October 3, 2024 - PBS News Hour full episode

AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

Geoff Bennett is away.

On the "News Hour" tonight: Kamala Harris campaigns with Liz Cheney at the birthplace of the Republican Party, while Donald Trump rallies voters in the swing state of Michigan.

A lawmaker from the House January 6 Committee weighs in on newly unsealed evidence in Trump's 2020 election interference case.

And ongoing fighting between Israel and Hezbollah creates more uncertainty for people living near the Israel-Lebanon border nearly a year after the October 7 terror attacks.

(BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Both presidential candidates took their campaign to the Midwest today, fighting for crucial wins across the so-called blue wall.

Vice President Kamala Harris is in Wisconsin tonight, but we begin in Michigan, where former President Donald Trump gave a familiar and false rallying cry.

Laura Barron-Lopez starts our coverage.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: In Central Michigan this afternoon, Donald Trump was on defense.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: You know, last time, last election, we did great in 2016.

A lot of people don't know we did much better in 2020.

We won.

We won.

We did win.

It was a rigged election.

It was a rigged election.

You have to tell Kamala Harris that's why I'm doing it again.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The stop in a key battleground state comes one day after a federal judge unsealed a court filing from special counsel Jack Smith's case charging Trump for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

In 165 pages, prosecutors outline new details about Trump's -- quote -- "increasingly desperate efforts to target every stage of the electoral process."

It also included new FBI evidence that Trump was alone in the Oval Office dining room when he posted a tweet attacking his then-Vice President Mike Pence as rioters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Prosecutors are pointing to that as an example of Trump defending his private political interests, not acting in an official capacity as president.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

On NewsNation last night, Trump deflected, accusing Smith, without evidence, of interfering in the upcoming election.

DONALD TRUMP: And he works for Kamala and he works for Joe.

This was a weaponization of government, and that's why it was released 30 days before the election.

And it's nothing new in there, by the way, nothing new.

They rigged the election.

I didn't rig the election.

They rigged the election.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: According to the latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll, 64 percent of registered voters say preserving democracy is a deciding factor in choosing a candidate for president.

GOV.

TIM WALZ (D-MN), Vice Presidential Candidate: Did he lose the 2020 election?

SEN. J.D.

VANCE (R-OH), Vice Presidential Candidate: Tim, I'm focused on the future.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The subject was a major moment of Tuesday's vice presidential debate.

And at a rally in Pennsylvania yesterday, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz lambasted Trump's running mate, Ohio Senator J.D.

Vance, for what he called a damning nonanswer.

GOV.

TIM WALZ: I just asked the simplest of all questions that every single American should be able to answer.

I asked him if Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.

GOV.

TIM WALZ: He refused to answer.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Meanwhile, the Harris/Walz ticket secured another endorsement from a prominent Republican voice.

Cassidy Hutchinson, a former Trump White House aide, explained on MSNBC this morning why she's throwing her support behind Vice President Kamala Harris.

CASSIDY HUTCHINSON, Former Aide to Mark Meadows: This is a moment that is so much bigger than a political party and our allegiance to a political party.

I don't know why so many Republicans, specifically the men, are still cloaking themselves in cowardice, especially in the face of Donald Trump and J.D.

Vance.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Hutchinson made headlines in 2022 as a key witness during the House Select Committee hearings investigating January 6.

FMR.

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): I want to begin by thanking Ms. Hutchinson for her testimony.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The Republican vice chair of that committee, former representative Liz Cheney, crossed party lines with her endorsement last month.

FMR.

REP. LIZ CHENEY: Not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Tonight, Cheney plans to join Harris on the campaign trail in a historic location, Ripon, Wisconsin.

This little white schoolhouse is where the Republican Party was formed in 1854.

Tonight, it's a stage for Harris to make her case to swing voters and Republicans like Cheney, who no longer feel at home in their own party.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Laura Barron-Lopez.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let's delve further into our PBS News/NPR/Marist poll that was released today.

The top line, with just over a month to go until Election Day, the presidential race is still neck-and-neck.

Our political correspondent, Lisa Desjardins, is here to break down more of the findings.

Good to see you, Lisa.

LISA DESJARDINS: Hello.

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, so just a month out, how is the race looking?

LISA DESJARDINS: First of all, I know viewers sometimes and all of us are hesitant about polls, but there are important trends to look at.

When you look at this race overall, it's essentially a dead heat.

So, as we know, Amna, with polling, what's important is the trend line.

So let's look at the trend here.

If you look at Harris' support, since she entered the race, that's in blue over Trump's support in red, you can see how close they have been this entire time.

She has been ahead.

Both of them have gained a little bit.

That is because a few voters have been deciding, some for him, some for her.

But if you look at that difference, it's slight.

And look at the margin of error, just 3.7 percent.

And if you look at across all of the trend line, that means this has been a tie virtually this entire time, just a few moments here and there where Harris has been above that margin of error.

AMNA NAWAZ: Fascinating.

Well, let me ask you about something we covered earlier this week.

That was in the vice presidential debate.

J.D.

Vance at the time was asked and refused to say that former President Trump had lost the 2020 election.

