♪ amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff bennett is away. on the "newshour" tonight -- kamala harris and donald trump head west as the margins remain razor-thin in critical swing states, with days to go until voting ends.

the supreme court allows virginia to purge voter rolls. how unsubstantiated claims of non-citizens voting have spurred the move and the effect it could have on the election. and we examine the potential economic impact of donald trump's promise to deport immigrants en masse. >> from a pure economic point of view, massive cost. some sectors will have huge disruption. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs "newshour" has been provided by -- ♪ >> a law partner rediscovers her grandmother's artistry and creates a trust to keep the craft alive. a raymondjames financial advisor gets to know you, your passions, and the way you enrich your community.

life well planned. >> on an american cruise lines journey along the legendary mississippi river, travelers explore civil war battlefields and historic riverside towns aboard our fleet of american riverboats. you can experience local culture and cuisine and discover the history of the mighty mississippi. american cruise lines, proud sponsor of pbs newshour. ♪ >> carnegie corporation of new york, working to reduce political polarization through philanthropic support for education, democracy, and peace. more information at carnegie.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. amna: welcome to the newshour. both presidential candidates brought their campaigns to the southwest today. former president trump stopped in new mexico -- a detour from battleground territory -- while vice president kamala harris jetted off to arizona. but before she left, harris spoke with reporters about what's on the line, on election day -- just 5 days out. laura barron-lopez begins our coverage with this report. vp harris: among the stakes in this election are whether we continue on with the affordable care act or not. correspondent: in between

campaign stops today, kamala harris warned that healthcare is on the ballot, following a vow, from house speaker mike johnson, for quote, “massive reform,” if donald trump is elected. vp harris: now we further validation of that agenda from his supporter, the speaker of the house. the american people, regardless of who they're voting for, know the importance of the affordable care act, which is also called obamacare, in terms of expanding people's coverage to health care . correspondent: in leaked video obtained by multiple outlets, johnson echoed an audience member, saying quote “no obamacare” and that changes needed to be made. later, he walked it back, rejecting that he wants to gut the popular law. even though trump himself has repeatedly said he wants to repeal the affordable care act. it comes as both campaigns battle for votes, in the southwest. harris, in phoenix, arizona -- vp harris: we have an opportunity to turn the page on

a decade of donald trump trying to keep us divided and afraid of each other. we're done with that. we're exhausted with that. mr. trump: look, your votes are rigged. we could win new mexico. correspondent: and trump, in not-so-far-away albuquerque, new mexico. mr. trump: if we could bring god down from heaven, he could be the vote counter. we would win this. we'd win california. we'd win a lot of states. you just got to keep the votes honest. correspondent: last night, trump touched down in green bay, wisconsin, wearing a reflective orange vest, he approached a “maga” themed garbage truck. the 78-year-old appeared to stumble twice as he reached for the handle. from the passenger seat - mr. trump: this truck is in honor of kamala and joe biden. correspondent: trump played up an off-script comment made by president joe biden, where biden appeared to say trump's supporters are, quote, “garbage.” president biden quickly clarified, he was referring to a comedian who made a racist joke

about puerto ricans at trump's madison square garden rally. trump, himself, regularly calls democrats enemies from within and repeatedly refers to the united states as the “garbage can of the world." the theatrics didn't stop at the tarmac. mr. trump: i'm president. i want to protect the women of our country. they said, sir, i just think it's inappropriate for you to say. correspondent: during his rally last night - against the apparent advice of his team - trump insisted his policies would, quote, “protect” american women, a pledge he's made before, but this time, he added -- mr. trump: i'm gonna do it whether the women like it or not. correspondent: harris responded, earlier today. vp harris: it actually is very offensive to women in terms of not understanding their agency, their authority, their right and their ability to make decisions about our own lives and their

