wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the y. xfinity internet. made for streaming. ♪ amna: good evening, i am amna nawaz. geoff: and i am geoff bennett. pres. biden: the campaigns are contests. the country chooses one or the

other. geoff: president biden speak to the nation calling for any orderly transition in the wake of donald trump's decisive election victory. amna: the federal reserve cuts interest rates the agency's independence in the next trump presidency. geoff: ukraine loses ground to russian forces as donald trump's election calls into question the future of u.s. support. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs "newshour" has been provided by -- ♪

>> moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> i absolutely love my job because i love the people that i work with. everyone is trying to connect on a personal level. >> we look out for one another. we love to see our teammates thrive. >> you do not have to change our you walk. you do not have to change our you talk. >> we can bring our authentic selves to work and do our best stuff. that is joy. ♪ >> 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 by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. geoff: welcome to the newshour. president joe biden made his first public comments today since donald trump's victory over his vice president, kamala harris in the presidential election. amna: several cabinet secretaries and staff gathered in the rose garden as biden

praised harris' campaign and sent an optimistic message about the accomplishments of their administration. pres. biden: i know it's a difficult time. you're hurting. i hear you and i see you. but don't forget, don't forget all that we accomplished. it's been a historic presidency. much of the work we've done is already being felt by the american people with the vast majority of it will not be felt, felt over the next 10 years. we're gonna see over $1 trillion worth of infrastructure work done. changing people's lives in rural communities and communities that are in real difficulty. amna: biden went on to promise a peaceful transfer of power to trump's new administration. following all this is our white house correspondent, laura barron lopez. what it was the president's overall message? correspondent: president biden first ran in the late 1980's,

and he wanted to serve only -- more than one term, but he only served one. it was about the finding is legacy and what he believes will survive a second trump administration. the president felt it was important to speak to americans who supported him, who supported vice president harris and their vision for the country. pres. biden: we have 74 days to finish the term, our term. lets make everyday count. that's the responsibility we have to the american people. look, folks, you all know it, your lives, setbacks are unavoidable, but giving up is unforgivable. correspondent: surging aid to ukraine is one of those things that president biden wants to accomplish with the time he has left. i was speaking to a white house source who said with the speech of the president wanted to reassure people that a lot of what he got done that he believes will be hard for donald trump to undo because of the popularity of it and the fact

that those projects are mostly out the door. another thing that set out was the president talked about laying to rest questions about election integrity. he called the election system fair, transparent, and white house source said the president felt it was important to him at that point, because president biden believes it is his role to instill trust in the process. amna: he briefly mentioned vice president harris. many democrats hold them at least partly responsible for his loss -- her loss. correspondent: he praised her and called him a partner in a public servant. she said she enter campaign should be part of what they did, but to your question, a lot of democrats that i talked to believe the president bears responsibility, nt talked about being a bridge president, but his decision to run for reelection ultimately they think harm the party.

when democratic lawmaker said democrats also want to talk about their role in the fact that democrats and other leaders in the party should have may be said something to president biden earlier, trying to push them out potentially to make way for a new candidate. those close to biden defend his choice ultimately end say he was the only democrat to a beaten donald trump. amna: it has been less than two days since election was called. as you speak to democratic sources, our they processing results? correspondent: the biggest theme as they say vice president harris was tied to an unpopular incumbent. they say biden's incumbency hurt her. as one harris ally put it joe biden running for reelection is reason 1, 2, three of why she must. republicans successfully painted democrats has a party of elites disconnected from the working class, which is striking considering president biden has long championed himself as the most prounion president, but is

one latino poster told me latino voters felt president biden was slow to respond to inflation and that ultimately was dismissive of the financial pain that they were feeling. amna: that is otherwise held -- what else correspondent. geoff: for a look at some of the most crucial races in congress, we're joined by lisa desjardins at our pbs news super screen for a deeper dive. correspondent: the states could not be higher here. the control of 1000 will decide whether the next president trump has an easy path to his agenda or there is a more direct check on his power. republicans have 210 seats. that means in order to get the majority, keep the majority they need to pick up eight seats total in the neck seats that would be called. take a look at the national map. here is a way to think of it.

