Rattles lewiston, maine. Amna Israeli Forces conduct a raid into gaza in preparation for a Ground Invasion as the u. N. Strains to shelter more than 600,000 displaced palestinians. Geoff and childcare remains a significant barrier to millions of people needing to appear in court over lowlevel offenses. People assume folks are missing court because theyre trying to evade justice or evade prosecution. But oftentimes theres things that are happening in peoples lives that are preventing them from showing up to court. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by pediatric surgeon, volunteer, topiary artist, a raymondjames Financial Advisor taylors tailors advice to help you live your life. Life well planned. The kendeda fund. Committed to advancing Restorative Justice and meaningful work through ideas and leaders. More at kendedafund. Org. Carnegie corporation of new york, supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of International Peace and security, at carnegie. Org, and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station by viewers like you. Thank you. Geoff welcome to the newshour. Lewiston, maine, is the latest community to suffer devastating losses from Mass Shootings after a gunman killed at least 18 people and injured 13 others last night. Amna the suspect remains at large and hundreds of officers are looking for him in a major manhunt. The shootings are the worst mass killing in the country this year, and authorities have warned the death toll could climb. Laura barronlopez reports from lewiston. Laura nearly 24 hours after a man opened fire with an ar15style rifle at a Bowling Alley and restaurant in lewiston, maine, the sprawling manhunt is growing for the shooter. Police say 40yearold robert card is a person of interest and remains armed and dangerous. Investigators are still trying to piece together what happened and many questions remain. Several of the deceased have been identified and their familys next of kin has been notified. Approximately eight people at this point have been identified. 10 people, 10 of these victims, still need to be identified at this time. Laura maines governor janet mills said it was a dark day for her state. This city did not deserve this terrible assault on its citizens, on its peace of mind, on its sense of security. Laura just before 7 00 p. M. Last night that assault began inside the justintime bowling center, sending people scrambling for safety, including this man named brandon who says he first thought he heard balloons popping. I had my back turned to the door. As soon as i turned and saw that it was not a balloon, he was holding a weapon. I just booked it down the lane, and i slid basically into where the pins are and climbed up to the machine and was on top of the machines for about 10 minutes until the cops got there. Laura 10yearold Zoey Levesque was also there with her mother and was grazed by a bullet. Its shocking. It is something that you think never would happen. I never thought id grow up and get a bullet in my leg. Why . Why do people do this . Laura police say, not long after that, the gunman went to schemengees bar and grille and opened fire. As news broke last night, the restaurant posted on facebook, my heart is crushed. I am at a loss for words. In a split second, your world gets turn upside down for no good reason. Police released a photo of an suv parked in a nearby town that they called a vehicle of interest. Early this morning, authorities issued more shelterinplace advisories, not just for lewiston, but also in the nearby towns of lisbon and bowdoin. Several schools in the area were also closed due to the manhunt. And many residents like 21 yearold campbell mckendry, a senior at Bates College in lewiston, are still trying to make sense of what happened. How are you feeling right now as youre still sheltering in place with your roommates . I think people really havent processed whats going on. I mean, at the moment, 18 people are dead, which is just unfathomable in such a small and tightknit Community Like lewiston. And i know that the loss that happened last night will be felt here for years, if not decades to come. Laura mckendry lives only fives minutes from the Bowling Alley and says shed often go with friends to hang out and relax there. And its just so devastating and so upsetting that thats been taken away from the Bates Community and the Lewiston Community by the actions of one person. Our reality for today is that this suspect is still at large. Laura police said more than 350 state and federal Law Enforcement personnel are looking for robert card, who is said to be a firearms instructor and a member of the u. S. Army reserve. According to multiple reports, card was believed to have made threats to shoot up a nearby military base and had been committed to a Mental Health facility for two weeks this summer. Authorities would not confirm that this morning, focusing instead on the survivors and victims. We want to provide Community Support for the victims, the families in the communities across the state. But we also have an incredibly strong and laserlike focus on bringing this spect into custody and ultimately to justice. Laura but many here are frustrated that their not getting resources and answers fast enough. Theres no words to describe how you feel. Laura we also met a woman named sarah who has lived in lewiston for 32 years. Last night, shed been at the Bowling Alley with her daughter and says the thirdgrader saw two people get shot. I want counseling, but theres no services here right now. Were looking for services to get her counseling. Laura wednesdays death toll is especially staggering for a state that only had 29 homicides in all of 2022. People here are upset and angry about what they say is a lack of communication from local authorities about loved ones and how to get help. Amna