September 18, 2024 - PBS News Hour full episode

AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

Geoff Bennett is away.

on the "News Hour" tonight: The Federal Reserve cuts interest rates for the first time in four years, a major shift in its fight against inflation.

Lebanon is rocked by more exploding devices, this time involving walkie-talkies.

And we report on experimental deep-sea mining for valuable metals that's raising environmental concerns.

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

The Federal Reserve cut interest rates today for the first time in four years with an aggressive move that lowers its benchmark rate by a half-percentage.

The Fed also said it intended to lower interest rates by a full point before the year is out.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said now is a good moment to make cuts and boost the jobs market.

JEROME POWELL, Federal Reserve Chairman: The U.S. economy is in good shape.

It's growing at a solid pace.

Inflation is coming down.

The labor market is in a strong pace.

We want to keep it there.

That's what we're doing.

AMNA NAWAZ: For more on what's behind this decision and what it could mean, I'm joined by David Wessel, director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution.

David, good to see you.

DAVID WESSEL, Brookings Institution: Good to see you.

AMNA NAWAZ: So this decision to cut interest rates by a half-percentage point, not a quarter-point, as some had speculated, what's behind that?

And why now?

DAVID WESSEL: I think the Federal Reserve realized that the labor market is softening or the metaphor that Jay Powell used today is cooling.

And they're looking ahead and they don't want it to cool anymore.

They expect the unemployment rate to rise a little bit more, but they want to act preemptively to prevent the labor market from going ahead and getting worse, because they think they have basically won the war against inflation.

My friend Jason Furman, former Obama adviser, said this is as close to mission accomplished as you're ever going to hear from the Fed.

AMNA NAWAZ: There has been some suggestion, as you have heard, too, that they're making a bigger cut now because they may have been slow to recognize the potential economic slowdown and are now trying to catch up.

Do you see any validity to that?

DAVID WESSEL: Absolutely.

I mean, a lot of people thought they should have begun cutting rates in July, and Fed Chair Powell was asked about that today in the press conference, and he sort of said, well, if I had seen the numbers I saw right after the meeting, maybe we would have.

So, yes, absolutely.

They may be a little bit behind the curve, but they don't want to be very far behind the curve.

AMNA NAWAZ: So this does now lower federal fund rates to between 4.75 and 5 percent.

What does this mean for everyday Americans, how they're going to feel the cuts when it comes to mortgages and credit cards and auto loans?

DAVID WESSEL: Right.

So, one of the ways that monetary policy works is through financial markets, and financial markets have been anticipating a rate cut.

They have signaled, the Fed has signaled it pretty aggressively.

So mortgage rates have come down from about 7.2 percent to 6.2 percent for a 30-year mortgage.

Auto rates have basically begun to come down after going up a lot, not much.

Rates on credit cards haven't come down much at all.

They went from 17 percent to 22 percent on average on a credit card loan, but they will now start to come down.

So, every -- all the rates that consumers pay will gradually come down as the bond market adjusts to this new Fed posture.

Of course, on the other side, people who have savings and money market funds are going to get less interest.

AMNA NAWAZ: The Fed has been pretty aggressive or they were, rather, pretty aggressive in raising rates over the last few years.

Does today's more aggressive decision suggest they will be equally aggressive in cutting rates in the months ahead?

DAVID WESSEL: I don't think so.

The Fed was aggressive in raising rates because they were really surprised by how virulent inflation was.

And now they're going to move cautiously.

As Jay Powell always says, you don't want to do too much, you don't want to do too little.

Plus, it's pretty clear from what people have said, Fed officials have said, and it's some of the predictions that they made when they published today, that not all members of the Federal Open Market Committee are happy with moving this fast.

So he may -- Jay Powell may be constrained a little by internal politics.

AMNA NAWAZ: As you well know, the economy is the number one issue for American voters.

We are weeks away from a presidential election.

We did hear the Republican nominee today, former President Trump, suggest that the Fed could be playing politics here.

How do you look at that issue?

DAVID WESSEL: Well, look, this is -- this was inevitable.

Whatever they did, they're going to be accused of doing something to try and tilt the election.

If they'd done too little, the Democrats would have said you're holding back because of the election.

I think the bottom line is I actually believe the Fed that they're doing what they think is necessary for the economy.

They're trying to avoid thinking about the timing of the election.

People don't believe that, but that's why we have an independent Central Bank with kind of technocratic leadership, so they can do what's right for the economy.

They know they're going to get grief from the Republicans, although the Republicans are a little bit ambivalent.

Speaker Johnson today said, well, I don't think they should have done it so close to the election, but I'm glad they did it.

Not exactly a clear message.

AMNA NAWAZ: You also well know the inflation rate is not yet at that target of 2 percent we know they're working towards.

Fed officials say part of the reason behind the move today is they have gained confidence it is moving sustainably towards that target.

Is it basically a downward trajectory here when it comes to those inflation rates or are there unknowns ahead that mean inflation could take back up?

DAVID WESSEL: There are always unknowns.

That's the nature of the economy.

But it looks like we're on a steady downward trend.

A lot of the supply-side issues that made prices go up have abated.

The labor market is softening.

The level of wage increases is just starting to come down.

So I think the Fed is right to be confident.

Plus, if they get a little over 2 and they gradually get to 2 percent between now and the next five years, they will think this is a victory; 2.0 percent is a good target, but it's not a magic number.

