wow, you get to watch all your favorite stuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. ♪ amna: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. geoff bennet is away. on the “newshour” tonight, israeli forces continue to advance and search a major hospital in gaza, and calls for a ceasefire intensify in the united states. we speak to secretary of state antony blinken. sec. blinken: we are determined to do everything we can to ensure that israel does everything it can to minimize harm to men, women, and children -- innocent men, women, and children. amna: election workers face

threats of violence amid dangerous political rhetoric and questions about the future of american democracy. and, new reporting shows russian oil continuing to reach the u.s. market through a loophole in the embargo. ♪ >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by. >> consumer cellular, this is sam. how may i help you? this is pocket dial. well, somebody's pocket, thought i'd let you know that with consumer cellular, you get nationwide coverage with no contract. that's kind of our thing. have a nice day. >> the kendeda fund, committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. 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 from viewers like you. thank you. amna: welcome to the "newshour." communications with gaza are mostly cut off tonight because of a lack of fuel to power the system there.

israel is pressing its invasion in the north, and today the israel defense forces discovered the body of one of the 240 hostages held by hamas. her remains were found near al-shifa hospital, the main medical center in northern gaza. parts of it are now controlled by the idf. leila molana-allen reports. leila: in southern gaza, thousands of palestinians crowd tent cities after fleeing their homes in the north. now, they fear they'll have to leave again. >> today in their leaflets they are telling us to evacuate the south. leila: early today, the idf dropped leaflets over the southern city of khan younis warning residents to get out. but many, like the abu jabal family, don't know where to go. >> they asked us, the citizens of gaza, to go to the south. we went to the south. now they are asking us to leave.

where do we go? we want to understand where exactly we should go? leila: in northern gaza, idf forces stormed al-shifa hospital for a second day, searching for signs of hamas. >> we found a vehicle, filled with ammunition. leila: today, the idf released another video of weapons they say were found in a car in the hospital compound. and this video of what they claim is the entrance to a tunnel in the hospital complex. but have not shown evidence of their claim that hamas runs a command center underneath al-shifa. gaza's hamas-run health ministry denies the claims and alleges idf forces have shelled hospital rooms. doctors inside the hospital say life-saving medical devices have been destroyed. >> msf is deeply shocked by what's happened at shifa, the raids with no guarantee of protection of civilians and medical staff and patients inside that hospital complex. leila: dr. natalie thurtle is the deputy medical coordinator for international ngo doctors without borders in jerusalem.

msf also denies israel's claims of a hamas command center. >> we've worked in shifa for many years. we've never seen anything. and that has indicated that that is the case. and regardless of the perception that that may be the case, that doesn't absolve anybody of the responsibility to protect civilians and patients and medical staff. leila: with the power cut-off, dozens of premature babies don't have working incubators. six have reportedly died. hundreds of patients and thousands of displaced civilians remain trapped inside the hospital grounds, under siege for a week now. msf also has over 100 staff and their family members taking shelter in the vicinity. >> they've run out of food and water and we've got children here who are really quite sick. every time that we've tried to evacuate them, despite assurances that there is a safe

path to the south, they've been faced with drones firing outside the door, crossfire and shelling ongoing. and so they haven't been able to move. leila: there is no end in sight to israel's invasion, which it says will eventually expand south. with no fuel, gaza's phone and internet lines are dark again today. voiceless, gazans bury their endless stream of dead. and pray, with little hope left, for those still living. for the "pbs newshour," i'm leila molana-allen. amna: and leila joins me now, here in the studio. it is so good to say good to see you in person. you have been covering this more every day since it began. just pull back the curtain a little bit and tell us what that has been like, the experience of reporting on this as a journalist. leila: the first thing to say is war is horrific anywhere and i have covered many conflicts over the last 15 years.