laura, we heard officials saying they are still working to identify some of the victims in this latest mass shooting in america. You did speak with someone who lost family members. Tell us what they said. Laura thats right. I spoke to rob young, who is originally from maine. He was heading here from baltimore on a flight to be next to his sisterinlaws side and he found out that his brother, bill young, and his nephew, aaron young, 43 years old and 14 years old, were killed at the Bowling Alley that is just down the road behind me. And he said that this stuff just doesnt happen in maine, that his sisterinlaw was destroyed. That she was given false hope state authorities because for hours on end, she had been told that no kids had died and then found out later this afternoon that her son, 14yearold aaron, had died. We have not heard back from state authorities about that. Amna another heartbreaking story on the ground there. You spoke to so many people including the student we heard from, campbell mckendry, who said it was unfathomable Something Like this would happen in her community. What else did she tell you about what the experience has been like . Laura campbell had heard Police Sirens and helicopters for hours last night as she shelterinplace. This is something that has become all too familiar for her family. Her parents have been texting her nonstop, asking her if she was safe. This is something they also experienced earlier this year when their other daughter, who goes to Colby College that is just a few miles north of lewiston, was at a party where a shooting occurred. This is something that her family has experienced twice in just one year. Amna laura reporting from lewiston, maine, the latest American Community affected by a mass shooting. Laura, thank you. Laura thank you. Stephanie here are the latest headlines. On the main shootings, Maine State Police said tonight they were executing several search warrants near lewiston. It was unknown if the suspect was in any of the homes they were searching. Heavily armed police surrounded white house believed to be connected to the suspect. Police used a megaphone to urge anybody inside to come out. The u. S. Economy had a robust thirdquarter showing resilience, despite inflation and recession fears. The Commerce Department reports a growth trend at a 4. 9 annual rate from july to september, largely driven by Consumer Spending on everything from cars to restaurants. It was the fastest pace of growth in nearly two years but economists expect a slowdown in the current quarter. A strike by Canadian Workers has paralyzed the vital st. Lawrence seaway, linking the great lakes to the atlantic, some 360 Union Members in ontario and quebec walked off the job sunday, demanding higher pay. The strike has closed 13 locks between lake erie and montreal. Officials estimate they are losing millions of dollars each day. It is a big deal. The seaway system as a whole so far this year has brought in over 16 billion of commerce. And that commerce affects the steel industry, transportation and construction industry. Stephanie this is the first time a strike has brought the st. Lawrence seaway to a standstill since 1968. In mexico, the scope of the hurricane otis disaster came into focus today, as officials confirmed 27 deaths and widespread destruction. The category five storm hit the pacific resort of acapulco on tuesday night. Cell phone footage showed hotels left with gaping holes where windows had been in flooding that spread across miles. People waded through mud and debris, desperate for help. The house is ruthless. Our house was a total loss. My mattresses, my papers, everything is gone. Stephanie mexicos president made it into acapulco late last night. He said every power line in the storm zone is down, and the local water system isnt running. Some 10,000 troops have been sent to aid the recovery. Chinas foreign minister opened a visit to washington today, with the u. S. Pushing beijing to play a positive role in the wars in ukraine and the middle east. Wong yi was meeting with secretary of state Antony Blinken and others. It could set up a meeting between President Biden and chinese president xi jinping next month in san francisco. The government of pakistan has started setting up Deportation Centers in a crackdown on illegal immigration. Officials served notice today theyll start arresting people on november first. Those at risk include an estimated 1. 7 million afghans. I am warning those people who are living here illegally that they should leave voluntarily before we start deporting them forcefully. We have identified the areas, and we know in which parts of pakistans cities, towns and villages they are living. We have complete details of each and every thing. Geoff in response, tens of thousands of people in the southwestern town of chaman protested today. Some complained the crackdown will disrupt daily crossborder travel thats gone on for decades. In a new york federal courthouse, ftx founder Sam Bankmanfried testified today that lawyers played a vital role in key decisions at the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange. Hes accused of criminal fraud. Bankmanfried testified without the jury present today, so the judge can decide which parts the panel will ultimately hear. Congressman Jamaal Bowman has pleaded guilty to pulling a fire alarm in a House Office Building last month. The new york democrat will pay a 1000 fine for the misdemeanor and formally apologize to capitol police. Georgia is order to redraw discriminatory voting maps while North Carolina approves maps that tilts republican, and an artist turns her work into love letters to her husband fading into love fading into the fog of alzheimers. This is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington and in the west from the Walter Cronkite school of