I think they were waiting so they could actually say the first number was a 2 and that would give them the freedom to do what they did today.

AMNA NAWAZ: David Wessel of the Brookings Institution, thank you for helping explain it to us all.

Appreciate you.

Good to see you.

DAVID WESSEL: You're welcome.

AMNA NAWAZ: For the second time in as many days, an unprecedented shocking attack on the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Yesterday, Hezbollah pagers exploded.

Today, it was walkie-talkies used by some group members.

Lebanese officials say the two attacks killed more than 20 and injured more than 3,000 people.

Nick Schifrin is here now following that story -- Nick.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Amna, a U.S. official confirms to me that Israel has briefed the United States that it was behind the attacks yesterday and today which hit Hezbollah even as it was burying its dead.

Today, as thousands mourned at a Hezbollah funeral, they had to plan another one.

Hezbollah walkie-talkies across the country exploded in Hezbollah members' hands in Beirut cell phone shops and turned scooters into char.

The attacks were aimed at Hezbollah militants, but exploded in civilian areas, even in Beirut living rooms, affecting families across the country.

They will further inflame Hezbollah and its followers one day after thousands of Hezbollah pagers blew up in markets, at cash registers, hitting militants where they're most vulnerable, Hezbollah communications networks tonight apparently compromised, and thousands of its rank and file injured, the group in disorder and demoralized.

At the funerals today, a shocked and humbled Hezbollah vowed revenge.

HASHEM SAFIEDDINE, Hezbollah Executive Council (through translator): This aggression inevitably has its own punishment.

It has its own retribution.

This punishment will come, God willing.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Officially, Israel has not taken responsibility, but a U.S. official confirms Israel informed the U.S. it was behind yesterday's and today's attacks.

Today, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a one-sentence statement.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, Israeli Prime Minister (through translator): I have said it before.

We will return the citizens of the north to their homes safely, and that's exactly what we're going to do.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Sixty thousand Israelis fled their Northern Israeli homes after Hezbollah opened fire after October the 7th.

There is widespread anger at the government, but they are still displaced.

Today, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, rumored just yesterday to soon be fired, said the government was united in shifting the war's goals away from Gaza.

YOAV GALLANT, Israeli Defense Minister (through translator): The center of gravity is moving north, meaning that we are allocating forces, resources and energy for the northern arena.

I believe that we are at the start of a new phase in the war, and we must adapt.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The U.S. has tried to prevent all-out Israel-Hezbollah war with shuttle diplomacy to try and convince Hezbollah to move back from the border alongside a larger Gaza cease-fire.

In Cairo today, Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for restraint.

ANTONY BLINKEN, U.S. Secretary of State: We remain very clear about the importance of all parties avoiding any steps that could further escalate the conflict that we're trying to resolve in Gaza.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Today, the Taiwanese manufacturer of the pagers involved in yesterday's incident said, while its brand appeared on the pagers, they were actually manufactured by a company in Hungary.

Israelis assumed to have infiltrated the supply chains to implant small explosives in both the pagers and the walkie-talkies.

To discuss all this, I'm joined by Hanin Ghaddar, the Friedman senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank in Washington, D.C. Hanin Ghaddar, thank you very much.

Welcome back to the "News Hour."

As I was just reporting, thousands of Hezbollah-injured, communications networks completely infiltrated.

What kind of impact will these two days of attacks have on the group?

HANIN GHADDAR, Washington Institute for Near East Policy: This is, I think, the biggest blow to Hezbollah in terms of security breach by Israel.

It's on many levels, because these pagers, what we understand so far is that these 5,000 pagers that were intercepted and sent to Hezbollah and exploded, they were given to Hezbollah's senior leadership and -- mid-level and senior leadership.

So it's not for every person in Hezbollah.

So the hit was really high in their ranks.

And today's attacks also showed them that they still do not understand how infiltrated they are by the Israeli intelligence.

This is just on the technical level, on the communication network.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Israel is signaling a ramping up of pressure on the Israeli-Lebanese border.

What do you believe is the Israeli goal behind these attacks?

HANIN GHADDAR: So, it seems that the appetite for war is increasing from Israel towards Lebanon.

And any provocation by Hezbollah today, any kind of a wider response is going to probably get Israel to widen its attacks in Lebanon.

War can come in many colors and shades.

I don't think this is just a message of deterrence.

This is something that would lead Israel to go more into Hezbollah's escalation against Hezbollah, especially after we saw not just statements from Israel, but also movement of their military from Gaza to the borders of Lebanon.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And in that sense, Hezbollah is more likely to almost play into that, right?

This attack traumatized Lebanese civilians in an unprecedented way.

Lebanese families were hit.

We saw a video of some of these explosions inside homes.

Is Hezbollah under more pressure to respond in a big way because of that trauma?

HANIN GHADDAR: They definitely are under much more pressure today to respond because they have been humiliated.

But the problem is that for them to respond, they need to reconstruct their military capabilities, including their communication system.

So it might take some time.

But also nothing has changed in terms of using -- of not using their military assets, which is the precision-guided missiles, because they are still there to ensure Iran's stability, Iran's insurance policy in Lebanon.

So nothing has changed in that sense.

But they have to do something, because they lost the respect of their own community after this.

They're totally humiliated.

The trust levels are completely eroded with their community and against each other.