And we know both he and Mr. Trump continue to raise questions about election security and security of this year's election, even though there's no evidence of concerns around that in the past.

What do Americans say about those issues?

LISA DESJARDINS: This is one reason polling is important.

The mood of the country on these things is critical in terms of what happens after the election.

So there is some good news in terms of confidence.

It depends a bit on how you ask the question.

So one question we asked was, are you confident that your state and local officials can have a fair and accurate election?

Look at that; 76 percent of national adults said, yes, they are confident.

Now, that is actually six points higher than this time in 2021, after former President Trump was declaring that there was widespread fraud.

This is higher, this is more confidence in state and local officials.

There's also high confidence in the Postal Service as well.

But if you ask a different question, you ask a more broad question about, overall, are you concerned, will there be voter fraud, it flips.

And there you see that number concerned; 58 percent of national adults say they are concerned, not just about potential, but that there will be voter fraud.

And that was defined as meaning someone has a false identification or votes twice.

Tammy Patrick is the CEO of a program at the Election Center, and she formally ran the Maricopa County elections.

She said that this is still a widespread belief, despite evidence to the contrary.

TAMMY PATRICK, National Association for Election Officials: I think what we know about election fraud is that it can occur, but is exceedingly rare.

And we don't have any instances where we know that it affected the outcome of any election, particularly election for president.

LISA DESJARDINS: So this is also important, of course, because we still hear this, as you say, from Republicans, even though there is no evidence of anything but election officials across this country doing their job right now.

AMNA NAWAZ: Lisa, I know you and your team dig much more deeply into these polls.

So what else stands out to you?

LISA DESJARDINS: Right.

The crosstabs are important here.

It shows us which group is having big reactions at one time.

And there is, no surprise, a split among voters who is concerned about voter fraud; 29 percent of Harris voters are concerned there will be voter fraud.

But look at that number for Trump voters; 88 percent of Trump voters believe voter fraud will happen this year.

And looking down deeper into the data, I found one other group that had an outsize sort of concern about voter fraud.

It was white evangelical Christians.

That is the group right now that the Trump campaign perhaps is trying the most to get out to vote.

So should former President Trump lose, this is a group that already has baked in their mind that there will be voter fraud.

So it is something to consider carefully.

AMNA NAWAZ: Fascinating look at our latest polling there from Lisa Desjardins.

Lisa, thank you.

And, remember, you can dig into even more results from our poll online at PBS.org/NewsHour.

That poll was conducted before the unsealing of a court filing that offers new insight into the events of January 6.

Representative Zoe Lofgren was one of the lawmakers tasked with investigating that day and what led to it.

She joins us now from San Jose.

Congresswoman, welcome back to the "News Hour."

REP. ZOE LOFGREN (D-CA): Happy to be here.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, before we turn to that court filing, I just want to ask you about what Lisa Desjardins was just reporting from our poll, that some 58 percent of adults say they are concerned there will be voter fraud in this election.

What's your reaction to that and what kind of impact do you think that can have on the election?

REP. ZOE LOFGREN: Well, it's unfortunate that so many people are believing the lies that the former president has been spouting now, along with other Republicans, for quite some time.

Voter fraud is vanishingly small in this country.

I mean, if you investigate it, you get maybe a handful, and they're usually in city council races.

It's not ever been a factor.

But if people believe that it is, maybe they won't vote.

Maybe they think it won't make a difference.

So that's disappointing.

And I wish that Trump would stop lying about this, and I certainly wish my colleagues on the other side of the aisle would tell the truth as well.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let's turn now to that latest news from the filing that was unsealed yesterday that's related to the election interference case against former President Trump that's brought by special counsel Jack Smith.

It's worth pointing out that the January 6 Committee you served on did pull together many of those details.

But, of course, Department of Justice had subpoena power, where you did not.

So I'm just curious, in going through the filing, did anything stand out to you as a previously critical missing piece in the puzzle to putting together understanding what happened on that day?

REP. ZOE LOFGREN: One thing did strike me, which was the direct communication between then-President Trump and Steve Bannon.

I have long believed that Bannon knew everything and was up to his eyeballs in the plot.

He refused to respond to our subpoena and, of course, is in prison right now for contempt of Congress.

But, obviously, the Department of Justice was able to get information we were not able to get.

It doesn't surprise me because I think all the indications were there, but we didn't have the direct evidence that they have.

AMNA NAWAZ: What about some of the previously, well, they were disclosed, but they weren't confirmed details about conversations between then-Vice President Pence and President Trump?

What stood out to you about that?

REP. ZOE LOFGREN: Well, we had a pretty good idea what had gone on.

We knew that he had refused to respond to Trump's pressure to overturn the election.

We didn't know about the comment that Trump made, so what if Pence gets evacuated?

It's a detail, but not a departure for the information that we were able to acquire.

AMNA NAWAZ: Can I ask you about how the public is taking all of this information in?

Because even though there was some really damning evidence laid out across all of the January 6 Committee hearings, the polls are showing that, the further away we get from January 6, the fewer people see it as a threat and fewer people see Donald Trump as bearing any responsibility.

There was a poll from December of 2023 that found just 53 percent of people thought he was responsible for the events that day, and that's down from 60 percent two years earlier.