journalism at Arizona State university. Amna the Gaza Health Ministry run by hamas today released 200plus pages listing those killed since israel began its retaliatory air campaign, after the october 7 terror attacks. On the list, more than 7000 people, nearly 3000 of whom were children. This, an apparent response to President Bidens remarks yesterday doubting the official toll numbers in gaza. Inside gaza today, the United Nations warned it is on a humanitarian precipice. Nick schifrin speaks to a u. N. Official, and reports on israels plans for its expected ground offensive. It is not an invasion of the but the largest israeli incursion into gaza yet. Tanks crossed into gaza early this morning as seen in this video to prepare the battlefield. But israel is still debating its own plans for the coming ground offensive and today, war cabinet member Opposition Leader and former Israel Defense forces chief of staff benny gantz warned of a long war. The maneuver is only one stage in a longterm process that includes security, political, and social aspects that will last for years. Nick more than 220 hostages held by hamas, only four of whom have been released. They vow to release all of them if israel stopped the bombing. Irans minister reiterated today in new york hamas is ready to release civilian prisoners. On the other hand, they should support the release of 6000 palestinians held in israeli prisons. Nick iran helps fund the Record Number of rockets fired from gaza like this direct hit today into a residential building. In gaza, the direct hits are relentless. Today, israel launched more than 250 airstrikes and said it killed the coplanar of the october 7 terrorist attacks. Israeli airstrikes have destroyed about one out of every 20 gazan buildings in one of the densest parts of the planet. Northern gazas fate before and after the airstrikes. Another neighborhood before and after. 2000 miles away in brussels, the European Union today called for humanitarian corridors and pauses to speed the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid. In the coming days, its very difficult if we did not get any fuel. Nick the dr. Is an Orthopedic Surgeon affiliated with Doctors Without Borders in a northern gazan hospital which said it received an Evacuation Order this week. We dont have the capacity to do normal work. We operated on the ground. Some patients die in this situation. This event actually happens every day and in every hospital. Nick his family are worried about him. On sunday, an explosion hit near the hospital. He says the majority of his patients are children younger then his own daughters. His familys home was also destroyed. His 12yearold lost every toy but saved her cat. My house was destroyed in the building where i live. This happens with medical members here. We lost many doctors. Many officers, ambulances. We lost a lot of medical personnel. We dont have the luxury actually to bring psychological teams aboard. I tried to support that one girl is 10 years and lost all her family. She started to cry, i do not know what to do. I am a surgeon but i try. Nick joining us now is tom white, the head of the operations in gaza. Thank you very much for making the time. Welcome to the newshour. You have said today that your fuel is almost exhausted. What does that mean and what is its impact . Tom i go beyond fuel. In terms of the whole operation, we are literally exhausted. We are rationing what reserves of fuel we have now in gaza. Essentially what we should be getting to hospitals, what we should be getting two bakeries to bake bread, we are rationing those supplies and then on the other hand, we have teams who are running displacement centers, for example, we cannot get them basic sanitation. We cannot provide enough shelter for people in these locations. So some really difficult choices. Which communities are going to go without essential humanitarian support. It will get to a point where people become very ill and some people are going to lose their lives because we cannot get the assistance that they need. Nick israel is blocking fuel from coming into gaza because it says hamas steals fuel and already holds large stockpiles. Have you seen any evidence that hamas stockpiles fuel . Tom i have not seen any evidence that hamas is stockpiling fuel. What i can say is i know what we are doing with the fuel that we have got, with the fuel reserves we can access from within gaza. We are making sure that is going to desalination plants, going to bakeries to produce bread. Nick more than 600,000 gazans are internally displaced and sheltering at 150 schools turn shelters. That is three times those schools intended capacity. Do you have what you need . Do you have the ability to keep those people safe . Tom we do not have the humanitarian supplies to look after those people in those shelters. Conditions in the shelters are getting very desperate. But our major concern is also that these people are sheltering under a u. N. Flag and cannot guarantee them protection. We have had over 40 of our installations with collateral damage. We have had five direct hits. It has cost the lives of 17 gazans sheltering under the wing flag and 281 people have been injured in our shelters because of fire. Nick i reported from inside gaza during the 2014 war, the last time israel launched a ground incursion into gaza, and i personally saw how hamas fired rockets from mixed to schools. From next to under schools and stole supplies from schools. Why arent you able to prevent that . Tom we are calling on all parties to the conflict, everybody involved in this conflict, to stop this war. We are calling for a humanitarian ceasefire. The reality is we are operating in many cases in an urban battlefield. It is very chaotic. There are foreign positions from within the urban population and of course coming the other way, into