but this one is in such a small space. to begin with, the number of people killed on october 7 in the hamas attacks, everybody in this country of 10 million people knows someone. it is such an incredibly small landmass inside gaza. inside a place of the size of rhode island you have nearly 2 million civilians living there. there is also the difficulty of access with this war. we were based in israel, going across israeli territory, but not inside gaza. whenever there is a war every couple of years disclosed, and then journalists can go in. but it has been six weeks and there is no sign we can properly go in anytime soon. when we can enter, it is with the israel defense forces and they controlled what we see. we cannot speak to gazans no matter how close we are to them. we can only see what we are able to see with the army. of course our colleagues covering gaza are palestinian journalists themselves. 37 have died already in six weeks, the most deadly period

for journalists. they are giving their lives. amna: you have heard now, president biden is now saying the only way out of this will be a two-state solution. what do you see? do you see any room for that happening? leila: this has been the idea for years but there has been no movement on a peace process at all since around 2005, 2007. that was the last time we really saw conversations. the first question is, where would it be? the landmass available to palestinians now is the west bank, and we have that huge issue with settlers who are increasingly becoming violent against palestinian villagers there. i saw hundreds of people forcibly displaced by their land, sometimes actually being killed. 7000 settlers building on land they are not supposed to build, supported increasingly by the government and the israeli army, which many international ngo's say is a war crime if the government is sponsoring it. then you have gaza, which would

theoretically be at least the economic capital of a state because everyone there is the most highly educated, it is the wealthiest part in terms of being a port. gaza is gone. half of their housing units is gone. it has been completely leveled. so where would this even take place? amna: from the beginning of this war there is a concern it could broaden and spread in the region. you have reported from across the region for years. is that concern still there? leila: it is but much less than it was at the beginning. iran stepped forward and said to hamas officials, we did not know this would happen, we did not do this in coordination. so while they have been sponsoring hamas, it is not the same as a fully staged attack. it is the same with hezbollah in lebanon. they are not escalating up to a full-scale war, and they have their own interests to defend witches they are in a powerful political position and they don't want to be seen as complacent and getting a lot of lebanese killed.

what is more of a question here is what happens to palestinians. we are seeing scenes that remind everybody of the catastrophe, what palestinians and the arab world call mighty 48 when palestinians were forcibly moved from their land and never allowed to come back. these cues of people we are seeing in south gaza. so where do people go? either they are trapped in a kyl box, or there is a humanitarian corridor into egypt, will they ever be allowed to come back. 1.5 million palestinian refugees already living across the region. how many more? amna: we know you will be back out reporting very soon. but for now it is great to have you back in the studio here with us. and now to my interview with u.s. secretary of state antony blinken. he is in san francisco at the apec summit of asian economies, hosted by president biden. i spoke with the secretary a short time ago. mr. secretary, welcome back. sec. blinken: good to be with

you. amna: one of the key agreements to come from the meeting between president biden an president xi was a pledge by china to curb fentanyl. we know they have made that pledge before. fentanyl deaths in the u.s. have only increased every year since then. so why do you believe they will act on that pledge now when they have not before? sec. blinken: well, first, amna, i don't know what's so important about the meeting yesterday is it advanced in very concrete ways really, two things that we're trying to drive out in this relationship with china. we've got an intense competition with china. we want to make sure it doesn't veer into conflict. and at the same time, where we can find places to cooperate that really advance the interests of the american people, we're going to do that. when it comes to avoiding conflict, we've had a series of near-misses with chinese planes, chinese boats coming dangerously

close to our own. we hadn't had military to military contact between our two countries in well over a year. we re-established that both at the highest levels and also at the operational level. that's an important way to avoid any mistakes and miscalculations that could lead to conflict. second, when it comes to advancing the interest of the american people, which you just alluded to, the fact that the number one killer of americans aged 18 to 49, not guns, not two car accidents, not cancer, fentanyl. what we know is that in recent years, the chemical precursors, the ingredients that go into making fentanyl are manufactured in china and then sent to our own hemisphere where it's turned into phenol, comes into our country and devastates our communities. amna: and so what leads you to believe that -- sec. blinken: so, two things. one is they have put out a public notice to all of their companies that engaging in this practice is forbidden. but beyond that, they've taken concrete action. going against -- we gave them a list of companies that we know to be engaged in this trafficking of chemical precursors, and they've actually taken action to disband these companies. that is very important and it's, i think, a good demonstration of their seriousness.