there are 27 races still left to be called for party control in the house of representatives. big districts like maine. here is one in iowa, alaska, ohio, but the largest groups of races, four in arizona, the pacific northwest, and 13 house races in california yet to be called. look at this. democrats right now with 198 seats, so for them to take control of the house they need 20 of the remaining 27 seats that are out there. that is a steep climb, and that is why speaker mike johnson wrote his colleague saying he expects them to take over the house, though that has not been called yet. geoff: where would democrats find those 20 seats? correspondent: democrats have had some bright spots. they picked up a four seed are certain flips.

right now they have the potential to pick up six flip seats. although that would have been enough to take over the house, but look at what republicans have done. they are picked up more flips, and they also have two within reach right now, so republicans are picked up or within reach of picking up eight seats. it do the math, it is pretty easy. the net is r+2. democrats have other concerns, because if you look at the mrs. clinton: races in the country, most of them are held by democrats. looking at one of those in western maryland, let us talk about the maryland six the district. this is the closest race in the country. 340 vote separate these two candidates. it is an open sea. democrats have good prospects because of some of the more liberal areas have yet to bring about, but this is a rural area where democrats used to be

comfortable, and now they are fighting for their lives. geoff: republicans won control of the upper chamber. the question is by how much. correspondent: 53 republicans, there are two senate seats to be decided. arizona and nevada. the reason we are at 53 now is because pennsylvania has been called for the republicans. this looks like a close race, 49-40 nine, so why would they associated press called this? because of this county right here. right now they have a huge margin, republicans to, and there is 40% of the vote left. the associated press did the math and things all of these votes means dave mccormick will be the next editor from the state of pennsylvania. correspondent: what is left account? correspondent: we have two big city races. we have arizona.

ruben gallego, this is a race democrats feel good about. if you look at what is happening in phoenix, maricopa county, gallego is up by six points in 30% left. that is hundreds of thousands of votes he can bank there. democrats feeling good about that one. a tighter race is in nevada where jacky rosen is up by just one point. this was 49-49 yesterday. it is a squeaker. what happens in las vegas gets on our super screen, and in clark county we are seeing jack and rosie -- jacky rosen with a nice margin. look at that closer margin, what is going on in rural nevada. in the end democrats feel good

about clark county. geoff: i do not know how you do it, so many races to keep track of. ♪ geoff: the federal reserve cut its benchmark lending rate again today by a quarter point. the economy and the high cost of living including high housing prices, which are directly affected by these rates is a big reason why donald trump weather this week. today federal reserve chair jerome powell was asked about a disconnect between how people feel financially and other data suggesting the economy is doing well. >> we save the economy is performing well, and it is, but people are still feeling the effects of five prices, for

example. we went through a global inflation shock, and inflation went up everywhere, and it stays with you because the price level does not come back down, so it takes some years of real wage gains for people to feel better, and that is what we are trying to create. geoff: at the same time powell and the fed could be facing a tougher road to come with possible pressure from president-elect ron. he has often been critical of powell. gina is covering it all for the new york times. what do you make of today's announcement? >> inflation is coming under control, which is meant the missing element of this economy for years now, and that is allowing the fed to bring down interest rates, which makes it

cheaper to borrow money. overall a very optimistic message. geoff: what might it mean for people's finances in their borrowing? >> i think it means two things. borrowed money is cheaper than an otherwise would be if the fed continues cutting interest rates. economists will tell you that should with time bleed over into other interest rates like mortgages and things like that, and the second thing that really matters here is the fundamental goal with rate cuts like the ones the fed is making right now is to maintain the strength of the labor market. if we can add strength of labor market, that should over time allowed to continue rising, and that should allow people to catch up with the inflation that we have seen in recent years, so those two factors, both cheaper borrowing cost and continued strong wage growth are good for

the american consumer. geoff: you mentioned mortgage rates. mortgage rates are not really falling even though the rates have been cut. what accounts for that? >> there are a couple of things happening. mortgage rates really turned on to do, so not so much it is doing but what it is doing but why did is expected to do next, and what we have seen in recent weeks and months is investors that the fed was going to cut rates a lot, so you sought mortgage rates come down earlier this year, but recently they pulled that back a little bit. that is for a couple of reasons. the economy has been stronger than we had expected. we have seen signs of real resilience especially on part of the u.s. consumer, and then the second thing is donald trump's election. as it became clear mr. trump might win election, there is this expectation we could have policies that stimulate growth