urban areas. My concern is that we have a large number of civilians that were caught in an active conflict zone. Nick there is a very extreme shortage of members of trucks numbers of trucks coming into gaza compared to what you need and compared to what used to come into gaza before october 7. What do you believe is causing the numbers of trucks to be so limited . Tom what we are dealing with is a verification process that is run by the israelis down on the egyptianisraeli border. That process is very slow and has been problematic. We really need to have a verification process with the israelis that enables and processing of well over 100 trucks a day. Nick the commissioner general described gaza as a place where there is not much humanity left and hell is settling in. What does that look like for you . How deep is gazas despair . Tom people are questioning, what is the future hold . Where am i going to be safe . There is so much fear that a real question, where is our humanity to be allowing this level of death and destruction on the gazan population . Nick tom white, head of gaza operations for unra, thank you very much. Amna it was nearly three weeks ago that hamas attacked southern israel with ferocious terror killing more than 1400 people. Now, as israelis mourn their dead, many are still trying to find their loved ones. The task is monumental, painstaking, and often horrific. Leila molanaallen reports and a warning, images and accounts in this story are disturbing. Along israels gaza border, nearly three weeks after hamass terror attacks, there is still more horror to clear. Soldiers secure the area against rockets and militants still infiltrating the border fence but the most brutal of tasks now falls to hundreds of civilian volunteers. Sorting through human remains. A 56yearold moved to israel from rhode island as a kid. In peacetime, he is a carpenter. We are going after Everything Else through the houses in order to collect all the remnants. We know the person was identified in this particular house and put everything into a bag and we buried it with him. Other places, we dont know. It is just buried in a mass grave. Leila inside every shattered home in the small farming communities is another story of barbarous cruelty. A 92yearold holocaust survivor was sleeping in his room when the kibbutz was attacked. Militants fired the rpg through his armored window and then sent in two hand grenades afterwards to make sure he was dead. In the living room, a collage. Outside, volunteers have spent today collecting his remains from his shrapnel written ridden mattress. The team is trying to lay there remains to rest. By jewish tradition, every part of the body must be buried. Two young parents and their son were killed by grenades in this room of their house. They are working, scraping off specs of paint and skin or residue from the ceiling. Leila many houses, cars, and bodies were set aflame, leaving them burnt beyond recognition. On this army base, in tel aviv, dozens have come together to set up this mobile morgue and field forensics unit. This facility had to be brought together as fast as possible to deal with the sheer scale of death from these terror attacks. Behind me, Cargo Containers hastily transformed into fridges to store the hundreds of bodies waiting to be identified and returned to their families. Gilad runs the operation. Everyday, truckloads more bodies arrive. I have seen babies six years old, two years old, that were burned alive the other day. I dont know how many. Small bags with children and each one of them was burned alive. Mothers, mothers hugging their children, trying to protect them, and after they shot them and killed them, they abused the bodies with shovels, with axes. They cut their heads, their hands. We have many bags that contains body parts here. We dont know if its part of bodies we already have here that are missing parts or new bodies. We dont know. Leila in a private screening with the Israeli Military of footage from hamas body cameras, cctv and victims phones found at the scene, the newshour witnessed a record of the horrors of october 7. Grenades thrown directly at families. A man being decapitated with a shovel from his garden. The tiny burned bodies of babies. The shadow behind his eyes shows he has seen much more. The problem is that these parts of the bodies did not survive. We cannot take fingerprints, dna from them. Leila more than 1400 people are confirmed dead. 222 are known to be held hostage in gaza. For the families of those still missing, their fates unknown, the weight is agony. She is a grandmother. Plastered on the wall outside her bedroom, pictures of her grandkids so that the last they are the last thing she sees at night and the first in the morning. That terrible morning, when hamas militants entered her home, they shot him in the leg and kidnapped him along with his wife, bathsheba, their 12yearold son, and their two daughters. They managed to escape through the fields. The others have not been heard from since. On one hand, i pray they are ok. On the other hand, i am afraid to know, but the not knowing is killing me. Esther cannot stand feeling so powerless, relatively safe here when she cannot do the same for her loved ones. I wake up in the morning and i asked myself, did he eat . Did they give him close to where . Clothes to wear . He was just in his pajama shirt. Are they beating him . We dont know anything. It is terrible. During the days, i can hold myself together. I dont want anybody to see me falling in my spirit that the nights, i am torn between hope and fear. Leila and so she waits, hoping for good news but preparing herself for the very worst. Like so many here, her nightmare is far from over. For the pbs newshour, in israel. Geoff it was back to business on capitol hill today. New House Speaker mike johnson spent