own bodies. and this is just the latest in a series of reveals by the former president of how he thinks about women. >> it is this simple. we trust women. correspondent: in pennsylvania, harris' running mate, governor tim walz, also seized on the remark. >> they are going to send a loud and clear message to donald trump on november 5th. they're going to send that message whether he likes it or not. correspondent: meanwhile, in roughly 3-hour conversation with podcaster joe rogan, trump's running mate, j.d. vance said abortion restrictions should be left to the states. and he suggested that white kids are pretending to be transgender in order to get into ivy league schools. >> obviously that pathway has become a lot harder for a lot of upper middle class kids, but the one way that those people can participate in the dei bureaucracy in this country is to be trans, and is there a dynamic that's going on where if

you become trans that is the way to reject your white privilege. correspondent: other members of trump's inner circle are also making headlines. >> neither of us are doctors, vaccines are safe. correspondent: on cnn last night, howard lutnick, tapped as co-chair of trump's transition team, was asked whether or not rfk jr. fits into a potential trump administration. that prompted him to go on a baseless anti-vaccine rant. >> why do you think vaccines are safe? >> kids get them and they're fine. >> why do you think they're fine? we know so many more people with autism than had it when we were young, i mean come on. correspondent: tonight, both candidates head to battleground nevada as voters there file into the polls. for the pbs newshour, i'm laura barron lopez. ♪ amna: just days before election

date the u.s. supreme court has ruled that the state of virginia will be able to continue to purge people from the state's voter rolls. the state has argued it's part of an effort to remove noncitizens from the roles, but voting rights advocates have found several u.s. citizens were removed from the roles. our correspondent spoke with some of those voters enjoins me now. welcome to the news hour. the state of virginia has moved 1600 people from its voter rolls since august. why was he doing that in the first place? >> all states have an obligation to make sure the voters on their roles are eligible to vote, and what is on debate here is how virginia and when virginia did that. virginia has this program underway to identify noncitizens on the roles, but the argument being made is that they are not narrowly tailoring it enough to only target noncitizens and it

is happening too close to the election. under federal law, there was a rule under the national voter registration act that states have to stop this kind of voter make ends 90 days before any election, by the virginia says that does not apply here because they are targeting noncitizens specifically. but we have seen that this program has ensnared u.s. citizens. amna: tell me about that. you spoke to some of these folks who said they are u.s. citizens and they were erroneously removed from the roles. what happens now? >> there is a pattern where people have visited the dmv, and at some point they must've made a mistake on the form where they marked a box identifying themselves as noncitizens somewhere in those forms. we are not sure how this happens , but after the visit to the dmv they got a letter in the mail from their local election

official saying we think you may not be a citizen. these are from your citizenship. we spoke to a voter who that letter was sent to the wrong address. by the time she got at the deadline that already passed. she was able to reregister. we spoke to another voter who did get the mail and she did send it back, but even then she was still not on the rolls. all of this does take time. both of those voters did end up voting early this week. amna: we spoke with an attorney working with this nonpartisan civil rights group call protect democracy that helps voters to restore their voter registration. here is what she had to say. >> especially within the new citizen community, there was a lot of fear. i have talked to people who already fix the problem with the registrar and reaffirm their status you are still scared about, because they think they have gotten the communication

saying it might be illegal for them to do so. there was another group of people who are indignant and frustrated this happen. i spoke to one voter who said i am supposed to choose my elected officials. they are not supposed to choose whether i get to vote. amna: could this have an impact on the election? >> this is a small number of people. this is 1600 who have been purged so far this election period. there were people taken off the rolls before august through the same program, and we know some of those cases were eligible u.s. citizens as well too. because virginia does allow same-day registration, a lot of these people will hopefully realize that they can still vote , so that is the silver lining here. amna: let me pull back the lens, because this idea of noncitizens voting has been elevated in republican concerns, despite the evidence that points to the fact

this is not a big problem in the country. does this effort that we saw in virginia tie into this more national concern in conversation we have seen? >> it definitely does tie-in. this narrative has been a key talking point this election season, and we have seen other states take aggressive actions, publicizing that they are taking noncitizens off the rolls, but these efforts have also ensnared non--- u.s. citizens. at least 2000 citizens in alabama were swept up, and election efforts are suggesting that this false narrative that large numbers of noncitizens could vote could be used delayed the groundwork to sow doubt about the election and potentially be used for future election challenges. amna: thank you for sharing your reporting and insights with us. we appreciate it.