but still inflation like tariffs and tax cuts, and those things could keep the fed from cutting interest rates. those which up bond goats in markets and translate into higher interest rate because. geoff: tell me more about that, the degree to which donald's policy proposals, tariffs, tax cuts, nasty partition of undocumented workers, how might that complicate the plan? >> any economist you talk to whether it is anybody on wall street will tell you that these policies are likely to be inflationary? the reason is things like tariffs straighten of consumer prices, and things like

deportation can lead in the particularly tight labor markets that might result in fewer houses being built of humor -- or fewer farms producing. while that might not matter much in a normal environment, it could matter a lot in this moment, because we are coming out this long period of high inflation, and there is a real risk that it adds fuel to a fire that has just been extinguished and is simmering a little bit. the real risk is this inflation problem that we are in the process of getting rid of. geoff: donald trump been critical of fed chair powell in the past, and powell had a direct response today during the news conference when he was asked by a reporter if he would resign if donald trump him to step down. >> some of the president-elect's

advisors have suggested you should resign. if he ask you to leave, would you go? >> no. >> can you follow-up? do you think legally you are not required to leave? >> no. geoff: the fed to guards its independence and tries to protect its reputation. >> yes, they do, and the man is usually not monosyllabic, but he was trying to be extremely clear about what the fed thinks about this issue. he does not think he can be removed. he felt strongly that the president does not have the legal ability to demote or remove i fed chair, so he is trying to be upfront about that. there has been a history between president trump and the fed of real strike. president trump talked at length about firing or demoting chair

powell, so it is natural that with his reelection is surfacing again that although president trump is not said he plans on firing jay powell there are questions out there, so i think that the fed is trying to shore up its independence in the white house cannot bully it into doing something on policy that it does not feel is warranted. geoff: thank you so much for being with us. ♪ amna: -- >> i am stephanie sy. hurricane raphael as left a trail of destruction in cuba where the storm knocked out the power grid, leaving millions of residents in the dark. rafael slammed into cuba as a category three storm yesterday, lashing the island with wind and

rain. today the damage to the power grid became clear with down trees in a mangled power lines. the island had suffered repeated blackouts in recent weeks i made an ongoing public crisis. officials and residents fear rafael will set them back further. >> it seems like this is going to last for days now because we are in a difficult situation due to the power plants. now it is worse with the hurricane. correspondent: rafael is expected to keep weakening as its works its way west towards mexico, though forecasters say there is uncertainty over the storm's future direction. in california, the mountain fire, northwest of los angeles, has exploded fifteen times in size since yesterday burning more than 30 square miles, and threatening entire communities. more than 10,000 people people are under evacuation orders, and more than structures are at 3500 risk. more than 90 homes have been

destroyed. hundreds of firefighters are battling the fast-moving blaze. but wind gusts above 50 miles an hour have made containment difficult carrying embers, and fanning the flames. forecasters say those high winds should die down significantly by tonight. climate scientists say this year is virtually certain to be the hottest year on record -- for the second year in a row. europe's copernicus climate change service also said today that this will be the first year the planet is more than one-point-five degrees celsius hotter than it was before the industrial revolution. that's about two-point-seven degrees fahrenheit. the head of the agency says climate change is to blame. today's report comes ahead of next week's united nations cop-29 climate summit in azerbaijian, where countries will try to increase funding to address climate change. dozens of european leaders gathered in hungary today, where they pushed for a regional defense strategy that is less dependent on u.s. support. leaders at the european

political community summit stressed the need to re-think their trans-atlantic relationships following donald trump's election victory on tuesday. during the campaign, trump threatened a withdrawal from nato commitments and a shift in support for ukraine's war against russia. meantime, russian president vladmir putin today addressed mr. trump's election victory. >> i would like to take this opportunity to congratulate him on his election as president of the united states. i have already said that we will work with any head of state that the american people have given them the mandate. this will indeed be the case in practice. correspondent: mr. trump told nbc news in a phone interview that he has spoken with a number of world leaders since wednesday morning -- including israel's prime minister and ukraine's president volodymyr zelenskyy -- and that he expects to speak with putin. separately, mr. trump announced today that his campaign manager, susie wiles, will be his white