his first full day meeting with the australian Prime Minister who is in town, and later president joe biden. Thats as major tests of johnsons leadership await. Congressional correspondent Lisa Desjardins is here to walk us through whats ahead. So lisa, speaker johnson has been on the job for one full day. He already faces a potential Government Shutdown in just three weeks paid what do we know three weeks. What do we know about what his speakership means for the chances of avoiding a Government Shutdown . Lisa there are early good signs that one can be avoided here. As you said, johnson did speak with President Biden in person at the white house. We will talk a little bit more about that later. The relationships so far are cordial. Lawmakers are trying to build relationships and so is he right now. Another big sign is that he knows that a stopgap or continuing resolution funding bill might be needed and he sent a memo out to republicans, a Dear Colleague letter yesterday. I want to highlight one part of the letter. He wrote, if indeed stopgap funding is needed, he would propose a measure that expires january 15 or april 15. In other words, the new speaker is getting behind the idea of a temporary funding bill which is not something that the rest of his conference has always backed by talking to republicans today, most of them do like this idea. They are worried something worse would happen. A giant omnibus bill at the end of this year. However, there are some still not on board that idea. If there is a shutdown issue, it would be with that group of people. We will watch it closely. Speaker johnson is trying to get past november 17. Geoff lets talk more about johnson and his policy stances. He is a staunch conservative and it is striking that his election as House Speaker is being celebrated by the people who helped oust kevin mccarthy. What more have you learned about his background . Lisa thats right. This is what conservatives love about him. He is hard right, a social conservative. He opposes abortion in almost every case. He opposes gay marriage. He opposes gender affirming care for kids. Those are things conservatives love but those are things that those on the left are very fearful of. They think that that is exclusive. When you look at his issue, where he is on guns, we wanted to look at that in light of what has happened in maine. It is a conservative stance that he is well known for. The nra has backed him, donated to him. He has received thousands of dollars in donations from the nra and other gun groups. He has opposed universal background checks and he has also opposed things like reauthorizing the violence against women act. That i want to talk about specifically. The reason he opposed that and some other conservatives is because it would have put more restrictions on those who are found guilty or accused of domestic violence, put more restrictions on the ability to use and carry guns and that is why speaker johnson voted against it so that is the kind of thing that the right likes, prosecond amendment, and the left says is going too far. Geoff the Upper Chamber has been working during what had been this prolonged period of House Republican dysfunction. What is the latest with this funding bill that links ukraine aid and aid for israel . Lets go through all of the funding requests that are out there. They are all important and they are very big. This is what President Biden has outlined. 61 billion for ukraine, for helping ukraine, as well as 14 billion for israel. 14 billion in addition for the southern border, and then in a separate request, this is new from laura yesterday, 56 billion for domestic needs and that includes disasters, fighting fentanyl, childcare, some other things for all told, it is 161 billion that the president is requesting. Talking to senators and senate leaders, they are behind the ukraine and israel money right now. They will keep those two things together. We will see some action as early as in committee there. Keeping that together, the ukraine money has a very longshot and it will be difficult in the house. One other factor. I want to talk about jeffries. How is he going to work with this man . He was asked about what he knows about mr. Johnson and heres what he said. I found him to be a capable adversary from the standpoint of the authentically held positions that he would articulate even when there was strong disagreement on our side of the aisle. But there were also opportunities where we were able to find Common Ground including on criminal Justice Reform. It is an interesting moment. That bipartisan agreement on criminal Justice Reform is an exception. Generally, speaker johnson has not worked with democrats, but there is hope right now and also concern. He has been an election denier. We have talked about that ended think we will talk about that more and it is a moment where both sides are testing and waiting to see what he is like as an untested speaker. He has not even been in congress that long. Geoff Lisa Desjardins, thank you so much. Amna new House Speaker mike johnson will soon face the same struggle that plagued his predecessor a narrow republican majority. And hes got to protect that majority in next years elections. But two redistricting updates could complicate that 2024 political landscape. North carolina has approved new congressional maps while a georgia judge has tossed out that states maps. For the details, im joined by mark niesse of the Atlanta Journalconstitution and rusty jacobs of wunc public radio. Gentlemen, welcome to you both. Lets start with georgia. Tell us why the plaintiffs in this lawsuit argued that it needed to be changed and tell us about the judges decision. Mark what happened was in georgia two years ago, georgias political maps were redrawn because of the census and even though black georgians gained about 