Do you think that this case in any way is already or could change people's mind?

REP. ZOE LOFGREN: I have no idea, but it's about prosecuting a crime.

It's not about a political campaign.

I do think that the Republican Party overall, not 100 percent, but most of them in the House are lying about that day.

They were evacuated, the same as me.

They saw the damage done to the Capitol, the police officers who were injured.

They knew what happened.

But they're spinning it as if it was something else.

And people -- we live in a country that is divided along partisan lines, and people who are registered Republicans tend to trust the Republican elected officials.

And when they're being lied to, that can lead to very bad results.

AMNA NAWAZ: As you have probably seen, former President Trump has called the filing pure election interference.

He called the unsealing of the documents weaponization of the government.

And I know some will look at this filing release and they will point out that it happened just the day before your fellow committee member, Republican Liz Cheney, hits the campaign trail with Vice President Kamala Harris, and they will see politics at play, despite the fact that there's no evidence of that.

Does the timing of all of this in any way, the optics of it make you uncomfortable?

REP. ZOE LOFGREN: Well, the timing is because of Trump.

He has done everything he could to delay this through frivolous appeals and on and on and on.

That's why this wasn't done a long time ago.

So for him now to complain, it's kind of like the guy who murdered his parents and now is complaining he's an orphan.

It's -- it's really incredible.

AMNA NAWAZ: But for people who will see politics in this process, what's your message to them?

REP. ZOE LOFGREN: Well, it's not true.

The court has nothing to do with politics.

They just call balls and strikes.

There's a -- I wish this had happened a long time ago, honestly.

I wish the -- that Trump had not delayed this so long.

But here we are.

It's unfortunate that the Department of Justice didn't start this earlier.

But even with that late start, it was delayed in an unseemly way by Trump himself.

And there's nothing to be done about that now.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren joining us tonight from California.

Congresswoman, thank you for your time.

Good to see you.

REP. ZOE LOFGREN: You bet.

Good to see you.

AMNA NAWAZ: We start the day's other headlines with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

The death toll from the storm has risen to 200 after officials in North Carolina and Georgia reported new fatalities in their states.

President Biden spent a second day touring the destruction.

He started in Florida speaking to officials, survivors and first responders before heading to Georgia.

His visit comes as the region cleans up from its third hurricane since the summer of 2023.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: Three in a row, three in a row.

You have been through hell.

Three in a row.

And I want you to know, I see you.

I hear you.

I agree with you.

And I promise you, we have your back.

AMNA NAWAZ: In Georgia, the state's National Guard has been brought in to help clean up areas affected by the storm.

They have been using chain saws and equipment to clear blocked roads, among other relief efforts.

Over in the Pacific, Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Southwestern Taiwan earlier today, hammering the island with torrential rains and winds up to 100 miles an hour.

In the port city of Kaohsiung, roads were flooded and schools and businesses were closed.

All domestic flights have been grounded.

The storm is set to weaken to a tropical depression by Friday as it moves slowly north towards the capital of Taipei.

In the meantime, authorities say at least nine people have died in a hospital fire in an area that was hit by the typhoon.

The source of the blaze is under investigation.

On his first official visit to Ukraine today as NATO's new leader, Mark Rutte said the country is -- quote -- "closer to NATO than ever before."

In Kyiv, he met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who's briefed him on Ukraine's so-called victory plan.

Rutte expressed confidence that he can work with whomever wins this year's U.S. presidential election and offered an ironclad commitment to Ukraine's defense.

Zelenskyy, meanwhile, continued his appeal to use Western-supplied weapons to strike further into Russia.

MARK RUTTE, NATO Secretary-General: As the new NATO secretary-general, it is my priority and my privilege to take this support forward.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President (through translator): We definitely want Ukraine not to be forgotten.

But the best option to not forget about Ukraine is to respond with weapons, to give appropriate permission, it seems to me.

AMNA NAWAZ: Air raid sirens went off in the Ukrainian capital twice during Rutte's visit, a reminder of the war that rages on.

He arrived just after a Russian strike hit an apartment block in Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city.

Local officials say at least 12 people were injured, including a 3-year-old girl.

A local governor in Congo says at least 78 people have died after an overcrowded boat capsized.

Eyewitness video caught the moment that the ship went down in Lake Kivu in the east of the country.

Local say the boat was overloaded with passengers and sank while trying to dock just yards away from the port of Kituku.

It's the latest deadly boat disaster to hit the Central African country.

In June, an overloaded boat sank near the capital of Kinshasa, killing 80 passengers.

Back in the U.S., President Biden said today there has been progress on the port worker strike that shut down dockyards from Texas to Maine.

But when pressed for details, Mr. Biden said simply that -- quote -- "We will find out soon."

Some 45,000 workers from the International Longshoremen's Association walked off the job earlier this week.

They're seeking a pay raise and a ban on the automation of cranes, gates and loading trucks.

There are currently no talks scheduled between the union and port operators.

Some of the nation's biggest retailers are ramping up their hiring for the holiday season.

Amazon said today it will bring on 250,000 employees for the year-end shopping period.

That includes full-time, part-time and seasonal workers, and it's the same amount Amazon hired last year.