They need to do something.

But they're also cornered in the sense of how to do it without inviting Israel to a full scale in Lebanon.

It's a dilemma.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And U.S. officials certainly believe still that Hezbollah -- neither Hezbollah nor Iran want a full-scale war.

We will hear from Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, tomorrow.

HANIN GHADDAR: Yes.

NICK SCHIFRIN: What do you predict his message will be?

HANIN GHADDAR: He has to speak.

There's no way after this incident -- every time something big happens, he addresses his people or addresses the enemy sometimes.

So, tomorrow, he has to speak, whether he has something important to say or not.

What I think is going to happen is that he will say they will respond.

I don't think they already have a response yet because, again, it takes time for them to assess what they have lost and what they can do.

But he will threaten Israel.

He will say that they will respond.

It's like last time they endured something like this with the assassination of Fuad Shukr, the top... NICK SCHIFRIN: The number three in Hezbollah whom Israel assassinated in Southern Beirut.

HANIN GHADDAR: Exactly.

I think it is -- a speech, an angry, threatening speech like that will happen tomorrow, but not necessarily a response that will follow immediately afterwards.

They need time to figure this out.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Hanin Ghaddar of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, thank you very much.

HANIN GHADDAR: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: We start the day's other news with the aftermath of the deadly Baltimore bridge collapse.

The Justice Department is suing the owner and manager of the cargo ship that caused the disaster.

It's seeking to recover $100 million it says the government spent to clear the wreckage and reopen the port.

The DOJ alleges that electrical problems on the ship that led to the crash went ignored.

The suit calls the catastrophe -- quote -- "entirely avoidable" and says the companies -- quote -- "cut corners in ways that risked lives and infrastructure."

Six construction workers were killed in the collapse, and trade in the Port of Baltimore was held up for weeks.

The CEO of Boeing says the plane maker will start furloughing a large number of employees to offset the costs of an ongoing strike.

Kelly Ortberg said today that employees will be required to take one week off without pay per month.

It's not clear how many people will be affected, but the number is expected to be in the tens of thousands.

Senior executives will also take pay cuts.

More than 30,000 machinists have been striking since Friday for better pay.

Production has stopped on multiple Boeing planes, including the 737 MAX jet.

In Portugal, officials have declared a state of calamity, as more than 100 wildfires have scorched some 60 square miles in the country's north.

At least seven people have died in the worst wave of fires in recent years.

With emergency services stretched thin, fellow E.U.

countries Spain, France and Italy have sent aircraft to help.

Local residents too joined in the effort, bringing water to fire crews in the worst hit areas.

CRISTINA ALMEIDA, Portugal Resident (through translator): We are trying to help the firefighters.

We know they are very tired.

And then, as they don't have access to food and water, we are trying to help, and it's our way of thanking them.

AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, in Central Europe, a crisis of a different kind.

The death toll from floods there this week has risen to 23 across Poland Austria, Romania and the Czech Republic.

A massive cleanup is under way.

But some areas, particularly in Southwestern Poland, could see more flooding in the coming days.

Officials in Zimbabwe say they will allow the killing of hundreds of wild elephants to feed people affected by a severe drought.

Namibia announced a similar measure last month.

Southern Africa has been ravaged by drought conditions, in part due to the El Nino weather phenomenon affecting some 68 million people.

Officials say the elephants will be killed in areas where their populations have become unsustainable.

The Hwange National Park, for instance, has more than 45,000 elephants, but only has the capacity to sustain about a third of that number.

Back here in the U.S., millions of Americans can now renew their passports online.

The State Department said today its Web-based renewal process is fully up and running.

The old process required a mailed-in paper application, photos and check, taking an average of six to eight weeks.

The new system is expected to streamline the process for about five million Americans each year.

But it is not available for children's passports, first-time applicants, expedited passports or people living outside of the United States.

The WNBA is headed back to Portland, Oregon, with a new expansion team set to start playing in 2026.

A previous team, dubbed the Fire, debuted in 2000, but folded after just three seasons.

The league's commissioner said today that -- quote -- "As the WNBA builds on a season of unprecedented growth, bringing a team back to Portland is another important step forward."

The Portland franchise, which doesn't have a name yet, will be the third to join the league in the coming two years, alongside the Golden State Valkyries and a team in Toronto.

Tupperware Brands has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The iconic food storage company has been struggling for years amid increased competition and is saddled with more than a billion dollars in debt.

Tupperware was created shortly after World War II and found its groove in the mid-century, when so-called Tupperware parties gave women a chance to work out of their home by selling products to friends.

Tupperware plans to continue operating during the bankruptcy proceedings and hopes to find a buyer to keep the brand alive.

On Wall Street today, stocks initially popped after news of that Fed rate cut, but then fell back.

By the close of trading, the Dow Jones industrial average was down around 100 points.

The Nasdaq slipped about 50 points, or a third of 1 percent.

The S&P 500 also ended slightly lower.

And four black women who were pivotal to NASA's efforts in the space race were awarded Congress' highest civilian honor today.

Christine Darden, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Dorothy Vaughan were known as hidden figures, later made famous by a film of the same name.

They faced sexism and racism along the way and their contributions weren't widely recognized.

On Capitol Hill today, House Speaker Mike Johnson presented the Congressional Gold Medal to the women's families.

