you about something else because last month, the transportation department opened an investigation into airline loyalty programs, looking into problems with devaluing earned points and some hidden fees. why are airlines making it harder to accrue and use loyalty points? >> interestingly, airlines are making it easier to earn points. there more credit card offers than ever before. the issue comes with redeeming points, specifically the big four west airlines have continued to to increase the amount of miles needed where it can be very confusing for consumers. what are these miles actually worse? the d.o.t. is in an investigation and fact-finding mission and they potentially could come out with new regulations that would mandate the airlines to post minimum values that the average consumer

could expect to get from their frequent flyer mile programs and also give notice for any big changes to the programs and not just be able to change them at will at any given time which is how it is today. geoff: the points guy himself, founder of the popular travel website. thank you for being with us. brian: thank you for having me. ♪ amna: next tuesday's election results are being closely watched overseas but perhaps nowhere more anxiously than in ukraine. vice president harris has promised to continue supporting ukraine if she winds while former president trump has ridiculed the billions of dollars in military aid the u.s. has sent to ukraine and says he could negotiate an immediate end to the conflict. jack houston traveled to the frontline town in the eastern donbas region to meet with american volunteer fighters considering whom to vote for and

what their votes might mean for the war. jack: -- >> i spent four years in the u.s. army where i went to afghanistan three times and i have been fighting in ukraine since march of 2022. jack: he gave us access to talk to us about the nature of the war and how it may the affected by the u.s. election. like all parties to this conflict, they are being forced to adapt to drone warfare and today is test day. >> this is the field we use as a range. jack: headsets and control pads are superseding machine guns and artillery in this war. at this range, just a few miles from the frontline, they are testing a kamikaze drone. hundreds of thousands of these flying improvised explosive devices, $500 a pop, are the most effective part of ukraine's

air force. the contrast with the resources available to james when he was in afghanistan is stark. >> you have every asset available to you. no question. if you need something, you are going to get it. we are flying on chinooks. where is here, we are in the trenches. air superiority. the first time you are at a tree line and you hear a jet fly overhead or a crews missile flyby, it kind of makes you realize that you are the underdog here. >> even magazines for their rifles have at times been scarce. but for james, the differences with afghanistan are not just material. >> even as a soldier there, you could not help but shake the feeling sometimes that, you know, you are a foreign soldier

occupying a foreign land where as here, it is the opposite. you're fighting with ukrainians who are defending their homes, defending their families from a foreign invasion. and being able to be on the others have that for once, it feels good. >> ukraine's cause may be threatened by domestic political developments. >> i think zelenskyy is maybe the greatest salesman of any politician that has ever lived. every time he comes to our country, he walks away with $60 billion. i will have that settled prior to taking the white house as president elect. i will have that settled. >> trump says he can broker a settlement but moscow has shown no interest in negotiating peace except on humiliating terms deeply threatening to ukraine's long-term security. >> the political archetype of

republicanism with regards to international affairs is usually rather more hawkish. what do you make of the situation where it is the other way around right now? wife's it is a bit strange but we are seeing again with the america first movement, which is harkening back to the 1930's and the 1940's of american isolationism in the face of a different fascist threat at the time, so we are seeing the parallels happening today. >> james is a democrat but like his fellow squad member, anecdotally, most of the american soldiers fighting in ukraine are republican. given the noises trump has so far made on ukraine, it puts them in a confusing position. >> i would probably vote trump mainly for the isolationist view of like, you know, america comes first. build america back up and then we can probably try and help the world again or whoever else because it is hard to support

others when you yourself are falling. >> doesn't that mean in the immediate term, it could greater in danger your life? what's absolutely, but that is my personal risk to choose. america should come first but i think in the grand geopolitics, i think it is very vital that ukraine is like an independent country so it is a personal conflict. >> how the u.s. election turns will be pivotal. under a new but marred bit -- new bombardment captured here after we left, the squad has now abandoned this drone workshop as russian forces continue to advance. arriving under cover of dark, headlights off to avoid targeting by drones, we visited and artillery position near the front line 10 miles south of his team. this is an american supplied