500,000 people in population, they lost representation in congress, and so the u. S. District judge, steve jones, ruled today that that violated the Voting Rights act which is meant to protect black voter representation. Amna in that ruling, i will pull out just a piece of it. The judge wrote that the court reiterates that georgia has made Great Strides since 1965 towards equality in voting. However, the evidence before this court shows georgia has not reached the point where the political process has equal openness and equal opportunity for everyone, so they have until december 8 to draw a new map, i understand. What happens now and most importantly, what is the likely impact for democrats and republicans . What happens now is Governor Brian Kemp ordered a special session to begin november 29 of all of the georgia General Assembly will return to atlanta and vote on new maps to meet that december 8 deadline and the likely impact, if there is an Additional District where black voters make up a majority, because black voters overwhelmingly vote for democrats, it is possible and perhaps likely that democrats would gain a seat among georgias congressional delegation. Currently, georgia has nine republicans and five democrats in congress. Before redistricting, it was a eight republicans to democrats so six we might see a reversion to the previous way that georgia was divided politically. Amna could be a big change in a key state. Lets turn to North Carolina as well. This week, the North Carolina legislation approved new congressional maps. What changed on the map and what is the impact . Rusty the impact is pretty clear to anybody who looks at the map that was approved and that is you are going to go from a 77 split right now between democrats and republicans to at least a 104 advantage for republicans. Republicans in North Carolina have managed to do this year what they tried to do in 2021, drawing maps after the 2020 census numbers came in. In 2022, the democratic majority in the state Supreme Court at the time said republicans went too far. They drew maps, gerrymandered the districts with excessive partisanship. It was a landmark case but it only lasted a year until republicans flipped the state Supreme Court majority in last years midterms. We visited that partisan gerrymandering case and have found that courts should play no role in policing partisan gerrymandering that pretty much gave republican lawmakers the free reign they needed and they have maps that guarantee at least 10 congressional seats for 2024. Amna theres is a few democratic incumbents who are written off the map in this new landscape. One of them is unmanned name wiley nickel from the raleigh area. He posted his reaction to this on x using rather strong language. It is time to see them. Will they end up back in court . Rusty for sure. Echoing what the u. S. Supreme court said in this alabama case that looked at the idea that the Voting Rights act section two is alive and well and meant to preserve voting power of high concentrations of black communities, black voters. There are already claims that at least in a state senate map in North Carolina, state senate district, that black communities are being sliced and diced in a way that dilutes their voting power so there are definitely legal claims being formulated right now. Amna this is likely to be handed in the courts even though the democratic governor, there is no veto on this, right . Correct. That is a quirk of North Carolina. Roy cooper was a leading legislator at the time that they enacted the governors veto but they left out redistricting. Maps cannot be vetoed. Amna if this is where the judge has decided things are now, how likely is this to just continue to be appealed . Is there any precedent we have seen if it makes it up to the Supreme Court of how this might go . Mark it seems likely to me that it will be appealed but what we have seen from the u. S. Supreme court case that rusty just referenced involving redistricting in alabama, the Supreme Court let alabamas redistricting extend and in fact rejected appeals from alabama to try to not comply with court orders that would have changed alabamas maps so the Supreme Court has recently upheld the Voting Rights act. There will certainly be appeals. It isnt any guarantee that they would rule the same way in georges case but it is certainly possible. That is the recent history of the Supreme Court, that they have upheld the protections of the Voting Rights act that are meant to ensure black representation. Amna two key states. Georgia and North Carolina. Thank you to you both for joining us today. That is mark of the Atlanta Journal constitution and rusty jacobs. Thank you. Thank you. Geoff in the u. S. There are millions of outstanding arrest warrants the vast majority of which stem from lowlevel offenses, like Traffic Violations. As Christopher Booker reports, one group is reimagining how to clear these warrants and keep people out of jail. Christopher its a friday night in pontiac, michigan, a suburb north of detroit. Jazmine is helping her two youngest daughters with homework. Those are the notes he is supposed to turn in. She is a busy single mom of three who works parttime jobs in retail and manufacturing but she has bigger dreams. I want to go to Nursing School. That is all i keep thinking about is going to Nursing Schools. So i can better position myself or my daughters. Christopher Nursing School seems out of back in 2016, when she was speeding to be with her dying father. She received two tickets that night and her father died shortly after. With all of that going on, i completely forgot about all of the tickets. That is how i found out that those tickets had turned into warrants. Because she had failed to pay her previous tickets or contact the court, a warrant had been issued for her arrest. The officer let