Darden, who is the only one of the four still alive, watched on from her home in Connecticut.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): At a time in America when our nation was divided by color and often by gender, these women dared to step into the fields where they had previously been unwelcome.

And although we call them hidden figures, we shouldn't think of them merely as supporting characters in the American story of space exploration.

They were the engineers and mathematicians who actually wrote the story itself.

AMNA NAWAZ: A fifth medal was awarded symbolically to all the women whose impactful work on the U.S. space program went unrecognized from the 1930s to the 1970s.

Still to come on the "News Hour": Kamala Harris and Donald Trump work to shore up their respective bases as the election draws closer; new reporting details how two women's deaths could have been avoided if not for an abortion ban; and an award-winning war correspondent brings poetry to the front lines.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are pressing ahead with a very busy campaign schedule.

For Mr. Trump, that included his first campaign appearance since the latest apparent assassination attempt against him.

Lisa Desjardins has the latest on the increasing calls for civility in this contentious election season.

MAN: Kamala Harris!

(CHEERING) (APPLAUSE) LISA DESJARDINS: In Washington for the start of Hispanic Heritage Month, Vice President Kamala Harris spoke to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, weaving in campaign themes as she stressed the American dreams.

KAMALA HARRIS, Vice President of the United States (D) and U.S. Presidential Candidate: Our work together has always been guided by shared values and by a shared vision.

However, at this moment, we are confronting two very, very different visions for our nation, one focused on the past, the other, ours, focused on the future.

LISA DESJARDINS: She spoke to Latinos in Congress a day after she took questions from Black journalists, where she revealed she spoke to her rival, Donald Trump, following the apparent assassination attempt against him Sunday.

Republicans on Capitol Hill pulled no punches today, saying Harris and Democrats have not done enough to bring down temperatures.

REP. TOM EMMER (R-MN): Democrats so-called leaders and the partners in the media need to get a grip.

And the Secret Service can and should do more to protect President Trump.

We cannot normalize what has happened to an American president and our current Republican nominee.

LISA DESJARDINS: Democrats today reiterated that there is no place for political violence, but added a note for their Republican colleagues.

REP. PETE AGUILAR (D-CA): Let's also be very clear that when the other side of the aisle talks about this issue, they lack a lot of credibility with the American public.

(CHEERING) LISA DESJARDINS: For the former president, last night in his first campaign appearance since the second apparent attempt on his life, there was a notable change in tone.

He even thanked his opponents, saying their kindness made it harder to attack them.

DONALD TRUMP, Former President of the United States (R) and Current U.S. Presidential Candidate: President Biden, I want to be nice.

He was so nice to me yesterday.

But, in one way, I sort of wish the call wasn't made, because I do feel that he's so, so nice.

"I'm so sorry about what happened and all that."

But I have to lay it out.

We have very important -- and the same with Kamala today.

She could not have been nicer.

LISA DESJARDINS: Trump made light of the second apparent attempted assassination in as many months, saying that running for president is dangerous business.

And he remained defiant.

DONALD TRUMP: And then you wonder why I get shot at, right?

Only consequential presidents get shot at.

MAN: J.D.

Vance!

LISA DESJARDINS: On the trail today in North Carolina, Trump running mate J.D.

Vance praised the former president for being cool under pressure.

SEN. J.D.

VANCE (R-OH), Vice Presidential Candidate: You want the guy who's able to keep his heads about him even when literal gunshots are going off.

LISA DESJARDINS: In a significant move, the Teamsters union says it won't back either Harris or Trump.

That breaks with nearly three decades of endorsements, which have consistently been for Democrats.

DONALD TRUMP: It's a great honor.

They're not going to endorse the Democrats.

That's a big thing.

And this is the first time in, I guess, 50, 60 years that that's happened.

Democrats automatically have the Teamsters.

LISA DESJARDINS: Mr. Trump headlines a rally in New York tonight amid tight security.

The state is not seen as within reach for the former president, but several downballot House races are in play.

AMNA NAWAZ: The election looms, but, first, lawmakers face another deadline to keep government open and funded.

They have just under two weeks to go.

And, tonight, the House of Representatives is taking a risk, voting on a government funding patch with controversial election reform attached to the bill.

That combination is expected to fail.

And, for now, Republicans say they don't have a backup plan that could garner enough votes to pass.

Lisa Desjardins joins us now.

So, Lisa, where are we with a possible shutdown?

LISA DESJARDINS: All right, September 30, there needs to be funding passed by then, or we would have a shutdown.

That seems like a long time away, but, actually, in congressional world, that means just this week or next week to get that funding passed.

So let's take a look at the House floor right now.

They're in a vote series.

This is not the actual vote on the continuing resolution to fund government.

That's coming up soon.

But what we expect to happen tonight is it will be a close vote, and we expect this patch suggested by House Speaker Mike Johnson for six months to fail.

And that is because, in part, it is attached to the SAVE Act, which is a piece of legislation dealing with voting.

Now, in this country, it is illegal to vote if you're a noncitizen.

There are studies and there are many debunkings of the idea that there is any problem with noncitizen voting.

It's a minuscule number that's ever been proven.

It's not a significant issue.

But Republicans want this to pass, some of them, to require proof of citizenship in order to register to vote.

These two things together have meant that this patch in funding is likely to fail, and Republicans right now, Amna, do not have a plan B. AMNA NAWAZ: So, Lisa, if this patch is likely to fail and there is this deadline approaching, why is Speaker Johnson holding the vote at all?