beyond that, though, we've set up a group between our two countries to monitor this going forward to make sure that this continues. and as we and others get information about any companies involved, we expect based on what they have said and based on what they've done, that china will take action. and by the way, this is something that i think china understands is important, that it be seen as playing a leading and productive role in dealing with the fentanyl crisis. because it's not only affecting us, it's affecting increasingly countries around the world. we are the canary in the coal mine for fentanyl, but we have synthetic opioids in asia, we have them in europe, and china needs to be seen, it wants to be seen as a responsible actor. amna: i'd like to ask you as well about israel's war in gaza. as you know, israel showed what they said was evidence that al-shifa hospital was and is a hamas command center. they released these produced videos that show guns and ammunition and a laptop that they said they found inside. human rights watch has said the israeli evidence so far is what they call insufficient to show that it was a command center, to

revoke sheba's protection. so there is a lot of skepticism around this raid. why not share more evidence of what you have seen that convinces you this was a command center? sec. blinken: well, two things. first, if someone can explain why there are assault rifles next to mri machines, that would be good to know. amna: but is that your definition of a command center, the presence of weapons? sec. blinken: no. but second, with regard to command centers, we ourselves have information that that's exactly what hamas is doing. and this is an ongoing operation. and i fully expect that as the operation is completed, israel will show more evidence of what hamas was doing in these hospitals, or under these hospitals, because that's where the tunnels are. what we know across the board is that hamas embeds itself in civilian infrastructure, in and under apartment buildings, in and under hospitals, in and under schools. and it uses people as human shields. there's been a horrific loss of life in gaza.

and we have to ask ourselves what we would have done in the same situation. imagine if terrorists had come across our border on october 7, slaughtered proportionately 40,000 americans, and then retreated and were hiding themselves amongst civilians in all of the civilian infrastructure. what would we have done? at the same time, israel has an absolute obligation to do everything possible to avoid harming civilians. and as you know, they've opened up corridors so that people could get out of harm's way. more than a million people have left gaza city. they have put in place some limited pauses to to facilitate that. they brought in assistance to the hospitals themselves, but they can, they must do even more. and this is something that we're on constantly. amna: to your point, to your point on the loss of lives, the u.s. equivalent of the gaza, the loss of life would be over one

and a half million people. and as you have noted, watching that death toll rise, if you said watching children pulled from the rubble, that that guts you every time. americans are increasingly feeling that way, too. i just want to put to you our latest poll numbers from this week. when people were asked about their response, israel's response to the hamas attacks, 38%, said the israeli response has been, quote, about right, but 38% also said the israeli response has been too much, and that number is up 12% from -- 12 points, rather, from just a month ago. so i wonder what you would say to americans who are increasingly uncomfortable with israel's conduct in the war and u.s. support of it? sec. blinken: look, i think so many of us feel the same way. this is incredibly gut-wrenching and it's heartbreaking. but we also have to ask ourselves, what would we do, and what would any country do when faced with this terrorist organization that has slaughtered its people and then said very clearly that it intended to do it again and

again and again if given the ability to do that, the capacity and the ability to do that. and that's the problem that israel has to deal with. it's a problem that any of us have to deal with. the other thing is, you know, i don't hear the hue and cry for hamas to respect international humanitarian law, for hamas to maybe get out of the buildings, to get out of the hospitals, to get out of the schools so that civilians aren't endangered. for hamas to surrender, that would protect palestinian civilians immediately. i'm not hearing anyone say that. the dilemma for any country in this situation is what to do to make sure that not only are you defending your people, but you're trying to make sure that this can't happen again. amna: that is the u.s. secretary of state, antony blinken, joining us tonight. mr. secretary, thank you. good to see you. sec. blinken: good to see you, too. thanks. ♪