house chief of staff. she'll be the first woman to ever hold the position. israeli airstrikes pounded beirut's southern suburbs overnight, including a site next to the country's only international airport. video of the aftermath showed a large crater and entire buildings in ruins. the israeli military had ordered residents to evacuate beforehand. there were no immediate reports of casualties. israel also stepped up bombardments in gaza -- including on a school-turned-shelter in gaza city. rescue workers say at least 14 people were killed. meantime, the israeli military says it's expanded its operation in northern gaza to an area where it says hamas militants have regrouped. three people have been charged in connection with the death of former one direction star liam payne. the unidentified suspects include a drug dealer and a hotel worker who allegedly provided the singer with cocaine.

they are charged with supplying and facilitating the use of narcotics as well as abandonment of a person followed by death. payne fell from a hotel balcony in buenos aires, argentina, last month. toxicology exams found traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescribed anti-depressant in his system. automaker stellantis is scheduling layoffs for roughly 1100 workers at a jeep factory in ohio, starting as early as january. sales are down and vehicles are piling up on dealers' lots. today's announcement follows a warning in august that the company could lay off nearly 2500 workers in michigan. still to come on news hour, we examine how donald trump's re-election will affect the multiple legal cases against him. public health officials express alarm about robert f. kennedy jr potentially holding a public health position in the incoming administration. and hope for those living with

parkinson's using art and music. >> this is the pbs news hour from the david rubenstein studio at weta studio in washington d.c. and from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. amna: former president donald trump's return to the white house up into the many criminal convictions and cases he has faced over the last four years. william is here to explain what could happen next. mr. trump is now president-elect . he will assume office in just two months. out of that change the legal landscape? >> it changes absolutely everything. there are four major cases, and in one way or another each of those cases will be fundamentally different. some of them will go away, and some of them will feel constrained. the legal jeopardy phasing

donald trump today is completely different than two days ago. amna: how does becoming president-elect so dramatically change the legal landscape. >> let's talk about the first two federal cases to explain this point. those of the cases under the department of justice, specifically under jack smith. that is the january 6 election interference case that accuses the former of lying about the election, orchestrating this vast scheme to subvert biden's win. the secondary case is the mar-a-lago classified documents case. both of those cases are in different stages. the january 6 case was being slimmed down because the supreme court granted donald trump immunity. the mar-a-lago case had been dismissed by the judge overseeing that, because she said jack smith had been unconstitutionally appointed, so

both of those cases were in a difficult position now, but donald trump moves into the white house. he and his justice department assume authority. is attorney dismisses jack smith, and those cases vanish. even if they would have gone forward, there was a long-standing policy that says you do not prosecute sitting presidents. you just do not do that. the idea being the president as other things to do. you do not have to tingle them up, so those cases would likely have gone away. jack smith is winding down those cases. he will likely issue a report. amna: there are also two state cases, including georgia, election interference being brought by the district attorney. >> the key distinction you made

to state versus federal. donald trump would not have authority to dismiss the georgia election case being brought by fani willis. it is currently being appealed. trump and his 14 codefendants are saying you should remove the da because of her inappropriate relationship with one of her lawyers. that was slowly moving along, but it would suffer the same issue as the federal cases in that i stated prosecutor is not supposed to be charging and prosecuting a sitting president. amna: there is also the case where he has already been convicted. the 34 felony convictions for the hush money case in new york. what happens? >> the judge overseeing this, this is the stormy daniels hush

money case of the trump was convicted of using money to cover up the extramarital affair. sentencing was supposed to happen in three weeks. trump's lawyers will certainly appeal saying now that the president -- the former president will become the new president, we need to postpone the sentencing on that, and that has already happened twice before. if it does not, the pressure on the judge did not put donald trump in prison given that he is about to become the president is enormous. these are nonviolent felonies. she does not have a previous record. several members of congress at this case and all the others are to be dismissed, so it is hard to know what will happen. amna: there are some wondering if there is anything to be done to fast-track remaining cases. is there? >> the short answer is no. two months is not enough time