her go but did issue additional tickets which ended up becoming warrants. How often are you thinking about these warrants . Every day. Every day, all day. People assume folks are missing court because they are trying to evade justice or prosecution, but often times, theres things that are happening in peoples lives that are preventing them from showing up to court. Christopher will snowden says her situation is not unique. People often miss court for three reasons. One, they simply forget they have courts. Two, they dont have transportation to get to court. Three, they have childcare responsibilities that they are not able to get covered. Christopher what happens when someone misses court . It is very likely that a judge will issue a bench warrant. Essentially, when a person does not show up to court, the judge will order this warrant for that person to be picked up and arrested and brought to court so they can proceed with the case. When i think of going to the courthouse, i think of, you know, them just taking me and locking me up. Christopher what would be the potential outcome if you were to be arrested . I would lose my job and be taken away from my girls. That is what i am worried about the most. When we zoom out and look at the demographics of our prisons and jails across the country, we know there is an overrepresentation of black and brown people. We can see how people do not trust the criminal legal system to work for them when they show up and they want to explain their case, there is a reality that they are perceiving a higher likelihood that they will get punished more severely. Christopher therere efforts to disrupt this ongoing cycle. We believe community has the answers to what the new court system should look like because we are the ones who fall victim to it so much and all we did was say if Community Creates court for his self, what would it look like . It is the warrant clinic. Shout out to everybody who came. Here to take care of business. Christopher in partnership with black voters matter, the founder of growing real alternatives everywhere works with local judges and Community Grassroots organizations to run weekend warrant clinics held in the community. The atmosphere is far removed from a traditional courtroom. There is a dj, food, and limited Police Presence and also childcare and transportation for those who need it. Even Holding Court on a saturday gives a lot of folks more opportunity to do what they actually want to do. And that is take care of their matters and be productive citizens. Hello. Christopher the main draw was written right on the poster. No fear of arrest. Keeping your mom company . People are understanding this is not a sting operation. We are really lifting warrants so people can be outdated out there legally. Part of it is Building Back trust. They appeared before a plainclothes judge, cynthia walker. Most courtrooms have the judge sitting a little bit higher and i think there is more of a feeling of connection with a person sitting across from you. Tell me what your names are. Callie. Ok. Glad to have you here. Normally, children are more of a distraction to the parent so we encourage them not to bring their children, but the whole feel of this today, there was a young woman who had her two daughters with her and she said she wanted them to see the process. It is an educational opportunity. I want them to know that where i am sitting, they can be. I may be a judge but i am a person just like them. Christopher outside, a sevenyearold and his sister colored with a volunteer while their mother spoke with judge walker inside. The beginning of the month. That is rent, everything. Christopher the 35yearold has had warrants hanging over her for nearly two decades, beginning with a Traffic Violation when she was 16, but she says the fear of being arrested and separated from her five children, two of whom have special needs, kept her out of the courtroom. A lot of people who have warrants are the head of households. Even when we want to take accountability, life does not allow us to because we are responsible for our kids, family members, households. Christopher this is where a second trip to the warrant clinic she struggled since her last visit and her tickets went back into warrant status. This represent one of the limitations of the clinic. They can get people at the door but they are still at the mercy of the legal system. You might be able to sting to extinguish your warrant but these fees can still hang over your head. If you did not have the money to begin with to pay the fines and fees, how are we expected people to come up with the money now after these clinics . That was easy. Thank you. I was scared. The warrant clinics have been a source of hope for her. I have been running from this or hiding from this, wanting to take care of it, and all of a sudden, it is a gift box with a bow. Come fix it right now. Thank you. Christopher after her turn with judge walker, she had a similar response. How are you feeling right now . Great. Ready to go dance. In just five hours, this clinic helped more than 200 people and lifted 160 warrants. A good day for the advocates here but hardly a dent in this nationwide problem. Millions of Americans Still live under the threat of warrants. For the pbs newshour, Christopher Booker in pontiac, michigan. Amna we turn now to a story about art and love. Rhode island pbs weekly reporter pamela watts introduces us to a massachusetts artist whose work took a dramatic turn when she says her husband began to lose himself to alzheimers disease. As part of our arts and culture series canvas. Art is essential for my life and i and visual. Pamela for sarah, being able to express herself through her art took on a whole new meaning more than a decade ago. My husband was the love of my life probably about 12 years ago. He drove