LISA DESJARDINS: There are a few reasons here.

This is a role of the dice.

He has been saying all day that he can sway enough Republicans when it comes down to it.

We have seen over the past two years they have lost the votes like this.

So, it would be a dramatic change if that happens.

His job is on the line here is one reason.

He wants to prove to conservative Republicans, especially fiscal hawks, those in the Freedom Caucus, some of them, that he will push their ideas, even if they fail.

The other issue is that this is an election year issue for Republicans.

They know that the idea of voter I.D.

in general is something that's popular.

They are betting on the idea that proof of citizenship, which is a little bit different, also could be popular, and this is something that they want to talk about on the campaign trail.

AMNA NAWAZ: And this is something we have heard from other Republicans, among them, former President Trump.

He's in particular been pointing to a related issue in Arizona, right, due to citizenship and the voting law there.

LISA DESJARDINS: Right.

AMNA NAWAZ: What's happening?

LISA DESJARDINS: Right.

We're going to try and explain this clearly.

In Arizona, just in the past couple of days, it has come to light that some almost 100,000 voters who have been registered to vote for decades may not meet a requirement that went into place after that.

It requires that they show proof that they are U.S. citizens.

Now, the state just discovered this glitch.

And one thing about this, Arizona's law is unique.

So a bottom line here, Amna, is that these voters can still vote in the presidential election, Arizona an important state and in federal elections, but because of state law, they are now in limbo for state elections.

And that includes Arizona's abortion ballot measure, which a lot of people are watching.

Trump responded about this on his TRUTH Social platform.

He raised the idea that this implies that the election is rigged.

We know that actually he's conflating several ideas here.

We talked with Carrie Levine from Votebeat, covers this, asked what is known about the likelihood that any of the folks caught up in this might be noncitizen voters?

CARRIE LEVINE, Votebeat: Officials have said a vast majority of these people really are almost certainly citizens.

They are people who have been in Arizona for a long time.

There's really no evidence that there's a large group of noncitizens in there, but, of course, one of the reasons that the state has chosen -- and it has unique laws in this respect -- to require a documented proof of citizenship to vote in state elections is because they are worried about this.

LISA DESJARDINS: They're worried about this, but that law is actually causing other problems right now.

As we see, this is going to go to court.

Ballots are about to be printed.

Decisions need to be made very quickly.

Something else worth noting for -- especially for former President Trump, the Arizona secretary of state said this group of voters that they're looking at, the largest group of them is Republicans.

So if you're accusing this event, some kind of rigging in the election, you're accusing Republicans of doing the rigging.

The Republican Party says let them all vote this election.

It's too late to change anything.

We're going to have to monitor it.

AMNA NAWAZ: Two very big stories, both worth keeping an eye on.

Lisa Desjardins, thank you so much.

LISA DESJARDINS: You're welcome.

AMNA NAWAZ: This fall, reproductive health care access is on the ballot in nearly a dozen states.

Meanwhile, we're now learning more about the effects of abortion restrictions enacted at the state level after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade two years ago.

John Yang reports.

JOHN YANG: Amna, ProPublica found at least two women in Georgia who died after being unable to get either a legal abortion or timely medical care.

Official state committees examining pregnancy-related deaths concluded that both were preventable.

Georgia law says a physician can go to prison for performing an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy.

The law does have an exception to prevent the death of a pregnant woman, but physicians say there's no guidance on how to interpret that.

Kavitha Surana is the ProPublica journalist who reported this story.

Kavitha, you illustrated two aspects of this Georgia law, the first case involving Amber Nicole Thurman.

She tried to get an abortion out of state, missed her appointment for a traffic jam, of all things, and so was prescribed a medication abortion.

What happened to her?

KAVITHA SURANA, ProPublica: Right.

And it's important to make clear that abortion medication, major medical organizations and studies have consistently found that they are safe and effective when taken appropriately.

But they can cause complications.

And if complications happen, patients should go to the hospital right away and expect to receive a D&C procedure.

That's the same kind of procedure that's used for both abortions and miscarriage care to remove any fetal tissue that remains.

So what we know is that Amber had complications.

She went to the hospital.

And doctors waited 20 hours to provide a D&C.

They talked about it multiple times.

They monitored her as her blood pressure fell, her organs began failing.

And, ultimately, when they did intervene, it was too late to save her life.

The Maternal Mortality Review Committee reviewed this case and they agreed that it was preventable, and they said that the largest impact was the delay in receiving a D&C procedure.

They said that there was a good chance, if doctors had done it sooner, that her life could have been saved.

JOHN YANG: Why did the doctors delay?

KAVITHA SURANA: We don't know what was going through the doctors' heads and the hospitals did not respond to requests for comment.

A lot of lawmakers that have passed these abortion bans, and not just Georgia's, have promised that they have exceptions for the life of the mother or medical emergencies, but they're written in ways that experts say are confusing and not rooted in science.

They threaten prison time if a prosecutor decides that they're not followed correctly.

And doctors have told me that this type of threat, it can really change the dynamics of how they interact with patients.

In fact, we have reported a lot of in-depth stories about this kind of delay in care where doctors have explained exactly how it changed the way that they were treating patients.