for any of these cases to finish their hearings, to start an actual court case and to be heard and wrapped up before donald trump gets back to the white house. amna: thank you so much. ♪ geoff: today russian president vladimir putin said ukraine would have to stay out of nato for there to be peace, while ukrainian president said he would not agree to any cease-fire unless it included security guarantees for ukraine. candidate trump said he went to the war to end and that he could negotiate a quick resolution. nick schifrin has the latest and what might come next as president trump. correspondent: in southern ukraine today, an apartment reduced to rubble and a frantic search for survivors.

children carried across what used to be their home. a russian strike killed at least four as russian rockets found ukraine's 600 mile front. russians are making gains, capturing possibly -- potentially destroyed villages. >> i am concerned about the trajectory of this work. correspondent: this is a kearny endowment senior fellow. >> ukraine is losing territory on an accelerated base. each month russia has been taking more territory relative to the last month. correspondent: ukraine's biggest concern is in donetsk. status -- south of the city video shows russian drones at a bombs hunting ukrainian soldiers to try to encircle. the russians are taking tremendous losses. u.s. officials say more than

1200 are killed or wounded every day, but in parts of dontesk ukrainian soldiers are outgunned and outmanned. >> if russian units are able to get around to they can push further into other regions. russia is averaging its overall power and event power, and despite the fact that russian forces are taking heavy manpower they are replacing their losses, and they have a lot more manpower to throw at the problem. correspondent: ukraine has tried to seize its own initiative to the north, taking territory this summer. russian forces have managed to recapture about 30% of the regency's, and our ukraine says 11,000 north korean soldiers have joined the fight, although it is unclear if they are cavalry or cannon fodder. >> north korea is waging war in europe. north korean soldiers are attempting to kill a people on european soil.

correspondent: today in budapest ukrainian president zelenskyy had another country on their minds. this was europe's first summit since donald trump was elected. trump's personal policy for ukraine is clear, but one plan calls for the u.s. to indefinitely delay ukraine's nato membership, continue to arm ukraine but a condition for the radon ukraine negotiating peace, and ukraine would give up the right to use its military to recapture territory. >> what it would probably look like is the current line of demarcation to become said demilitarized zone. ukraine remains independent. it russia get to correspondent: of neutrality. correspondent: putin said he is open to the ideas.

>> in my opinion it seems to me worthy of attention. correspondent: but zelenskyy says any deals require guarantees of ukraine's security. >> a cease fire when there are no clear security guarantees, livable guarantees, not rhetorical ones is a preparation for the continuation of the occupation, ruining our independence and sovereignty. that is the cease-fire talked about today. correspondent: zelenskyy recognized he needs to work with the trump administration, so we have signaling readiness to get involved along these lines but laying out also what is important is the just peace. >> an ambassador says he has told zelenskyy what trump needs and created a good relationship with ron, but it is not clear what trump will do. >> there are two contending parties within the trump

campaign. one would call for major ukraine concessions and no guarantees. the governor calls for negotiations but recognizing making sure putin does not take control of ukraine is critical for american interests, and that group is not intimidated by russia's nuclear threats the way the biden administration has been. correspondent: if the u.s. were to reduce support to ukraine but would be the impact? >> it would be significant on the american military. i do not think it would be immediate but followed shortly thereafter. i do not think european countries are in a good position to effectively substitute the united states provides to ukraine. we are not just talking material support. we are talking training at all sorts of things people do not see or hear about as much. correspondent: ukraine will have to make the case work from for more support as it struggles to hold the line.