home in a snowstorm and forgot where he was going and he called his doctor the next day and said that this was not usual. He was worried about his memory. And at that time, he had mild Cognitive Impairment and they said not to worry. He was still fine for a long time after that. Pamela holbrook specialized in watercolors but was curious about photography and enrolled in a class. I fell in love with photography and then it was crucl when my husband was ill because i do not have time to paint. That takes a lot of time and concentration. If he took a nap or something, i could do my art in stages which was important. I would take a background photo and then i would take a photograph of myself. I had to be dressed as i needed to be for the photograph and i had to be in the right position and that was always a little difficult how figure out how to do that but it works and then i put it on the computer and scaled it down and then printed it out and then i cut it out and pasted it onto the background photo. Then i rephotographed it. That was my process. Pamela a process that turned out to be a mirror image of what she experienced. I entitled my work 99 problems because that also reflects what i was dealing with as a caregiver for somebody with alzheimers. As somebody is trapped and could not get out. As a spouse, you are stuck. The hardest part for me was not getting any sleep. I was always on alert because he would wake up in the middle of the night and leave the house so i had to be ready to try to persuade him to come back or i would have to follow him outside and walk around and call the police sometimes if i could not persuade him to come back. The police knew him pretty well. How i dealt with it on the worst days was by knowing that i loved him, that he was a worthy human being even if i was frustrated. Pamela she says humor often eased her frustration. You dont know whether to laugh or cry when you look at my work but you get it. This is cauldrons this is called the rinse cycle. It was a very bad day. It just shows intense frustration. We both loved paris. That was my place for shooting with my camera. I just felt so alive there in october. 2019, i was Walking Around paris with foster. I have been taking photographs and i saw some people gathering, carrying these lifesized cutouts of people and i was just fascinated. I wanted to take a photograph. It wasnt long at all but i turned around and he was gone and after one hour of looking, i came back to the hotel and foster was there with this lovely young man and the man said that he was a researcher in alzheimers and foster found him in the whole city of paris, went up to him and asked for help. Honestly amazing. I kept him far longer than anybody said that i should have, you know, at home, because i loved him. Putting him somewhere just did not seem right but eventually, i had to do it. We were really close to one another, you know . Even when he was in memory care. We had fun. I danced with him when i would go in. Still very intimate. Pamela foster passed away in april of 2023, but memories of him still live on in sarah holbrooks art. My understanding of alzheimers is that it is really a different process for everybody but it is usually very frustrating for the caregiver. It is just your favorite person has become somebody else basically and that is very hard to digest. If you are an artist, you are driven to do something artistic. It gave me a way to express how frustrated i was, and somehow, that relieved the frustration. Art is terrific that way. Pamela she says she finds some comfort in knowing her art has helped other people in the same situation. Even though they did not do the art, for me, it was a joy to do the yard. The art. People looking at it feel that it gives them license tone that frustration as well. I hope my art shows the love i have for my husband but also shows that it is the hardest thing i had to do with my life. It was a long journey to be with someone with alzheimers because this is really a strange one. When peoples minds go, it is difficult. I have just been coping. I dont know how i am doing. Its just going to take time. I will deal with it at some point and be on another project. Pamela for the pbs newshour, i am pamela watts in providence, rhode island. Amna what an incredible love story. That is the newshour for tonight. Geoff thank you for joining us. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions, and friends of the newshour including leonard and norma, and patricia ewing. Consumer cellular. This is sam, how may i help you tomorrow this is a pocket somebodys pocket, i thought i would let you know that with consumer cellular, you get nationwide coverage with no contract. That is kind of our thing. Have a nice day. It was like an aha moment. This is what i love doing. Earlystage companies have this energy that energizes me. These are people who are trying to change the world. When i volunteer with women entrepreneurs, it is the same thing. I am helping people reach their dreams. Im thriving by helping others every day. People who know, know bdo. The ford foundation, working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. And with the ongoing support of these institutions. And friends of the newshour. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. This is pbs newshour west from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter ron kind school of journalism at Arizona State university Walter Cronkite school of journalism at Arizona State university. Wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. Its to die for. Now you wont miss a thing this is the way. The xfinity 10g network. Made for streaming. Cooks country is about more than just getting dinner on the table. Were also fascinated by the people and stories behind the dishes. We go inside kitchens in every corner of the country