Even if they do feel like they can go ahead, sometimes, they also have to convince lawyers and nurses and other colleagues to participate who have the right in some states like Georgia not to participate in any abortion-related care.

JOHN YANG: The second case involved a woman named Candi Miller.

She avoided doctors.

She navigated a medication abortion her own.

Do we know why she didn't go to a doctor?

KAVITHA SURANA: Well, one of the first things that's important to know about this case is that Candi Miller, who was a 41-year-old mother of three, had a lot of medical complications.

She had diabetes, lupus, and hypertension, and her doctors actually told her that it would be dangerous for her to go through another pregnancy and may even threaten her life.

And these abortion exceptions do not have any kind of exception that addresses the situation.

They're really limited to emergencies, not situations where a patient's condition may become an emergency later.

So, because abortion was outlawed, her family says she ordered pills online from overseas and took them at home.

Again, these pills, they can cause complications, and patients should go to the hospital if that happens.

From what we know, she did experience some pain.

The abortion didn't complete, according to an autopsy.

And her family's understanding was that abortion was outlawed and people could go to jail for having an abortion.

That's not clear from Georgia law.

Courts have ruled that women cannot be prosecuted for their own abortion, but there's been a lot of confusion around this.

And candy was found with fentanyl and other medicines in her system.

It's not clear why she took them or where she got them.

JOHN YANG: This law was hailed by Republican lawmakers, by the Republican governor of Georgia, Brian Kemp.

He said he was overjoyed when it took effect.

You reached out to Governor Kemp's office with your reporting, presented your reporting, and what did they say to you?

KAVITHA SURANA: Yes, many of the Republicans who passed these laws have consistently waved off these kinds of concerns.

When we reached out to Governor Kemp's office to tell them about our reporting, they called this kind of reporting fearmongering.

The thing is, it's not news or surprise that abortion bans are unclear or can cause confusion or are dangerous for women's health.

Ever since they were written doctors, major medical organizations, patients who've had these experiences themselves have been speaking up about warning that these bans are not clear and could lead to women dying unnecessarily.

And in some states, even, there's been efforts to propose small changes, the kind of changes doctors say would help them avoid situations of delayed care.

But over and over again, we have seen major anti-abortion organizations oppose these changes.

JOHN YANG: Both these cases happened in 2022, shortly after the court overturned Roe v. Wade.

Why is it just now that we're learning about the conclusions of the review boards?

KAVITHA SURANA: That's why ProPublica is continuing to report on this topic.

The fact that these cases happened in 2022, it's just a sign of how hard they are to track down.

Often, families aren't even aware of all the circumstances.

Now, every state does have a committee that reviews maternal deaths and they look at the root causes and make some findings about them.

But those committees are about two years behind and just now starting to look at cases that happened after Roe was overturned and these abortion bans came into effect.

So we have a lot of reason to believe that there are more women whose stories have been impacted by the inability to get a legal abortion in their state.

And we're continuing to work on bringing them to light.

JOHN YANG: Kavitha Surana of ProPublica, thank you very much.

KAVITHA SURANA: Thanks for your time.

AMNA NAWAZ: In our globally connected lives, the companies that make the technology we rely on every day can run headlong into traditional cultures and the environment that sustains them.

Last night we featured a new potentially lucrative industry, deep-sea mining.

Tonight, videographer Edward Kiernan and special correspondent Willem Marx return to Papua New Guinea and the Bismarck Sea, where locals are fighting back to preserve a vanishing way of life.

WILLEM MARX: Rodney Kadog has been prepping bait like this since he was a teenager, when he first ventured out alone in a canoe.

Fishing far out at sea or on reefs closer to shore has sustained Papua New Guinea's coastal communities for centuries.

Like many local kids, Rodney started catching fish around age 6.

He later moved to this village called Kono to get married.

Its shoreline on an island named New Ireland has been his home ever since and fishing remains his primary job.

RODNEY KADOG, Fisherman (through translator): It can help us with our families.

It generates financial income, which supports us, as well as sustains our livelihood in our village.

Fish is good.

WILLEM MARX: Fishing helps feed his kids and if he ever trades or sells his catch, it helps fund their other needs too.

But the bites don't come as often as they once did, perhaps due to a growing population or the changing climate.

He's not sure.

RODNEY KADOG (through translator): When I was younger, it was a lot faster.

As soon as we cast our lines, we would bring in a lot of fish, compared to now, when fish are scarce.

Today, it takes a long time for us to catch one fish.

WILLEM MARX: Rodney often paddles out rapidly past the island's reef break, sometimes sitting for hours several miles offshore.

But beyond the reach of a typical canoe ride farther out on this sea called the Bismarck sits a vast ship called MV Coco that villagers like Rodney worry could disturb the waters where local fish breed and damage their future fishing stocks.

Floating in place a mile above the seafloor, this vast vessel is testing a new technique for an often controversial industry called deep-sea mining.

A giant device called the grabber scoops up several tons of rock from the seabed and sends it up to the ship's deck for analysis.

Close to the mining site, the ship's crew show us these so-called chimneys of rock, crawling with mollusks and crabs with warmer water flowing from a vent that's visible on the ocean floor.

But as the grabber leaves the water one evening, there's a major hitch.

It hasn't fully closed.

That means a large amount of material from the ocean floor has leached into the water column on its way up to the ship.

Marine experts around the world insist any form of deep-sea mining will damage ocean life.