amna: in the day's other news, the house ethics committee reported there's overwhelming evidence that congressman george santos broke the law. the panel said the new york republican used campaign funds for expensive hotels and spas, and lied on financial reports. it said, quote, santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his house candidacy for financial profit. in turn, santos announced he won't seek re-election, but he could still be expelled from congress. he also faces federal criminal charges. a federal jury in san francisco convicted a man of assaulting paul pelosi, the husband of former house speaker nancy pelosi. david depape was also found guilty of trying to kidnap the former speaker. federal prosecutors welcomed the jury's decision. >> what this guilty verdict on all counts sends is a clear message that regardless of what your beliefs are, what you

cannot do is physically attack a member of congress or their immediate family for their performance in their job. amna: depape admitted breaking into the pelosi home last year. she wasn't there, but he attacked paul pelosi with a hammer. he could get up to 50 years in federal prison and is also charged with state crimes. an appeals court judge in new york state has set aside a gag order against former president trump, for now. the order barred him from speaking publicly about court staffers in his civil fraud trial. the judge today cited free speech concerns and lifted the gag order while the appeals process continues. the united nations' top court ordered syria today to stop torturing its people. it came in a case filed by the netherlands and canada against damascus. the order said the regime must, quote, take all measures to prevent acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman. or degrading treatment or punishment. there's no word on whether the syrians will comply.

kenya's high court has again blocked the deployment of police to haiti to quell gang violence. the court acted today, hours after kenya's parliament approved sending 1000 officers. just yesterday, a heavily armed gang took hostages at a hospital in haiti's capital of port-au-prince. police freed them, but activists said this shows just how bad things are. >> today, the country is controlled by gangs. and the gangs have links with the authorities. the biggest problem right now in haiti is the absence of government and rule of law, and also all key state institutions have collapsed, even the police. amna: if kenyan police do go to haiti they would lead a multinational force. deaths from measles jumped more than 40% last year to 146,000. most of the victims were children and the world health organization in the cdc lane a sharp drop in vaccinations during the pandemic. most of the large outbreaks were

in africa or the eastern mediterranean. back in this country, members of the united auto workers have ratified a new contract general motors, but it was closer than expected. the union announced the agreement won just under 55% of the vote. voting is still ongoing at ford and stellantis. meantime, starbucks employees today staged what might be their biggest reiki. organizers said the one day walkout targeted more than 200 starbucks locations nationwide. the strike is part of a two-year effort to unionize the chain. for the first time since 2005, a major league baseball team is pulling up stakes. baseball owners today unanimously approved the oakland athletics move to las vegas. e-sports commissioner rob manfred said the team tried for years to find a site and financing for a new stadium in the bay area. >> i know this is a terrible day for fans in oakland.

that is, i understand that and that's why we've always had a policy of doing everything humanly possible to avoid a relocation, and i truly believe we did that in this case. amna: the a's plan to begin play, in a new stadium on the las vegas strip, in 2028. congress has left washington for its thanksgiving recess, after ensuring the government won't shut down this weekend. the senate gave final approval to a temporary funding package last night. it keeps spending at current levels into january for some agencies and into february for others. and on wall street, stocks drifted to fractional gains and losses. the dow jones industrial average was down 45 points to close at 34,945. the nasdaq rose nine points. the s&p 500 added five. still to come on the "newshour," new reporting shows russian oil continues to reach the u.s. market through a loophole in the embargo. a new book details the lies

pushed by fox to maintain the network's brand. comedian keegan michael key and his wife elle discuss the history of sketch comedy. plus much more. >> 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: over the last two months, hundreds of thousands of americans have come together in both pro-israel and pro-palestinian rallies and vigils. the vast majority have been peaceful. but some have turned violent or included antisemitic and islamophobic threats. laura barron-lopez reports. laura: last night, protesters calling for a ceasefire in gaza and police clashed outside the democratic national committee headquarters in washington, d.c. lawmakers, including top house democrats, were evacuated from a fundraiser after protestors blocked exits to the building.