♪ correspondent: here are the latest headlines. in spain crews are searching for bodies and abandoned cars and slum buildings after devastating flash floods. the death toll rose 2158 people and an unknown number of others remain missing. james mays reports from valencia. correspondent: this was how a flood was to be handled, a ravine, a channel that could gain nature and get water safely to the sea. on tuesday night nature had other ideas. [screaming] three of the four bridges swim please stepped away -- swept away.

cars were tossed aside like toys dumped onto railway lines, and all with such speed that people had little chance. >> the ocean came here, and everything was underwater. in 10 minutes all the town was absolutely full of water. correspondent: we found a lena and her husband beginning to clear out outside their home just a few meters from where the river burst. alayna showed me how they found the water rushing into waist height after them. the trauma of the next few hours is still with them. [crying] my son cannot get to us, she says. i can't talk.

it is almost impossible to conceive of the force of water that came down the street. locals talk about it as a tsunami, and you see what happened when the water had no us to go simply smash everything into the end of the street. the irony is this sort of storm is not unusual here at this time of year. they thought they were resilient to it. it turned out they were not. a local supermarket still awash with mud and debris, opened its doors to people to take what they need. for years experts have warned that freak weather was going to get more frequent and more intense. it has. europeans believe their modern societies can easily withstand such events. recent storms in central europe and now southern spain may demand a serious re-think. amna: turning now to the middle east, hezbollah launched

back-to-back rocket attacks from lebanon into northern israel today, killing at least seven people, including four foreign workers. it was the deadliest day in israel since its military crossed into lebanon early this month. meanwhile, israel continued its aerial assault of southern lebanon. health officials there say 45 people have died in just the past day. eyewitnesses captured the scope of the devastation. across lebanon, wary residents said they're tired of living in fear. >> no one knows anymore where is safest and where is not. we are tired. the most important thing is that this doesn't drag on any longer. they must find a solution, a ceasefire, and implement a resolution in order to achieve peace. amna: u.s. officials say about 8,000 north korean troops are now at russia's border with ukraine. they're expected to join the fighting in the coming days. the new figure is a sharp

increase from just a day earlier, when defense secretary lloyd austin would only say some troops had moved towards the border. austin joined secretary of state antony blinken in a meeting with their south korean counterparts in washington today. they condemned the build-up of troops, as well as north korea's ballistic missile test overnight. and the group agreed to expand their cooperation. >> that's why the united states and the rok are working so closely with our partners to stand up to coercive, destabilizing actions. in both the indo-pacific and the euro-atlantic. our work together is central to ensuring peace and stability and to enhancing deterrence. amna: russia continued its air assault on ukraine today. at least three people were killed -- including two teenage boys -- when a russian glide bomb struck a residential buiilding in kharkhiv. dozens of other people were injured. a philadelphia judge has put a

state case against elon musk's million-dollar election sweepstakes on hold. city prosecutors had tried to stop the giveaways from musk's political action committee, saying they may violate election law. musk did not show up to the hearing at philadelphia's city hall today. his lawyers are trying to move the case to federal court. musk has been handing out million-dollar prizes to randomly-selected voters in swing states who pledge their support for gun rights and free speech. the federal reserve's preferred measure of inflation slowed last month to near pre-pandemic levels. the latest report from the commerce department showed that prices rose 2.1% in september, when compared to last year. that's down from a reading of 2.3% in august. separately, the number of americans filing for unemployment fell last week by 12,000. boeing has presented striking factory workers a new contract offer. it would raise wages by 38% over

four years. roughly 33,000 workers have been on strike for seven weeks. they have rejected two previous offers. the machinists union will vote on the proposal on monday. a washington state man responsible for killing thousands of eagles and hawks to trade in their feathers and parts was sentenced to four years in prison today. authorities say travis john branson specifically targeted juvenile golden eagles on the flathead indian reservation in montana. their feathers are highly desired among native americans for use in powwows and ceremonies. in addition to the prison time, branson was ordered to pay restitution, including $5,000 for every eagle killed. and, it was a hollywood ending for this year's world series champions, the los angeles dodgers. their series-clinching win over the new york yankees last night was defined by an epic comeback -- or a remarkable collapse --