But environmental scientists have been hired and brought on board to better understand whether this sort of damage can be minimized or possibly mitigated.

As part of their monitoring, they lower tubes into the ocean to capture samples at different depths, then collate the resulting data to examine the impact on the waters around the site.

A geologist from Papua New Guinea, meanwhile, photographs this haul, then gets to work assessing the concentration in these rocks of metals like copper, so crucial to the global energy transition.

The team on board are trying to confirm whether these metals can be mined efficiently, profitably and safely under the supervision of James Holt, an offshore manager for one of the companies involved in this effort.

He says deep-sea mining could cause less harm than its onshore equivalent.

JAMES HOLT, Offshore Manager, Magellan: I mean, I personally believe that, environmentally, this is a lot better.

We're not relocating villages.

We're not laying waste to huge areas of land.

Because of the quality of the material here, we have to mine 300 percent less ground to get the same amount of copper that you would get on land.

WILLEM MARX: But given the uncertain consequences of this deep-sea extraction, it's an argument Jonathan Mesulam finds difficult to accept.

JONATHAN MESULAM, Alliance of Solwara Warriors: Currently, there's no precedent case of sea mining around the world.

Even scientists that I have talked to, the politicians, you and I, we don't really understand what is the likely impact is going to happen.

So we don't want to take risks.

WILLEM MARX: Mesulam left his job as a teacher to help set up a group focused on blocking seabed mining.

He travels along the island's sometimes rugged local roads to provide communities here with information he says they need to make decisions to weigh the possible benefits of a new project against its potential drawbacks.

Most New Irelanders live in scattered coastal villages like Kono, around 700 residents with homes hunched on the shoreline at the foot of huge mountains.

Alongside fishing, pig and crop farming, as well as other traditional activities, dominate daily life in the village.

For as long as the oldest residents can remember, they have gathered beneath these ancient trees to debate and discuss the community's challenges.

On a recent visit, 63-year-old village chief Chris Malagan opened the meeting.

He was appointed to this role decades ago and appears to relish the responsibility.

He eventually invited Mesulam up to address the weekly council.

Patently, painstakingly, the campaigner explained what little he knew about the presence of a deep-sea mining vessel just over the horizon.

Then locals took their turn to speak on the subject, sometimes concerned, occasionally upset.

For many residents, including Malagan, this poorly understood new industry seems to represent an existential threat at a time when fish stocks are already struggling.

CHRIS MALAGAN, Chief, Kono Village (through translator): The ocean is our life.

For us, the coastal people, it is our garden.

We catch fish and share with others in the village without being paid.

When we catch fish and sharks, we share with other families who need it to spread love and kindness.

WILLEM MARX: Finding enough food can already be a challenge in communities like this, and after years without any significant support from the state, Malagan fails to believe an offshore mining project involving foreign companies might help.

Do you think that the government of Papua New Guinea, the governor, the local representatives here on New Ireland, do you think they are on your side or on the side of the companies doing the prospecting?

CHRIS MALAGAN (through translator): Well, they are on the side of the company and not working in our favor.

As a result, we the people are suffering.

WILLEM MARX: How does that make you feel?

CHRIS MALAGAN (through translator): We are now faced with a huge problem.

WILLEM MARX: Are you angry?

CHRIS MALAGAN (through translator): Yes.

We will miss out on the benefits.

The government and the national government will benefit from this.

And we, the local, people, will have nothing, except schools and health clinics.

But as for the people within the villages, there won't be other services.

This is a big problem.

WILLEM MARX: Meetings like this mean a great deal to Jonathan Mesulam.

Until recently, he thought his decade of opposition had helped permanently stop seabed mining close to new Ireland.

JONATHAN MESULAM: People are surprised, they're shocked after learning that the new company is coming back.

Because all our efforts on campaigning against seabed mining, we thought it was a dead issue now.

But now we are back.

We are awakened.

We are now campaigning against this new company.

WILLEM MARX: And amid conversations with villagers like Rodney and Chris, Mesulam says he feels betrayed by his own government, and the personal costs have been high.

JONATHAN MESULAM: It's really stressful.

You have a family to feed.

You are taking a risky path.

It's really emotional, because you are trying to commit yourself to a good cause.

And it's -- to me, it's really emotional when discussing this issue.

WILLEM MARX: He hopes to move forward on a legal case against the government to force more information about deep-sea mining into the public domain.

JONATHAN MESULAM: We don't want to be used as guinea pigs for trial and error, because these metals that are going to be dug out of our ocean will not benefit anyone from here, because nobody here is using electric cars.

So, you are taking minerals from the poor people, and you go and enjoy your luxury life.

But these people are going to be affected in a long-term destruction to the marine ecosystem.

And that is something that we are very concerned about.

WILLEM MARX: For locals like Rodney, global copper markets may operate far from their fishing waters, but community cohesion is something he wants to support.

It could, he hopes, help combat this perceived threat to his livelihood.

RODNEY KADOG (through translator): If we have a lot of conversations, raise a lot of awareness and have cooperation among our leaders in the communities to put up a fight against this, then the seabed mining will not happen.

WILLEM MARX: Not for the first time nor the last in our globalized world, a new industry with cutting-edge technology is colliding with traditional techniques and an ancient way of life.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Willem Marx in Kono, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tomorrow, we will delve into the seeming lack of government oversight of deep-sea mining and the forces behind that avoidance.