according to u.s. capitol police, one person was arrested for assaulting a police officer and six officers were injured. yesterday, law enforcement said on social media that 150 people were, quote, illegally and violently protesting. but rally goers, led by a coalition of groups including jewish voice for peace action and if-not-now movement, another american jewish organization, say police initiated the confrontation. >> we were met with police officers pulling people, including folks that i was alongside with, down the stairs, met with pepper spray to the face, met with actions that led to concussion. laura: last night's demonstration is the latest in a series of mostly peaceful pro-palestinian and pro-israeli rallies that have rippled across the country since hamas killed some 1200 israelis on october 7. on tuesday, tens of thousands gathered on the national mall to

show support for israel and condemn anti-semitism. >> it's just really important to show that we are standing together. we are remaining strong despite any threats. laura: israel's president addressed attendees through a video link. >> as president of the state of israel, i vow to you from jerusalem, that we will heal. we will rise again, and we will rebuild. laura: the rally was intended to bridge political and religious divides, with leaders from both parties and different faiths addressing the crowds. >> we pray for the people of israel and the leaders of israel. laura: but the inclusion of controversial televangelist, john hagee, drew criticism. hagee says he supports israel, but he also has a record of anti-semitic statements. >> then god sent a hunter. a hunter is someone who comes

with a gun, and he forces you. hitler was a hunter. and the bible said jeremiah writing, they shall hunt them. laura: earlier this month, large pro-palestinian crowds rallied outside the white house, calling for an immediate ceasefire. >> people are getting killed every minute. which is a very sad thing to see humans die. with no wrong that they're doing. it's just that they happen to live where the missile hits. laura: and yesterday, at columbia university, hundreds of students and faculty protested an administration decision to suspend two pro-palestinian student groups through the end of the semester. >> the university should be taking a stance to protect speech and protect the right of faculty and students to address these issues in an open and frank way. laura: the university said it suspended the groups after they violated university policies relating to campus events, including threatening rhetoric. while most rallies have not been violent, a november 5 protest in a los angeles suburb turned deadly.

paul kessler, a 69-year-old jewish man, died after an altercation with a pro-palestinian protester, according to california authorities. the ventura county sheriff's office today announced the arrest of a suspect in connection with kessler's death. for the "pbs newshour," i'm laura barron-lopez. ♪ amna: election officials across this country have been under attack since 2020, falsely accused of conspiring to steal or rig the last presidential election. this barrage has caused over 1-in-10 to say they are very or somewhat likely to leave their job before the 2024 election, that's according to the brennan center, which tracks this issue. william brangham has more on these attacks, and what they mean for our democracy. william: that's right, amna. these attacks have stepped up to a dangerous degree in recent weeks, with election officials in five states receiving letters

containing a white powder that in some cases was found to be the deadly drug fentanyl. we spoke to two officials who received these mailings. mary hall, who's the auditor in thurston county, washington, and in oregon, dena dawson, who's the clerk of lane county. >> those of us that were in contact with the suspicious piece of mail were advised to go home and bag our clothing and shower and leave our clothes in a bag outside and wait for further instructions from either hazmat or the fbi. and so, that was our day. >> i used to be very proud of my position and telling people what i did for a living. and i don't do that anymore because you never know what reaction you're going to receive from the people on the other end. william: so what do these threats mean for the future? david becker is the executive director of the center for election innovation and research.

david becker, great to have you back. as someone who spends his job trying to make elections smarter and smoother and more accurate, what do you make of all of these offices receiving fentanyl-laced letters? david: sadly, these kind of threats and harassment have been going on now for over three years since the 2020 election. this is just a new tactic, that the efforts to terrorize these public servants -- and let's be sure as we see these clerks talking about it, these are not jobs that people go into for fame and fortune. they are giving us all our voices in democracy and they work very long hours all the time. they don't just wake up on monday before an election. for them to be subjected to constant abuse -- and it has been constant. my network runs a network to help advise election officials who need assistance in this

environment and i can tell you we have seen as many requests for assistance now three years after the election as we did when it was first established over two years ago. william: wow. we should say in addition to the mailings the doj has charged at least a dozen other people for making violent threats towards election workers. do you believe that these threats are a result of this constant barrage of lies and misinformation about the 2020 election? david: there is no question it is largely due to the disinformation, the lies, the incitement that has gone on from candidates who may have lost that election come others seeking to graft and raise money off of lies about the election. there are tens of millions of good americans who work sincerely disappointed in the outcome. they are not insurrectionists. they are people who just prefer the candidate who lost. unfortunately we are seeing they are the target for these lies and information. they are the people who will be angry, contribute and donate to