depending on who you root for. new york blew a five-nothing lead in the fifth inning, due to a number of errors. la went on to win 7 to 6. today, the team brought the trophy back to tinseltown. it's the dodgers' second world series win in just the last five years. still to come on the "newshour" we examine the divide between kamala harris and donald trump on social security and medicare spending. the rise of misinformation and threats to election workers as election day approaches. and the politics of abortion in the united states ripples through kenya. ♪ >> this is the pbs newshour from the david rubenstein studio at weta studio in washington and from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. amna: in the final days of the selection both presidential

candidates are trying to win over older voters with their plans for entitlement programs like social security and medicare, which provide financial protections to retired and disabled americans, but social security, a program that has long been popular is at risk of being depleted as soon as 2034, and medicare will be insolvent by 2036, leaving families without critical financial support. as part of our coverage, lisa desjardins is here to walk us through how both campaigns will tackle the issue. if these programs to become insolvent, who is at risk? >> a massive group of people. before social security and medicare were in place 35% of american seniors lived in poverty. that number is 10% now. if congress and the white house do not do anything, social security will see 20% cuts within the next decade, and by some estimates in your property will double.

there are ways to solve this. it takes making tough choices. amna: let's start with what the candidates stay. first, social security. >> neither candidate has a comprehensive plan to stabilize social security. one candidate's plan would destabilize had, that is former president donald trump. here is one of his messages on the campaign trail. mr. trump: i will cut all of the bed talk about social security. i will not cut one cent from social security or medicare, and i kept my promise for four years that i would keep it again, and seniors should not pay taxes on social security. >> trump specifically says he will end income taxes on social security, payroll taxes, which fund social security on tips and overtime pay and not raise the retirement age. he has no proposals for making

the system more solvents, and i should went out 20 years ago in a book he had different policy proposals. he wanted to privatize the system and raise the retirement age. amna: you said the plans would make social security less stable. >> specifically trump's plan has been analyzed by the committee for responsible budget. his plans were to reduce the funding, so let's look at what they found. they found the planet would most likely make social security insolvent and force cuts three years sooner by 2031, and the credit would be larger, a 33% cut in benefits in 10 years they found. this is something that would affect people beginning with those who are 60 years old now and want to retire by 67, and those kinds of cuts would affect everyone on social security as well. amna: vice president harris has been critical of former president trump's plans, but

what are her plans? v.p. harris: my plan includes what we need to do to strengthen to get solvency. what we will need to do to work with congress to make sure we are putting more into it, and it cannot be about cutting benefits, because right now does benefits are barely adequate as it is. >> harris has not given any details how she would keep the system solvent while potentially expanding benefits. doing nothing about that means there would actually be an automatic cut going into place in 2024. harris's plan heads as to what a cut in social security. we spoke to the head of the committee for responsible budget for these two plans. >> if you just take social security, you have both candidates talking about how they promised to protect the program. if we do nothing, in nine years they will be across the board benefit cuts of almost a quarter for every retiree collecting benefits, and that is unconscionable.

>> is not something either candidate is facing up to. amna: medicare is also at risk. it went to the candidate say about that? >> neither candidate has a plan to stabilize that, but harris does have some plan for medicare and those are significant. she wants to explain -- expand the plan and negotiate drug prices. she likes to point out she and president biden expanded the program and started the program to negotiate on drugs, but former president trump does not have a specific prescription drug plan and it is not clear if he would allow medicare to keep negotiating prices or if you would expanded. he read what he savings from this idea of negotiating more drug rises to begin a new benefit for in-home care. former president trump is interested on that, but it is not clear how you would pay for

it. neither candidate as a plan to stabilize medicare, and we are on the same track where it is a program that will face benefit cuts if nothing else happens. amna: the situation is approaching dire. how do voters feel about this? >> this is an important sleeper issue with the older voters. the aarp did a survey of american voters, and they found harris as an independent year. when asked you do you trust more on social security and medicare, 40% say they trust her more than donald trump. we keep talking about how the economy tops concerns. this is part of that issue in america. the aarp found with voters over 50 when they were asked about what would help them most financially, social security, protecting social security was tied for first with food prices. keeping social security intact is something older voters realize it's a key part of their