For many years here on the "News Hour," frequent contributor Lindsey Hilsum, an award-winning correspondent with Britain's Channel 4 News, has been bringing us powerful reports from Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and more.

This week, she has a new book out called "I Brought the War With Me," marrying her life as a war correspondent with her love of poetry.

Special correspondent Malcolm Brabant visited Hilsum for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

MAN: Enemy for 500 meters.

LINDSEY HILSUM, Author, "I Brought the War With Me: Stories and Poems from the Front Line": So, the enemy is just 500 meters away?

MAN: Yes.

Yes.

Yes.

LINDSEY HILSUM: That's not very far.

MAN: Yes.

LINDSEY HILSUM: Bit too close for comfort.

MAN: Yes.

MALCOLM BRABANT: After 40 years of covering conflicts around the world, Lindsey Hilsum found inspiration for her new book in Ukraine's s First World War-style trenches.

LINDSEY HILSUM: That's right, yes.

MAN: Yes.

LINDSEY HILSUM: I started to tweet out a poem a day.

And, to my surprise, people started to react.

They wanted more poems.

As I have covered more conflicts, I have turned to poetry more and more, because it's sometimes -- sometimes, the language we use as journalists is just not quite enough.

Not the Somme, but Donetsk, not 1916 but now in the 21st century, Ukrainian soldiers trudging through the splashing mire of the trenches.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Back home in North London, Hilsum began fusing vignettes from her distinguished front-line career with suitable poetry.

LINDSEY HILSUM: Poets don't have the answers, but they can help us find a way through the darkness.

By now, the outgoing fire was getting intense, and there was incoming too as we were trying to leave.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Hilsum is not a fan of poetry that scans.

LINDSEY HILSUM: A lot of the sort of more tumpty, tumpty, tum poetry is rather patriotic and is rather rousing.

And that's not what I'm looking at.

What I care about is what Wilfred Owen called the pity of war, the pity war distilled.

And that, I find, is often conveyed more effectively in freeform poetry.

We have just heard sniper fire overhead.

That was after all the outgoing from the Ukrainian machine guns.

So we're just going to stay down here for a bit.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Hilsum marries the Ukrainian experience with stanzas mourning carnage in the trenches more than a century ago.

LINDSEY HILSUM: "Here Dead Lie We" by A.E.

Housman, 1922.

"Here dead lie we, because we did not choose to live and shame the land from which we sprung.

Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose, but young men think it is, and we were young."

The outgoing machine gunfire from the Ukrainians is aimed at suppressing the Russians so they don't fire back.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Are you a war junkie?

LINDSEY HILSUM: No, I'm not.

I feel that it's really important that people understand the horror of war, and that is one of my main motivations.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Many correspondents will take a bottle of whiskey with them and they go to a war zone, but you take a book of poetry.

LINDSEY HILSUM: I take both a bottle of whiskey and a book of poetry with me.

(LAUGHTER) MALCOLM BRABANT: You think the whiskey helps as well?

LINDSEY HILSUM: Of course.

After a few minutes of quiet, it's time for us to run across the open ground to the other trench.

All safe.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Why do you think that poetry provides solace?

LINDSEY HILSUM: Poetry does two things.

On the one hand, it's a connection, because somebody else, the poet, has felt or seen the same as I have, as you have.

But then it also gives you a certain distance, because it's universal.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Hilsum reached for the lyricism of Yehuda Amichai, considered to be Israel's finest poet, after meeting traumatized survivors of last year's October the 7th Hamas terrorist attack on a music festival.

WOMAN: We were dancing, and those seconds of being so unbelievably happy and safe.

Half-a-second after that, you are running for your life.

LINDSEY HILSUM: On my desk, there's a fragment of a hand grenade that didn't kill me.

And there it is, free as a butterfly.

MALCOLM BRABANT: And then came Israel's response in Gaza.

When you go to a conflict, do you feel compelled to balance it up, effectively, by reading poets from both sides of the front line?

LINDSEY HILSUM: No.

It's not about both sides.

It's not about journalistic concepts.

It's about emotion.

It's about intellectual purity and honesty.

It's not about all the things that journalists worry about.

That's why it's a liberation from the things that journalists worry about.

The Israeli soldiers, now deep inside Gaza, walk through streets their air force has destroyed.

MALCOLM BRABANT: To make sense of the conflict, Hilsum returned to Israel's Yehuda Amichai, demonstrating that poetry transcends enemy lines.

LINDSEY HILSUM: "From the place where we are right, flowers will never grow in the spring.

The place where we are right is hard and trampled like a yard."

Journalism is of the moment, but poetry lasts forever.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Even if the poet is cut down in their prime, as was author and war crimes investigator Victoria Amelina, killed by a Russian missile in 2022 just after she wrote this.

LINDSEY HILSUM: "Air raid sirens across the country.

It feels like everyone is brought out for execution, but only one person gets targeted, usually the one at the edge, this time not you.

All clear."

MALCOLM BRABANT: Amid the suffering, it now falls to other Ukrainian poets, as Hilsum says, to turn terrible events into works of beauty and meaning.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Malcolm Brabant.

AMNA NAWAZ: And there is much more online, including a scientific explanation of what you're seeing when you look at a supermoon and tips for when you can catch the next one.

That's at PBS.org/NewsHour.

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.