howitzer for all the drones and improvised tech, the bulk of the battle is still artillery. but the ukrainians need more shells. dwindling ammunition has cost ukraine big after u.s. congress dithered over its military aid approval over the past year, key strategic towns were lost as ukrainian guns fell silent. >> so when funding for ukraine doesn't get approved, that doesn't just stop in d.c. or congress. that affects everything down the chain all the way to the guy in the trench in the donbas fighting for his life. >> if donald trump winds this election and aid is cut off, what would that mean here on the frontline? >> it means the guns stopped working. they start going quiet and slowly run out of shelves, ammunition, medical supplies. sure, the european countries can step up and try and fill those

gaps but in the end, it would be the beginning of the death toll for ukraine. >> no one knows for sure what trump would do if elected but as the sun sets on november 5, ukraine's defenders will have a sleepless night ahead of them as they wait for the results on which the survival may -- their survival may depend. for the pbs news hour, i am jack in ukraine. ♪ geoff: with the 2024 election just days away, there is no shortage of reflections on the state of american politics and democracy but paul has a unique view. his images have been displayed at major american museums including the whitney and the museum of modern art. his recent project and book, purple town, used photos to examine the american cities and towns that are most evenly

divided politically. we spoke to him for our series, art in action, exploring the intersection of art and democracy and for our ongoing coverage of arts and culture, canvas. >> i am not trained as a social scientist or political scientist. i am just a guy with a camera. the country is extremely polarized now, maybe more so than i have ever seen it in my lifetime. 2020 just seemed like a turning point in terms of how we relate to each other. many very smart people are writing and talking about polarization in the current political situation but i am just a real believer in kind of getting out there myself. purple town is a community that specifically for this project was either an exact tie or very close virtual tie in the 2020 u.s. presidential election.

i am really troubled by the notion that the country is so divided not just politicallyut in terms of how we feel about each other and the notion that 30 or 40% of the people in this country have beliefs and values that are very different than mine. that is ok, but what is going on now is that we are not accepting each other's humanity. photography and art is a coping mechanism for me. it is just a way for me to feel like i am doing something to try and understand what is going on in the world and maybe share it with other people. i would look for places where people are gathering, whether it was an outdoor cafe were eating establishment or football games. if you are in a small community that is split down the middle, there is a good chance that your kids go to school together. you may work together. he may go to church together or shop in the same stores though i really wanted to see how that played out, to see if there really is a difference that is

visible and noticeable. i wasn't going into these places, attempting to come up with some sort of definitive portrait othe community. it was more as if i had dropped in from outer space and did not know anything i did not know anybody and i just walked around. i wonder if what i have seen in these small towns, which i take to be sort of a necessary civility, because people are in such proximity to each other and they just cannot afford to be jerks to each other, they cannot get away with it. i think that maybe used to be true on a broader, more national level, but now, we can find our little beehive of like-minded folks and express ourselves and be reinforced in police that i think maybe are more extreme and it is more acceptable because there is an outlet now that did not exist before. and honestly, i wish that i could take people that i know and force them into my car and drive to these places and have

them walk around with me because they have never done it before and i know it is true on the others as well. i live in minneapolis and if you believe what you hear from some people, they think the city itself is some kind of crime infested cesspool, and it is not. the things that people believe about small-town, rural america are not true either and we just have to go to these places and see it. people are always going to have differences. that is what makes this world interesting and i think it is kind of what makes our democracy work when it does work, but i think we are at a turning point now where things can go really bad or maybe we can start to recover our civility and we are just going to have to see what happens. i tend to be an optimist at heart and there are a lot of things to worry about with our democracy right now. i think we are going to pull through but that is maybe my optimism more than my common sense speaking. i really believe that everyone

cares about this country including leaders that i have not agreed with. i think deep down, they believe what they are doing is the right thing for our country. i think that is part of what helps keep me sane and having some degree of hope. ♪ amna: and that is the news hour for tonight. i am amna nawaz. geoff: and i am geoff bennett. thanks for spending part of the evening with 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 more than 200 years ago. american cruise lines 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. ♪ >> at bdo, i feel like a true individual. people value me for me. they care about what i want, my needs, my career path. i matter here. ♪ >> the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. and friends of the news hour, including the robert and virginia schiller foundation. the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the frontlines 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. >> the final night of an extraordinary campaign. while voters send donald trump back to the white house? mr. trump: we stand on the verge of the four greatest years. >> or will kamala harris make history? vp. harris: are you ready to make your voices heard? >> election 2024, tuesday,

november 5, at 7:00 p.m. eastern, 6:00 central. ♪ ♪ >>

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