economy and also the national economy. amna: the economy mean so many different things to different people. >> this is an issue not given enough attention by the candidates, because it is difficult. either you have to raise some kind of revenue or cut benefits. they know that is the case, and the longer they wait the more painful it will be for them, for our seniors, or just about everyone waiting. this is a failure in addressing a critical american problem. amna: thank you so much. ♪ immigration is another key issue of this campaign. vice president harris says if elected, she will pass a bipartisan bill strengthening border security. former president trump promises a much larger crackdown including mass deportations.

one of the key claims from trump and others -- that immigrants commit a disproportionate number of crimes -- has been disputed and contradicted by data. but there's been an economic argument made by the former president as well -- that immigrants take jobs and lower wages for other americans. our economic correspondent, paul solman gave that a closer look. mr. trump: an invasion of criminal migrants. correspondent: four former president donald trump immigration has been an obsession. mr. trump: we are like a garbage can for the world. correspondent: vice president harris too promises to crackdown on illegal crossings. v.p. harris: we will pursue more severe criminal charges against repeat violators. correspondent: 53% of americans say they favor increased -- strengthening resources in

several cities including here in new york. these are immigrants in the south bronx learning construction safety basics. almost all have asked for asylum and are in legal limbo into their cases are resolved. mr. trump: -- >> how many of you think you would be working in two months? >> this person says yes john -- he has done every job he could find. >> electrician, plumbing. correspondent: this person has been there for one month. >> a lot of migrants go to home depot to look for construction jobs. correspondent: alfonso entered the nightmare trek from venezuela through the jungle to get to america with his two young sons and wife. >> we were robbed as we were exiting the jungle. the mass of men came out and stopped everyone crossing, so it

was in a large group, and they still for -- from everyone. at times there were young women in these men took it upon themselves to rape them. correspondent: they say they are forever scarred. knowing what you know now, would you do it again? >> no. >> no. >> is too much psychologically. lots of bodies riddled the path. correspondent: donald trump addresses a seemingly more plausible side of immigration, the economic impact. mr. trump kuro -- trump: your jobs are being taken away to. correspondent: especially low-wage jobs. >> the massive amount of people who do low-wage worker u.s.-born. correspondent: are immigrants displacing american workers?

almost any employer will tell you how hard it is to find reliable workers these days. >> most of the people coming our working age. they will do the jobs i do not want to do, you do not want to do, nobody else wants to do and we are not doing. correspondent: when the program coordinator came from guatemala 14 years ago she too started at the bottom. >> i was putting in floors, teaching english, cutting hair, killing rats. >> how do you kill rats? >> i have some friends who have jacked areas and take them out at night and had rats in vacant lots at new york city. we would get paid to walk around and do that. correspondent: car mean -- car mine says immigrants have to take any job they can get. >> they have to take any opportunity available, because they have to provide for themselves and the people they are within they do not have

access to health care. correspondent: 2400 miles west this person runs a ranch in rural eastern nevada. her father has a dairy farm nearby. what is your reaction when you hear that immigrants are taking jobs from americans? >> i think it is dumb. it is uninformed. they are not taking your job. you do not want to do it. if you wanted it my dad would not be looking all the time. nearly everyone we know it agriculture was looking for someone. correspondent: for years baker has posted an irrigation job. >> we had a couple of people who said my son would like a job. under the time we had someone call and say they were interested in never show up. this year we had someone looked at the requirements of the job and decided they did not want to do it. she was the only person to show up and talk to my husband about the job. correspondent: but what about

the recent wave of immigrants? and the economy absorbed all of them. >> especially the construction industry. there is a job for anybody that wants to work, especially if you are willing to do anything. >> it would be wrong to say there are jobs that americans simply do not do. if 2/3 of construction laborers are u.s.-born, you cannot say no american does that job or is interested. correspondent: here is a crucial point says stephen, immigrants depress wages below what many americans can bear. >> if you increase the supply of anything, in this case a labor or workers, you tend to lower its price. if i job is heavily immigrant, that is likely an area where immigration has placed on wages. some of those jobs are unpleasant, by construction labor, so you would want wages to be relatively high there, and