people who continue to feed than these lies about the election, and election fi all measurements was the most secure and verified election in history. more paper ballots that we have ever seen before, more audits confirming the ballots, more pre-election litigation confirming and clarifying the rules, and more postelection litigation confirming the results. we are over three years from the election and there has still not been a shred of evidence that would indicate any problem. william: amna mention earlier the number of elections officials who are saying in the face of all of this, they are thinking about getting out of this line of work. how concerned are you about our ability to have a well-trained, nonpartisan group of people to run the next election? david: the pressure placed on these public servants is more than we should expect anyone to have to endure. i think after that 2020 election

when election officials somehow with all of that scrutiny and abuse, with the lies being spread and with the global pandemic, somehow managed 20 million more voters than we have ever seen in american history. it is one of the greatest triumphs of the american democratic process we have ever seen. we should have been giving them a parade. instead they have been subject to constant harassment. even then, some have to leave. we have seen in 2021, 2022, and 2023, these election officials do what they have always done. they step up and give us all our boys. william: how do we go about countering this? we did see some election deniers lose their elections, but the former president continues his misinformation about his loss. the wall street journal recently reported meta is going to allow advertisements to run on their social media networks to carry ads that raise questions about 2020. how do we go about doubting all

of this down? david: first we have to understand there is not going to be a magic wand. they will not be a flip of the switch. the damage has been significant and will take decades to fix. there are tens of millions of people who believe that the election was stolen and we cannot have that sustainable as a democracy. that said i think we are beginning to see some things changing for the better and i think that largely comes from accountability. there are people at the top who have been intentionally spreading lies and profited off the lies, who seek to retain power and influence because of the lies. some of this are being brought to justice. even professionally in disbarment seedings. if we keep saying this we may be able to reset the incentive structure where those who would seek to continue to target a population of people who supported the leasing candidate,

target them so that they can get rich, maybe we can create an incentive structure were no longer they benefit from that. william: david becker, great to see you again. thank you. ♪ amna: after russia's invasion of ukraine, the u.s. and european allies have banned the import of russian oil and natural gas. but a new report reveals that hundreds of millions of dollars worth of fuel in part made from russian crude is still ending up in american gas tanks. nick schifrin and producer teresa cebrian report on a new investigation released today by the organization global witness. nick: a ship full of ill-gotten gains. it arrived carrying more than

500,000 barrels of fuel made in part by russian crude oil. it turns out u.s. imports are helping fuel russia's war machine. >> for the first nine months of 2023, that crude oil was worth to the kremlin at least $180 million. nick: an international ngo that tracks russian crude oil and is today exposing their value to moscow. >> it is enough for 105 caliber cruise missiles. 8600 of the drones attacking kyiv. it is a lot of money. nick: the story begins in siberia which holds the majority of russia's oil reserves. russia produces 9.6 million barrels of crude oil per day. it's single most important source of revenue. and it sells the oil to countries outside the u.s. and european union including china, the united arab emirates, turkey

and india, home to the world's largest oil refinery, the sprawling jamnagar refining complex. before the war in ukraine, jamnagar imported almost no russian crude. today, global witness found about one third of its monthly crude imports, are russian. at jamnagar, the russian crude is blended with other foreign crude, and refined into gasoline, diesel, and other products that can be legally bought by american companies. it's then shipped with vessels like the balzani through the red sea, into the suez canal, the mediterranean and atlantic ocean, and, in this case, into new york's upper bay. >> after the invasion of ukraine, the u.s. banned the direct import of russian oil. however, other countries that then started buying that oil can legally refine it and sell it to the u.s. that's the refining loophole, and that's what we're trying to change. nick: global witness found between january and september this year, the u.s. imported 30 million barrels of fuel from refineries running on russian oil.