Bath & Body Works and Target also plan to hire similar numbers to last year, with Target adding 100,000 holiday staff.

But Macy's, for one, is scaling back.

It plans to bring on about 6,000 fewer employees compared to last year.

On Wall Street today, the major markets struggled ahead of Friday's monthly jobs report.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped nearly 200 points by the close.

The Nasdaq slipped about six points, so basically flat.

The S&P 500 ended slightly lower on the day.

And Caitlin Clark has been named the WNBA's rookie of the year.

The Indiana Fever guard received 66 votes out of the 67 cast by a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.

Angel Reese of the Chicago sky received the single remaining vote.

Clark averaged over 19 points and more than eight assists per game this season.

She also set rookie records for points and three-pointers, while leading her team to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

Still to come on the "News Hour": a jury convicts police officers of witness tampering in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols; the alarming rise in autism diagnoses among Somali-American children; and a documentary film spotlights the highly competitive world of high school mariachi.

Now to the widening conflict in the Middle East.

Israel tonight says it targeted a Hamas commander in the West Bank, killing at least 14 people.

Airstrikes are rarely used by Israel in the West Bank.

Israeli forces today also kept up their punishing attacks across Southern Lebanon and in the capital city of Beirut, where tonight Israel reportedly targeted the successor to Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader killed last Friday.

More broadly, hundreds of civilians, including dozens of children, have now been killed in Lebanon.

As special correspondent Leila Molana-Allen reports from Beirut, residents now feel that nowhere is safe.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Among the things this war has taken from Lebanon's people, the ability to sleep, each night now across the country, an anxious wait for the next airstrike to fall, weighing whether to open windows so they won't smash from the pressure of a nearby explosion or shut them to stop the noxious black fumes getting in.

Last night, Beirut's residents didn't have to wait long, just shy of midnight, a low swoosh and three hollow bangs, then fire.

One strike hit further inside the capital than any so far.

Israel says it's attacking military targets, but this building behind me struck last night is a medical center, a depot for civil defense first responders.

And we're not in a Hezbollah-run area.

We're less than half-a-mile from the Lebanese Parliament and multiple Western embassies in the very heart of Beirut.

Ali, a civil defense volunteer for the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Authority, was working inside the medical unit here when the missile hit.

ALI, Paramedic, Islamic Health Authority (through translator): It was terrifying.

I ran to check on my friends.

I found one injured, but the rest of them were dead under the rubble.

Everything around them was on fire.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Seven paramedics and volunteers were killed, and one remains in critical condition.

ALI (through translator): If Israel is targeting paramedics, then they will also target shelters, hospitals and innocent civilians.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Israel's government insists its fight is with Hezbollah militants, not the Lebanese people.

Today, it's said it struck Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters and the group's media office was hit too.

On the border, the IDF said soldiers conducted armed raids on Hezbollah infrastructure.

But Hezbollah is not only a military organization.

It's part of Lebanon's governing framework.

It runs hospitals, social services and schools.

The group's civil defense volunteers serve all Lebanese.

And, in this emergency situation, rescue and medical workers are more vital than ever.

It's not the first time medical personnel have been targeted in this conflict.

And, today, the Lebanese Red Cross said four of their staff were also wounded.

Medical facilities and personnel are protected under international law.

Intentionally attacking them is a war crime.

The IDF hasn't yet said why they struck the facility.

But as more and more residential and civilian buildings are targeted here, locals fear the rules of war are being left in the dust.

Lebanon's health minister said today nearly 100 medics have been killed in two weeks, a quarter of them in just the past 24 hours.

DR. FIRAS ABIAD, Lebanese Public Health Minister (through translator): Who gave Israel the right to be both judge and executioner at the same time?

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Left to cope with the chaos as foreigners board evacuation flights and their politicians bicker.

Everyday volunteers like the civil defense, Lebanese Red Cross and grassroots charities are trying to keep the country afloat.

The Lebanese Red Cross runs the country's volunteer ambulance service, as well as its national blood bank.

Since the attacks began, they have been overwhelmed with demand from hospitals and their stocks have run dry.

Sally, a 28-year-old university lecturer from Beirut, responded to a desperate call out for donations.

SALLY EL CHARBAJI, Blood Donor: I decided to come because the -- this is the minimum we can do.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Sally says the stress and fear of the last few weeks have become unbearable, feeling powerless as she watches her countrymen displaced, injured and killed.

SALLY EL CHARBAJI: We're always -- we're sometimes feeling guilty just because we survived.

No words can actually express how it's making us feel.

We go to work, we don't know if we will go back home, at work, always checking the news to see if they are bombing our parents' house or not, to check if our love one is safe.

Our one and only goal now is to survive.

LEILA MOLANA-ALLEN: Beset by tragedy after tragedy, Lebanon's people are famous for their survival instinct.

But an increasingly brutal conflict in this country already on its knees could be its undoing.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Leila Molana-Allen in Beirut.

AMNA NAWAZ: Despite Israel's airstrikes and ground incursion, the Israeli military said today that Hezbollah fired more than 230 rockets and drones from Lebanon into Northern Israel.

Cross-border rocket attacks have become common over the last year.