♪ amna: robert f. kennedy, jr. who has used his prominent platform to spread misleading and false claims about vaccine safety is expected to play a big public all role in the next trump administration. when asked about vaccines and a podcast interview in last july, kennedy said this. >> can you name any vaccines that are any good? >> i think the live virus vaccines are averting more problems that they are causing. there is no vaccine that is safe and effective. amna: yesterday at the former democrat who ran for president before endorsing donald trump said this. >> if vaccines are working for somebody, i will not take them

away. people should have choice and be informed by the best information. i am going to make sure safety and efficacy studies are out there, and people can make individual assessments about whether the product is going to be good for them. amna: we are joined by the former acting director for the centers for disease control and prevention. the foundation is a funder for the pbs newshour. thank you for joining us. you were here to talk about the science and the facts beyond -- behind all of this, so let's talk about kennedy's skepticism. he has linked vaccines to cancer and autism? do any of those campaigns have merit? >> i am a pediatrician and a practice were more than 30 years, and i can say that there is nothing i did is pediatrician

that had more positive impact on the health of the children i was caring for the than making sure they were vaccinated fully and on time. i am old enough that i have seen many of the infection said that we vaccinate against appear in children and the devastating consequences. we are fortunate that we have the safest vaccine system in the world. before vaccine is given to a child or adult, it goes through extensive testing. to raise these concerns and say it is parental choice gives me great concern, because no vaccine is 100% protective. we count on the fact that for a child to go to school they need to be fully vaccinated. that protects them against infection, but it also makes sure if a child sitting next to them has an immune problem or for some reason there vaccine

did not give them protection it is less likely to get them sick. that is one of the beauties of public health. it is good for the individual but a good for the community. amna: on saturday mr. kennedy said online that the trump white house will advise all u.s. water systems to remove fluoride from public water on day one. he called it an industrial waste and associated with iq loss and neurodevelopmental disorders. what would be the impact of removing fluoride from our water? >> not every system in america uses fluoridated water, that the data shows the use of fluoride in water systems has reduce cavities in children by 25%. the use of fluoride in water systems has been rated as one of the most important public health interventions in the 20th

century. it's really important parents are able to ask questions of trusted medical sources to get the information they need to make trusted decisions, and when you hear people who do not have a science background or medical background putting up false or misleading information, it reduces people's trust in the systems. so my recommendation to people would talk to your doctor, get your questions answered. fluoride is quite safe, but it is important as a pediatrician to know what my patients are consuming. you can get fluoride and the number of different things. it is in toothpaste, some foods, and you want to make sure your child is getting in the but not too much. the amount that is put into the water supply is small, but it is enough to protect her child or reduced to riding to possibly get getting cavities. amna: i went to quebec when we

are talking about are public on and remind folks the department for health and human services overseas 13 different agencies including the national institutes of health, the fda, the cdc. mr. kennedy talks about ending up corruption at the agencies, including making this suggestion. >> in some categories, there are entire departments like the nutrition department that have to go. they are not doing their job. amna: what is your view on that kind of proposal? what would be the impact of eliminating an entire depart? >> i worked in government service for 13 years. i have never worked in a setting with more committed and talented people than working in the public health system.

it is good to ask questions like can things be done better, and that involves bringing in experts to ensure systems are working well. one of the things about public health is when it is working well it is invisible. public out is responsible for you being able to go to a restaurant to know that the food is safe for drinking water from cap -- your tap. if we were to come in and wholesale remove departments areas of public health, everyone in our country would be at risk. you would not know for sure the food you were getting was safe. you would not know the children and your child's classroom were vaccinated. you would not know that whether or not you had a breast cancer, because you might not have access to prescreening that public health provides. when people call out government servants in this way, i think it

does a real disservice to everyday americans who benefit so much from these systems. amna: it is also worth pointing out mr. kennedy's background is not in medicine or science or public health. it is in environmental law. president trump as promised in control of health agencies and mr. trump said he would like kennedy, quote, go wild. what worries you about this scenario. >> a lot of things being discussed are not at the federal level, they are at the state level. the state is responsible for whether or not there is fluoride in the water system. this data receives a lot of these functions, but what worries me is someone who has a big microphone being able to

spread misinformation and increased levels of distrust in rl system, one of the big beaches of unfinished business from the current administration is the restoration of trust in our public health system. this is something that has always gotten bipartisan support. years i spent at cdc and running emergency preparedness, we got support from republicans and democrats across the board. it was seen as for the good of our country. we have to get back to a period where the politics is taken out of it. i want to get this administration a chance to see how they come out and do this work. it is one thing when you were on the outside and lifting up her decision. it is another thing when you have that responsibility for ensuring that people in your communities are safe and can meet their healthiest lives. amna: thank you. good to see you. ♪

geoff: art and music have long been used as therapy to help alleviate psychological or neurological disease, but there has been little study on its use by parkinson's patients. there is hope that art and music may help with some symptoms of the disease. our senior arts correspondent spent time with one man who shows why an active life with our exes helping him push back. this is part of our ongoing look at the intersection of health and arts. >> do you want to juggle? >> sure. >> juggling is not part of most medical visits, but it is for larry. >> are you able to play your instrument also?