one of the things immigration does is it tends to hold down wages making the occupation less attractive. correspondent: carmine says there are construction jobs american workers will not do even for high paid. >> you pay $50 or something, and it sometimes does not work. correspondent: one problem mireles sympathizes. >> there are a lot of jobs i had to do. if i am not in a spot where have to, i will not. correspondent: a business school professor. >> we have clear evidence that native born young men and women will simply not do those jobs. even during times of high unemployment. correspondent: he argues if you were immigrants mean higher wages, they may be americans will take the jobs, especially less educated men. >> they share of men not in the labor force is about triple what

it was in 1916, and double what it was 25 years ago. as long as we have a supply of eager immigrants we will never address this problem. correspondent: think of all of the available jobs were donald trump to deliver on his campaign valve. -- vow. mr. trump: we will get these people out. correspondent: that would cost all of us. >> the income the undocumented generate is 3.5% of u.s. gdp, so $1 trillion per year. bless you would have all the cost of running these operations that would be huge. massive costs. some sectors will a few disruptions. >> what would happen to american agriculture? >> i think you would tainted --

tain it if you were to pull out the immigrants. >> here in new york construction never stops. correspondent: tim runs the bricklayers union. >> i do not think the industry could survive that kind of mass loss of workers. correspondent: besides, he says. >> the only way there was a reduction in unauthorized workers was when the pandemic it and employment opportunities cease to exist, and the reason folks were attracted or disappeared. we had the four year experiment of self deportation. it failed. >> there is a study that came out recently showing the biggest predictor of illegal border crossings is unfilled job openings in the united states. correspondent: at the moment we certainly seem to need these people. ♪

amna: officials across the country are working overtime to ensure election day is a success , and the stakes are high. william brangham has a look at the threats causing concern. correspondent: from rampant disinformation, for an adversary's sow chaos, ballot boxes set ablaze, there are many bad actors trying to undermine our elections process, but there was also an army of nonpartisan election officials collecting ballots and pushing back, confident that this election like the last will be secure. for a closer look at what we need to know in advance of tuesday, we are joined by juliet, a former assistant secretary at the department of homeland security and faculty chair of the homeland security program at harvard's kennedy

school. you have been advising elections administrators around the country in the lead up to tuesday. what is the mood like amongst them right now? >> is nervous, but no surprises. everyone has been anticipating what we are now seeing going on, which is a coordinated and ad hoc attack on how we vote, where we vote, what we understand to be the truth in the information space, so this is not a surprise to them, but let's be honest. the system was not built for this, so they are adapting in real time. correspondent: let's talk about those different threats. one of them has been physical attacks. we sought ballot boxes lit on fire in the pacific northwest. he saw a man in arizona shoot up a dnc office.

how are election officials preparing for those kinds of physical kinetic attacks? >> that is their biggest concern, because it is the get up about next tuesday, which is to be protected, and you have lots of volunteers, young people i know people, enter physical safety is most important. private security is being hired to buttress public safety and security, preventative measures. everything from lighting videos to make sure there are eyes and ears everywhere, so there is the defense in terms of locking down to the extent that you can and preparing if there are attacks what you would do. it is less likely any individual place 11 physical attack. there will be lots of folks is, distant -- lots of hoaxes, disinformation. think about what 10 bomb threats

cares could do in an urban area in a swing state. there was lots of practice of how do you move from one building to another, out into the street. you have to keep focusing on getting out the vote, and that is what training and practicing is doing right now. correspondent: what a world we live in. apart from the physical threat, there was also this concurrent information war attack against the voting system. the former president and many of his allies have continued for four years to save the last election was stolen and this one currently is also being cheated up on and stolen. polls show this message has penetrated the republicans, were some polls shall have and some say a majority believe there will be cheating and fraud. how do we defend against that? >> the first thing is to say

factually there is no evidence of rampant, institutionalized voter fraud. you will see cases here or there, which people are arrested or there are mistakes made. millions of people are voting, that is going to happen. the groundwork we have is a country, most safe and fair elections in almost any democracy at this stage given how bifurcated it is. you have so many different polling places. the second days of the information pushback going on against a concerted and domestic campaign to undermine the validity of this election, not just to disrupt the vote on tuesday, it lies about place and time and whether you are authorized to vote, but also to create a narrative should donald trump lose in the election. he will create a narrative he did not lose fairly, that the votes were stolen from him.