in total, that crude arrived in at least 13 cities in seven states. among the companies importing that oil, bp, sunoco, and shell. >> american companies are still linked to this revenue chain funneling money back to the kremlin. nick: this is relatively a drop in the bucket for russian exports and revenue and a drop in the bucket for american consumption. so why is this important? >> it doesn't make any sense to support ukraine and the ukrainian people the way we have on the one hand, and also allow this revenue flow to continue. >> we never anticipated this type of circumvention. nick: texas democrat lloyd doggett helped write the original legislation that banned russian oil and natural gas from being imported into the u.s. yesterday, he introduced the ending importation of laundered russian oil act designed to close the loophole. all products that were produced at any refinery that uses crude oil originating in the russian federation shall be banned from importation into the united states.

>> we're simply saying don't accept refined products here in the united states from oil that is russian, that has been refined in a third country. america led on this last year and we need to lead on it again and try to close these loopholes and deny russians any dollars that could go out there and be used for more attacks on ukraine. nick: but what the u.s. hasn't tried to do - close off all russian oil. that would increase american gas prices. >> a price cap on russia oil is one of the most powerful tools. nick: instead, the leading industrialized countries have tried to limit russia's oil revenue with a $60 a barrel cap on oil sold with western shipping or insurance. but russia has found ways around the price cap. in october, it sold oil on average for more than $80 a barrel, and its total oil export revenues were $18.34 billion, among the highest since july 2022.

that's in part thanks to russia's shadow fleet. >> russia built up its shadow fleet and moved away from the reliance on the g7 countries' insurance and ship providers. that makes the implementation of the world price cap very challenging. nick: elina ribakova is a senior fellow at the peterson institute for international economics. she says the price cap was originally a success, but now russia is circumventing it, thanks to that shadowfleet, and weak western enforcement. last month and today, the u.s. has sanctioned five shipping companies for transporting oil sold above the cap. and this week sent notices to 100 vessels suspected of violating sanctions. but otherwise, it has failed to enforce its own rules, says ribakova, who advocates for stronger punishment. >> we do need to think about the bold measures. and we have put forward secondary sanctions saying that,

look, if an indian company is circumventing sanctions, we're going to use sanctions on you. so basically, it's taking the legal system of the u.s., but applying it beyond the borders of the united states. >> i believe that we do need to do more. we need to be looking at all countries that are not participating in the price caps and are doing other things to assist the russians on oil. nick: but doggett is the chair of the house india caucus, and argues punishing india, might threaten other u.s. policy, especially toward china. >> the modest action that i propose in this legislation, i think can be done without unsettling our relationship with india. going much further with full secondary sanctions could present a problem, and it will take some time and some diplomacy to hopefully get more cooperation from the indians. nick: in the meantime, global witness' exposure, and the closing of the loophole, could be small first steps to get russian fuel out of american gas tanks. for the "pbs newshour," i'm nick schifrin. ♪

amna: after decades at the helm of news corp, rupert murdoch officially stepped aside this week, taking on the new role of chairman emeritus. what does this leadership change mean for the future of a network so deeply tied to and influential within the republican party? brian stelter is the author of the new book "network of lies, the epic saga of fox news, donald trump, and the battle for american democracy." he's also a special correspondent for vanity fair. welcome back to the "newshour." brian: great to be here. amna: so let's talk about this change the leadership change. what does it mean for the company? brian: well, it is, in effect rupert murdoch, giving his final wishes, presenting his plan for the future when he was longer with us, he wants his son lachlan, his eldest son to run the company's news corps and fox corp. i think he also wants them to recombine at some point and get remerged. he is presenting this plan in public, and rupert says he wants to remain active and involved.

he's gonna say that again, possibly on friday when this takes effect at fox corporation, but it is an end of an era. it's the closest thing to him ever retiring. amna: do the father and son have vastly different views when it comes to what the role of fox in particular should be? brian: not politically. laughlin is conservative. he doesn't like donald trump. but he doesn't hate donald trump the way rupert reportedly does, rupert detests trump. he's much more of a businessman he wants the trains run on time that proverbial, saying he wants to minimize headaches and maximize profits. and so what that might mean is that might mean a lack of oversight of fox news, but we just don't know what 2024 really holds. amna: well, we know the role that fox played in spreading the lie of the stolen election in 2020. on that point, you write this in the book. you say rupert and lachlan murdoch let it happen. if father and son have regrets, they have not expressed any publicly. was there any kind of internal reckoning after that, and after the lawsuit that resulted from that and the $787 million they had to pay? brian: it was an incredible case and it is not the only one.