The day after the October 7 terrorist attacks on Israel, Hezbollah opened fire in an act of solidarity with Hamas.

Soon after, the Israeli government evacuated more than 60,000 residents living near the border.

Nick Schifrin has been traveling across Northern Israel and begins his report tonight from Kiryat Shmona, just a mile-and-a-half from the Lebanese border.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The road to what used to be the largest city in Israel's north is quiet.

Inside Kiryat Shmona, the homes bear the scars of war, what used to be a roof over this family's head now a gaping window into their living room.

For 11 months, the town's been Hezbollah's biggest short-range target, hit on more than 200 separate occasions, including last weekend, a direct strike through the roof of the city's main mall.

There's schools right across the street behind us and the Hezbollah attack struck right here.

Ariel Frisch is the city's deputy security chief.

He shows me a site hit by three rockets, two artillery shells and one missile earlier this year.

ARIEL FRISCH, Deputy Security Chief, Kiryat Shmona, Israel: If we hear an alarm, on the best case, it's 10 seconds.

Most of the time, we can hear the whistle and the boom, and then we hear the alarm.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Before October the 7th, he'd never done security.

He was a rabbi and school principal.

But, today, the kindergarten in a residential neighborhood is empty.

Its playground stands unused.

Nearly all of the 24,000 residents have been evacuated.

Today the basketball courts are shot through with shrapnel.

The city's frozen in time, its soundtrack mostly silence punctuated by projectiles.

Above the city's gas station late last week, Hezbollah rockets intercepted by Israeli air defense.

ARIEL FRISCH: Hezbollah doesn't care if he's losing troops or commanders.

He is terror organization.

And a terror organization is only about striking fear.

As long as we keep the evacuation going, Hezbollah is winning as far as he's telling the story.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The city's staff have all remained under threat, often underground.

Mayor Avichai Stern holds his meetings in a bombshell shelter.

Israel always expected an October 7-style attack.

It just expected it from the north, as Stern showed us earlier this year.

AVICHAI STERN, Mayor of Kiryat Shmona, Israel (through translator): In 2015, Hezbollah published a video on how it will conquer the Galilee, the same scenario as we saw in October in the south.

I do not underestimate that.

They can cause much larger damage than Hamas.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And so he supports what Israel calls a -- quote -- "limited invasion of Lebanon" targeting Hezbollah infrastructure, even if, today, Stern told us more than 40 percent of Kiryat Shmona will never return.

AVICHAI STERN (through translator): In order for us to bring the residents back here safely, it is not enough to just eliminate the top of the organization.

We need to destroy the infrastructure that threatens the citizens every day and also push them back, so that they cannot threaten us with direct fire.

NICK SCHIFRIN: That threat is from Hezbollah's Radwan units, whose videos portray fighters operating within sight of Israeli towns, including some built on the hills of the Western Galilee.

This is the core of Israel's challenge.

Behind me is the bedouin village of Arab al-Aramshe, so close to the Lebanese border you can actually see the fence that Israel has built, close enough for Hezbollah fighters to be able to use short-range weapons like rocket-propelled grenades, anti-tank missiles to fire into the city, and close enough for Hezbollah to build tunnels underneath that border.

Just after October 7, Hezbollah fighters tried to infiltrate the village.

In that attack, Radwan Force an Israeli deputy brigade commander before being repelled.

And, in April, Hezbollah videotaped as it launched a combined drone and missile strike that hit a community center turned military barracks, killing two Israeli soldiers.

Adeb Al-Mazal the community's manager.

ADEB AL-MAZAL, Community Manager, Arab al-Aramshe, Israel (through translator): The feeling is very difficult for the residents.

There's fear.

There's anxiety.

I evacuated the first day of the war.

I evacuated to a hotel.

I was evacuated to several hotels.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Thousands of those displaced have landed in Tel Aviv hotels.

And for the Gal sisters, home is a 150-square-foot hotel room.

They fled here last October, after their little brother was born on October the 2nd and, five days later, Nofar Gal's husband was called up to the military.

NOFAR GAL, Kiryat Shmona, Israel, Resident (through translator): It was very difficult, especially in the beginning.

It was after my Caesarean section.

And when my baby was 1-week old, we had to flee our home.

And we arrived with a real sense of grief.

It was hard, but life in Tel Aviv went on as normal.

And it was very strange to see that.

Did you feel like you didn't belong here?

NOFAR GAL (through translator): Yes.

At the very beginning, we walked around the street and... NICK SCHIFRIN: She longs for her life back in Kiryat Shmona, but this sanctuary has become a war zone.

NOFAR GAL (through translator): We felt like we were being kicked out of our own home.

And you come to a place where there is nothing.

I can't be in my home.

I can't be with my husband.

And my sister was drafted as well.

NICK SCHIFRIN: A separated family provides mutual support.

They don't know when they will return home, but they have a roof and each other.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Nick Schifrin in Tel Aviv.

AMNA NAWAZ: Three former Memphis police officers were found guilty of witness tampering following the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols after a January 2023 traffic stop.

John Yang is here with more.

JOHN YANG: Amna, those three officers, Demetrius - - I'm sorry -- Tadarrius Bean, Demetrius Haley, and Justin Smith, were convicted of trying to cover up their actions.