>> and why not? charlie parker on the sax. the doctor has been seeing him from the beginning, a neurologist with kaiser permanente in gaithersburg, maryland. >> how important is music for you now? >> it may be as important as the art. >> at age 55 you look forward to more art as you transition toward a retirement amid a successful career in real estate to spend more time with his wife and their family. what were you thinking back then ? >> i would paint whatever was right in front of you. >> but his abilities began to wane as rimmer's game. in 2000 and 60 was diagnosed with parkinson's -- in 2006 he

was diagnosed with parkinson's. mariko leans on a theme of family, friends, and a caregiver who shares many of larry's interests including the tenor sax. it helps them through his daily routine of energizing, juggling, and making art. >> it is like a yoga class. it is a relaxing to hold a brush. >> what has been the hardest part of it for you? >> knowing that i lost the desire that i had. >> you had to learn to paint

again or make art again in a new way? >> i had to paint from the inside out. i did not have a choice. >> so these are paintings that you started doing about 10 years ago? >> frustrated by his inability to portray reality but yearning for a new way to express himself with a brush -- >> [indiscernible] >> larry embraced process painting, which emphasizes experience over outcome. did you like the process painting? >> i love it. [indiscernible]

how do i paint the yellow bird? what do they look like? >> make it up. >> what a liberating experience. >> did you see painting become something different for larry? >> it is a good night when larry has a brush in his hand and is painting something. >> were recently larry has switched to working on a tablet. >> is new for me to paint. >> so you choose the colors. now it is like a real brush. >> i never have to clean the brush. >> about seven years ago gary was given a surgical therapy in which electrons are planted to treat some parkinson's symptoms.

that helped us tremors, but also eventually lead to infections and had to be removed. the many drugs he is taken in his advanced age of the disease have led to a new symptom, visual hallucinations. something he experiences regularly without fear inquiry -- including our talk. you are seeing something now? >> i see 10 people out there. >> do these images that you see show up in your painting? >> i paint them to get control of what i am seeing. >> the painting is a calming place. >> larry's doctor has been studying parkinson's in working with patients, some 400

currently, for nearly two decades. gates well experiencing and making music and art can help retrain the brain, the prices impact -- the precise impact of parkinson's is unclear, but he is excited about what he sees. >> what is the role of the arts and music? >> nobody truly knows, but there are additive benefits, and we have been encouraging patients who have artistic prowess within intellectually explore those things. ♪ if you do activities which help your mind kind of connect different parts of the brain, you stimulate those different parts of the brain, then your parkinson's symptoms actually get better, especially while you are performing those activities. >> do you prescribe art or music? >> there is no prescription for

a. that is the sadness of the situation, because there should be. there are a lot of therapies out there that patients can utilize that make them feel good, and when they feel good the parkinson's disease is not controlling their lives, and they are in control of their lives. >> 18 years after his diagnosis larry and marika were to ease but not stop an inevitable worsening of the living' -- worsening disorder. >> one thing i have learned just do not try to do parkinson's by yourself. make sure you've got a good team. larry's art goes with the flow. >> how do you stay positive after all of these years? >> [indiscernible] ♪

>> i am jeffrey brown in takoma park, maryland. ♪ geoff: there is a lot more online -- explore shifts among key groups of voters in the 2024 election, and the issues that mattered most to them, with interactive charts from ap voter survey results. you can find that at pbs.org/newshour. amna: and join us again here tomorrow night, when judy woodruff continues her crossroads series, this time speaking to voters about why they voted the way they did, and what they believe it says says about divisions across the country. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. geoff: and i am geoff bennett. thanks for spending part of your evening with us.

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journalism at arizona state university. ♪ ♪ >>

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