that narrative, there are a lot of people interested in promoting that narrative, including the russians, including elon musk who owns twitter index -- and x. the best thing one can do, there are two things. citizens need to get smart about their information and take, including people who think they are sophisticated inhalers of intelligence. we tend to get whipped out. the random person who says something, we need to validate it. you are starting to see public and private entities pushback on the lies early on. i have never seen for example the united states government give attribution to the russians for a lot of lies that they are pushing in social media about fake votes and voting places losing ballots. the united states will name and

shame to the extent again as well. correspondent: i mentioned at the beginning elections officials say 2020 was the safest, most secure election we have ever had, and they think they will be the same or better this year. do you share the confidence? >> yes, i do. the thing i cannot qualify or quantify is how many people are willing to break federal law to disrupt the vote? if they are willing to do that, then you can see disruptions that we have not imagined in the past. correspondent: always great to see you. thank you so much for being here. ♪ amna: abortion is a closely watched issue in this year's election and not just in the united states. former president trump cut funding for international groups

that offer or even counsel on abortion services. advocates on both sides of the debate in kenya are watching for who wins and what that may mean. with the support of the pulitzer center, special correspondent neha wadekar reports from nairobi. and a warning: this story contains accounts of sexual and gender-based violence. correspondent: anne became an orphan when she was just 10-years-old. with nowhere to turn, she moved to dandora, kenya's largest dumpsite, and began sorting trash to earn some money. shortly after she arrived, anne was raped by an older man. we have changed her name and concealed her identity. anne soon started making a living as a sex worker. many of her clients were abusive, and some refused to wear condoms. >> that's because when you meet a guy, if you ask him to use protection, he says, “i don't eat a sweet while it's still wrapped.” correspondent: at age 13, anne became pregnant. nearly 1 in 5 kenyan girls becomes pregnant before they're

18, in part due to poverty and lack of sex education and access to contraception. back in 2004, abortion was completely illegal in kenya. anne used black market pills for her first abortion. her second pregnancy two years later was harder to terminate. >> so, i used knitting needles. it got to a point where i bled for two months. i had to go to the public hospital where i got help. correspondent: anne's story is far too common in kenya, where an estimated seven women and girls die each day from unsafe abortions. many who survive the procedures are left with severe complications, says monica oguttu, founding executive director of the nonprofit healthcare organization kmet. >> they bleed a lot from these damaged organs. we have seen cases that that sharp object goes through the uterus. correspondent: the country's 2010 constitution now permits abortion in a narrow handful of circumstances, like for

emergency treatment or if the life and health of the mother is in danger. but it's still confusing, even for physicians, says dr. ernest , an associate director at the nonprofit ipas. kenya is also a very religious country, and abortion is highly stigmatized. >> when you see this ambiguity as a medical provider, you take the safer road and say let me not provide these services or let me allow other people to do it. so, we sort of accept this thing of this is a backstreet service, let it stay there. correspondent: some government facilities do perform abortions. private clinics are another option, but they can be expensive, so women look for other, cheaper options. >> for abortion? we charge $3500. if it is five months, we take $4000. correspondent: pamela is a traditional medicine vendor who charges women and girls between 27 and 31 dollars for help.