Haley was also convicted of violating Nichols' civil rights by causing bodily injury, a lesser charge than what he was indicted on.

And Bean and Smith were acquitted of civil rights charges.

They were among the five former officers who fatally punched, kicked and hit Nichols in 2023 after he ran from a traffic stop.

Haley's bodycam and surveillance video of the fatal encounter was shown almost every day of the three week trial.

After the verdict was read, Tyre Nichols' father said that the family was all elated.

He said: "This is justice.

It was a long time coming."

Now, the three also face state murder charges.

Thaddeus Johnson teaches criminal justice and criminology at Georgia State University.

He's also a former ranking Memphis police officer.

Thaddeus, what do you make of this verdict, sort of this split decision?

THADDEUS JOHNSON, Georgia State University: Well, it makes sense.

And this is what we actually want in our court system, to cater the punishments or the charges for the actual crimes.

And so, based on the evidence on what the jury, who are more than capable, were able to judge against, they came up with a verdict that everyone didn't violate civil rights, but they did do something that was really illegal, that was a distrust and a breach of trust of the position that they held.

And those charges (AUDIO GAP) JOHN YANG: It's interesting.

The defense actually played the tape to show -- to try to minimize their client's actions.

Where does this fit now in the ongoing conversation about policing and police violence?

THADDEUS JOHNSON: You know, that's a very good point.

And a couple of things jumped out to me in this whole process.

Now, first of all, yes, the officers bear responsibility and blame, but their actions didn't occur in a vacuum.

You must think about broader about official wellness, our promotional processes, how we reward officers on the pathway to leadership and specialized units, and even the quality of our officers and their expanse of control.

I think two things really stood out.

Mr. Martin noted that he was upset by a lack of arrests and that he may have also struggled with PTSD.

Well, these things tell me that our officers need help.

They need to be put in positions where they can win.

They need to make sure that they have the capability to cope with all the things that they see.

And, lastly, we can't really have police reform if we still make arrests the number one metric.

It's a very small part of the job.

And what happens is oftentimes we have low public safety value.

And we often turn our citizens into commodities when we have these reward structures emphasizing stops and arrests, instead of partners in public safety.

So those were two things that really jumped out that showed we have to address these things if we want to have the policing that we deserve as American citizens.

JOHN YANG: And how easily are those things changed?

Does this go back to training?

THADDEUS JOHNSON: Oftentimes, it goes back to training.

But let me say, these officers went beyond the scope of their training.

I trained in the Memphis Police Academy.

This was not what we were trained to do.

We're not trained to use deadly force strikes above the head if it wasn't a deadly force situation.

We were not trained not to provide and render aid to our citizens no matter what the circumstances are.

So this is a selection process.

And this must -- and a culture process, whether it's within the broader police department or those subcultures within those specialized units.

But, again, it's that running and gunning, those metrics that make up a small portion of policing, where, like, community engagement is not rewarded.

If we want our police to engage our citizens in that way, we have to reward them in that way and provide them pathways to promotions and pathways to other specialized units as well.

So that's a linchpin to reform if we want to move forward.

JOHN YANG: Is there a lesson for other departments in this, quickly?

THADDEUS JOHNSON: Absolutely, that the federal government -- reform is a very local matter, but the federal government will step in and show that we will hold our officers accountable.

Murder someone or abuse is one thing, but violating their inalienable civil rights is another.

And we have to make sure that they are held accountable across the full spectrum.

JOHN YANG: Thaddeus Johnson from Georgia State University, thank you very much.

THADDEUS JOHNSON: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: In recent years, the prevalence of autism has risen significantly across all populations in the U.S.

Diagnoses are more common among children of color, but one group, Somali Americans, is seeing an alarming increase.

Fred de Sam Lazaro has this report from Minnesota, home to the largest Somali community in America.

ANISA HAGI-MOHAMED, Parent Activist: I have three children, two girls and a boy.

And they have all been diagnosed autistic.

Two of my children are verbal.

One is partially verbal.

And we speak, eat, sleep autism.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: For Anisa Hagi-Mohamed and husband Duraan Ali (ph), this is one of few outings the family does together in a routine otherwise individually tailored for their 8-, 6-, and 3-year-old children.

On Sundays, the kids get to play in a safe space, set aside just for autistic children.

Hagi-Mohamed was a teacher.

She has a degree in linguistics, but has devoted her life to advocating for autistic children in the Somali American community.

ANISA HAGI-MOHAMED: I always tell parents you are going to face a period of denial.

I experienced it myself, even though my daughter was showing very visible signs of autism.

She was refusing affection.

She had different behaviors.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Autism is a brain development disability whose symptoms can range across a wide spectrum of severity, with repetitive speech and behaviors and verbal and social skills.

Many public figures have confirmed themselves or been described as autistic, scientists and tech leaders like Albert Einstein and Elon Musk and the climate activist Greta Thunberg.

But up to 40 percent of people on the spectrum have intellectual disabilities, lack basic life skills, and require lifelong care.

ABYAN BASHIR, Psychologist: All parents are going to have a challenge when they have a child with disability, because what it involves is mourning the futures, the thoughts, the dreams related to what that child's life trajectory is.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: But for immigrant patients and their families, Dr. Abyan Bashir says, there are other hurdles.