pamela claims she stopped selling abortion-inducing herbs long ago. this type of denial is commonplace among black market actors offering illegal abortion related services both in person, and on social media, where misinformation thrives. if the herbs don't work, a woman might turn to a quack doctor for help. this is a room in a back-alley abortion clinic in one of nairobi's informal settlements. many of the people who work here claim to have medical training, but really have very little. they'll often use unsterile instruments like this to perform unsafe abortion procedures on women and girls, which can leave them either infertile or even lead to death. samuel is a self-proclaimed doctor who offers surgical abortion to poor women with nowhere else to turn. we've changed his name because his work is illegal. >> the challenge is, for example, when you want to interact with somebody who has just come for it, it has to be a

secret because the government doesn't allow. correspondent: many poor and indigent women who die from back alley abortions end up at public morgues. abandoned fetuses often end up there too. some of those fetuses are fished out of the river in dandora, the slum where anne lives. after her own two abortions, anne helped other women and girls abort around 150 pregnancies using a rusty pair of knitting needles. she throws the fetuses in this river at night to avoid getting caught. do you, do you ever feel any guilt? >> yes i do. that's because we're taking the life of young babies. but we have to do that because we have no other choice. correspondent: since kenya adopted its 2010 constitution, the country's judges have expanded abortion access through several major court decisions. but after roe v. wade was overturned in 2022 in the united

states, abortion rights advocates became concerned that the same thing could happen in kenya. one of the groups pushing for those decisions to be overturned is the kenya christian professionals forum, led by a constitutional lawyer named charles kanjama. >> we believe that abortion is not care. abortion doesn't save lives, abortion takes lives. correspondent: several cases are making their way through kenyan courts, including one petitioning for unborn children's right to life, for equal protection and benefit of the law a familiar argument in the united states' own abortion debate, says martin onyango, a lawyer at the center for reproductive rights. >> those are not new tactics. those are the same tactics being applied by the opposition group in the us in various states, and also at the supreme court. correspondent: that's in part because the kenyan anti-abortion movement is being bolstered by international groups, especially american groups, promoting conservative policies and ideology in africa.

these groups travel to africa as speakers for events and conduct anti-abortion training sessions. according to parliamentarian esther passaris, this type of campaigning is highly influential, because politicians fear losing the support of important conservative voting blocs. >> i think the idea that you will offend the church, the idea that you will lose votes if the church doesn't endorse you as a candidate. correspondent: there are huge sums of money flowing from american conservative groups into the continent of africa. a 2020 investigation by opendemocracy revealed that $54 million dollars flowed from us christian right groups to africa between 2008 and 2018. many of these groups are led by prominent american evangelicals with close ties to former president donald trump and his administration. mr. trump: to protect the unborn

i have reinstated a policy first put in place by president ronald reagan. correspondent: trump also reinstated and expanded the mexico city policy, known as the global gag rule, which restricts us funding to any international organization that performs or even counsels on abortion. these policies emboldened anti-abortion advocates during his term. >> they don't use federal funds to support pro-abortion organizations so, the noise of pro-abortion in our countries goes down. correspondent: they also created a chilling effect for kenyan reproductive healthcare providers like kmet, which chose to lose $3 million dollars in us funding, rather than stopping abortion related services. >> we had 15 staff that we laid off. it was the most difficult moment for me as the ceo of the organization. correspondent: with an american election around the corner, kenyans on both sides of the issue are waiting to see which way the chips fall. >> depending on the government

that is elected in the united states, we may have either continued progress in realizing reproductive rights or we can go back, we can lose the gains that we have made. correspondent: the stakes are highest for kenyan women and girls, who will feel the greatest impact if abortion rights are rolled back once again. for pbs newshour, i'm neha wadekar in nairobi, kenya. ♪ amna: remember there's a lot more online including conversations with several young voters on what's driving them to the polls. that is that pbs.org/news hour. and we know it's halloween tonight -- millions will be trick-or-treating, and celebrating the spookiness of the season. but it's also diwali, the hindu festival of lights. and in northern india, a record

2.5 million clay lamps lined a river in a city. the waterway is believed to be the birthplace of the deity, lord ram. the lights of diwali symbolize the triumph of good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance. and that is the news hour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire newshour team, thanks for joining us. and have a happy -- or i should say "spooky" halloween. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by. ♪

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♪♪ -"cook's country" is about more than just getting dinner on the table. we're also fascinated by the people and stories behind the dishes. we go inside kitchens in every corner of the country to learn how real people cook, and we look back through time to see how history influences the way we eat today.