The first challenge is finding care providers.

Although their number has increased in recent years, Bashir is one of very few Somali Americans in the field where cultural background really matters, she says.

ABYAN BASHIR: What I offer to them is familiarity and understanding the diagnosis in and of itself and allowing them to grieve that in a way that doesn't stigmatize that or makes them feel bad.

It's like, yes, that happens and it's OK. FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Autism is not widely understood in the Somali community, even though its become alarmingly prevalent.

JENNIFER HALL-LANDE, Minnesota Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network: Overall rates in our 4-year-olds of one in 53.

And what we were seeing in our Somali 4-year-olds were rates of one in 16.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: That is astounding, isn't it?

University of Minnesota research scholars Amy Esler and Jennifer Hall-Lande are part of a Centers for Disease Control autism survey tracking the national rise in diagnoses in recent years.

They were approached by alarmed parents to tease out specific prevalence in Minnesota's Somali community.

AMY ESLER, Minnesota Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network: I'm glad that we were able to provide some confirmation on what parents have been talking about for over 10 years now.

And, hopefully, this helps influence policy.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: What they cannot answer is why autism so prevalent in the local Somali community, where they also found higher rates of intellectual disability than in the general population.

AMY ESLER: Literally, hundreds of genes have been identified that are linked with autism.

So, knowing how to predict autism ahead of time, we're not there yet, having a biomarker for autism, we're not there yet either.

There may be an environmental component, but were very much in the early stages of learning what those environmental components might be.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: It's not only the science that's lacking, but these parents said it's also support from a system that's under-resourced, foreign to them, even hostile.

Faduma Ismail recalled taking her then-2-year-old daughter in because she's begun to withdraw emotionally and stopped eating, hallmark autism symptoms.

But, she said, the doctor brushed her off.

FADUMA ISMAIL, Mother of Child With Autism: And she said: "Oh, Somali people, you guys like fat kids, chubby kids.

Your daughter, she's fine."

I say, no, because 100 percent I'm sure something is wrong.

So they took some blood and blood tests, and they call me before even I go home.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: She was summoned back because the tests revealed severe malnutrition.

She received packets of high-calorie nutrition supplements and a home visit.

FADUMA ISMAIL: After two days, there is a lady come and visiting my house.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: It was a social worker, as activist Idil Abdull noted.

IDIL ABDULL, Parent Activist: The doctor who was supposed to help you, not only did she not help you, but she reported you to child protective services, so that you can lose the child.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The social worker found no issue, she says, apologized and left.

IDIL ABDULL: I'm just -- I am baffled to hear the lack of human decency from the system.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Until the Affordable Care Act mandated it, few insurers covered autism care.

Minnesota's Medicaid program began coverage in 2018, and while that brought in more providers, there's still a long wait to see one for an official diagnosis and then more waiting as applications are processed for services and state assistance.

NAJMA SIYAD, Mother of Child With Autism: I have a 4-year-old son on the spectrum.

Officially, he got diagnosed when he was 2, and he didn't receive any early intervention until he was 3.5.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: The delay in early intervention compounds problems later in life and may in part explain the higher incidence of intellectual disability among Somali children.

JENNIFER HALL-LANDE: The earlier we intervene with children with autism the better their life outcomes, the better their functioning is in terms of communication, intellectual ability, motor.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: In a statement, Minnesota human services officials blamed work force shortages and heavy demand for the long wait times.

And there's another reason for delayed intervention, and it starts at home.

MAHDI WARSAMA, Somali Parents Autism Network, There are a lot of misconceptions about autism itself within the community.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: Mahdi Warsama heads the Somali Parents Autism Network, which works in trusted spaces like mosques to encourage acceptance of mental disabilities.

MAHDI WARSAMA: Some parents, unfortunately, don't want anybody to know that they have a child with autism.

They hide the child from the public.

The child is going to miss a lot of developmental milestones and opportunities.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: There are stories of progress in the parents group.

MONA LOYAN, Mother of Child With Autism: The apple of my eye was born as an autistic.

We did find out very early age.

I'm extremely lucky.

Thank God he is an amazing kid.

He talks.

He walks.

He is in college.

WOMAN: When she first came, you remember.

ANISA HAGI-MOHAMED: She came in banging her head.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: For many parents, like Anisa Hagi-Mohamed, progress is measured in small victories, like getting from intense head-banging to calm therapy sessions.

She also senses growing openness in the community to now talk about autism, beginning recently with giving the condition a name in Somali.

ANISA HAGI-MOHAMED: Maangaar, which is unique mind.

We're giving a positive word to autism.

Like, it's not this big scary thing.

FRED DE SAM LAZARO: But one that will remain a daunting challenge at many levels for years to come.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Fred de Sam Lazaro in Minneapolis.

AMNA NAWAZ: And Fred's reporting is a partnership with the Under-Told Stories Project at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.

Now to the story of a high school team in Southern Texas fighting for a state title.

But this battle unfolds on a stage.

A Netflix documentary, "Going Varsity in Mariachi," follows the journey of teenage musicians in the Rio Grande Valley as they compete in performances of the traditional Mexican folk music.

I recently spoke with one of its co-directors, Alejandra Vasquez, for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

Alejandro, welcome to the "News Hour."

Thank you for joining us.

ALEJANDRA VASQUEZ, Co-Director, "Going Varsity in Mariachi": Thank you for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, oftentimes when people think about Texas and high school competitions, they think about football.

But your film reveals this entirely new world of equally competitive mariachi.

Tell me a little bit about what's going on here.

How many schools are we talking about and how intense are these competitions?

ALEJANDRA VASQUEZ: Yes, in South Texas, like the southernmost tip of Texas, mariachi is as competitive as football, believe it or not.

It really is.

There are hundreds of teams all over the state that compete for the state championship.

I mean, and some of these teams start as early as fifth grade.

So it's a really competitive, really intense, rich sport, essentially, in South Texas.

AMNA NAWAZ: And in your documentary, you focus really most of your storytelling on one specific school that is Edinburg North High School.

Tell us about the mariachi band there and why you chose to follow this one program.

ALEJANDRA VASQUEZ: We chose Edinburg North because we wanted to choose a big team, a team from a big school who has won championships before, but we knew it was a little bit of an underdog story.

Welcome to the stage, mariachi aura.

They were under-resourced.

They weren't the best of the best, but they were really, really good.

And we knew that there would be drama there.

ABEL ACUNA, Mariachi Director, Edinburg North High School: Everything that happened before today doesn't matter.

ALEJANDRA VASQUEZ: And also, we fell in love with the mariachi director, Mr. Acuna.

ABEL ACUNA: I like your tone.

You can play, man.

ALEJANDRA VASQUEZ: He has like this incredible philosophy where he's not about just winning trophies.

He's about how mariachi can really help these students, just the way that it helped him and provided for him.

So it was really Mr. Acuna that kind of brought us to Edinburg North.

AMNA NAWAZ: One of the things you reveal in the film, too, is that this is an expensive competition to take part in, right?

There's instruments and costumes and competition fees.

This school, in particular, you point out, is in a low-income district.

What does it take for these kids to compete at this level?

ALEJANDRA VASQUEZ: Because it's a low-income district and because it's an underfunded program, they really rely on so many different fund-raisers.

Like, these students are selling Mexican candy throughout the year.

They're selling T-shirts.

They're selling all kinds of stuff to get to the competitions.

And, yes, the trajes that they wear, the costumes, they're super expensive.

They're all made by hand.

And so all of this stuff really is expensive, just aside from the instruments and kind of what you expect.

And so it takes a lot for the students to get there.

But they're so dedicated and they try really hard.

And every year there's a new mountain to climb, but they climb it.

AMNA NAWAZ: For most of them, beyond high school, is there a future in mariachi for them?

ALEJANDRA VASQUEZ: Yes, there is a future in mariachi.

You can get scholarships in mariachi.

You can major in mariachi at a university and actually study and get a mariachi degree.

There is a real pathway to studying this music and to continue this music.

It's becoming really institutionalized in a way that I think is surprising to a lot of people, especially people in Mexico, where this kind of pipeline does not exist.

AMNA NAWAZ: You are able in your film to capture these really poignant moments between some of the team members and Mr. Acuna, who you mentioned.

This band, as you mentioned, is real underdog going into the state competition.

And there's one moment in which their band leader, Mr. Acuna, is talking to them before one practice.

Take a listen.

ABEL ACUNA: I want to talk to you guys about what mariachi means to you guys.

STUDENT: I might get emotional right now, because mariachi makes me feel accepted for who I am.

I don't mean to cry.

Sorry.

STUDENT: It's just, like, when I'm here, I feel the love.

AMNA NAWAZ: Alejandra, how often did you hear that sentiment from the students?

ALEJANDRA VASQUEZ: I mean, most days.

Mariachi -- the mariachi classroom was a safe space for these students.

It was where they really felt accepted and they felt like they could be who they are.

All of these students had totally different associations with this music.

Some students were like me.

I grew up with this music.

I love this music.

It reminds me of home.

And some students, they were playing mariachi for the first time.

They don't speak Spanish, but they're feeling connected to it.

And I thought that was really special.

And so, yes, I mean, that to me is the heart of the movie.

It's like exactly what we hoped to capture within this film.

AMNA NAWAZ: You mentioned this takes place in Southern Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley.

Oftentimes, when we're having conversations about this part of the country, we're talking about things like immigration and border security.

You grew up in Texas.

So what did you want people to know about these stories and this particular slice of life in the state that you call home?

ALEJANDRA VASQUEZ: I wanted people to see a different side of Texas, a different side of the U.S.-Mexico border.

Just like you said, we typically see one very specific side of the border.

But it's a place where culture thrives, where culture is preserved and where it's being passed on to a new generation.

And so I really wanted to show how rich and vibrant this world is, that it's more than what you typically see in movies or TV or on the news.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is Alejandra Vasquez, co-director of the documentary "Going Varsity in Mariachi" streaming now on Netflix.

Alejandra, thank you so much.

It's great to speak with you.

ALEJANDRA VASQUEZ: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

On behalf of the entire "News Hour" team, thank you for joining us.