there are numerous defamation lawsuits by individuals and their shareholder lawsuits. i have only seen tinkering around the edges at fox. no major overall. one of the biggest dismissal -- changes was the dismissal of several staffers calling the election correctly in 2020. amna: you mentioned laughlin is more of a business focus guy. was the firing of tucker carlson more of a moral decision or a business one? brian: entirely a business decision, but there were many reasons to do it. tucker carlson was hurting the company's bottom line because advertisers were not attracted to him. he was throwing conspiracy theories on the air, causing the network to be sued. there were lots and lots of reasons to cancel the show, and what's happened in the six months since is fox has drawn that audience back. fox remains the beating heart of the gop, which i think is why it deserves study and scrutiny. amna: it was that dominion lawsuit that ended up sharing so many of those internal messages we learned so much about the company. you write about it and share so

many of them in the book. and there's one exchange when their white house correspondent jackie heinrich tweets an accurate report about there being no evidence of voter fraud. primetime hosts tucker carlson and sean hannity in private messages say she should be fired. they complained to executives, and you write this -- executive producer robert samuel responded that it's amazing how many fox staffers seem to hate the audience. you don't have to love trump, he wrote, but you have to respect the audience. what did you take away from that? brian: it's the most orwellian phrase, respect the audience. what they really mean is we don't want to tick the audience off. we want to tell them anything they don't want to hear. we don't want to discomfort them or upset them with the truth. the truth in 2020 was that biden was the next president. but fox whisper the truth and shouted the lie. instead, they gave false hope about a second trump term, and i think, believe something. i think we can say for sure that some people bought tickets to fly to washington on january 6 because of all that nonsense they were heard on television. so when you have these fox producers, executives, sean hannity as well, saying, we need to respect the audience, what they really meant was we're

going to respect the audience because we're gonna hide the truth from them. and i think it's you know, one of the silver linings here is that least these emails and texts had become public. at least there is a public record, so we know what these hosts and producers were really thinking. amna: what do we know now about the relationship between fox and the current front runner for the gop presidential nomination, donald trump? brian: in some ways, this is a broken marriage. it's a sort of like a divorce, where they're sharing custody of a shared base, of a shared audience. you know both fox and trump, they're talking to the same constituents, talking to the same people, firing up the same base. but trump is not happy with what he sees on fox. he'll never be happy. he will never be happy with any media coverage. he always wants more sycophantic media coverage. and so he often rails about fox on his truth social. but at the end of the day in a general election, if he's the nominee, he'll come home. he always does. amna: when you step back and look at how we today, journalist today, are covering this election, do you feel like we

have learned lessons from the past? brian: i think your segment earlier this week about autocratic behavior, about the language trump is using is really important. we need to see that all across the american media, including in the right wing media, and that's where i doubt we're actually gonna see the honest conversations that need to be had about the impact of trump' rhetoric and his promises about a second term. but let's take the non-fox media for a moment. yes, we need fact checking. we need more of that. but we also need history checking. we need reality checking. this is bigger than just facts at this point. this is about two different realities that are colliding one that is much more tied to truth and the reality and then this other story that trump is selling about revenge, about grievance, about retribution. look, i think we're very early in this primary. but i would like to see the coverage amped up quite a bit on that on that front in order to help people who are not news junkies -- i feel like i know what's going on, but most people are tuned out right now about the 2024 election. it's time to tune in. amna: brian stelter is the author of the w book "network of lies the epic saga of fox news, donald trump and the battle for american democracy."

a fascinating read. thanks for being here. ♪ from mad tv to key and peele to schmigadoon!, keegan-michael key is a modern master of sketch comedy. now, he and his wife - film and tv producer elle key have taken the long look into the history of the art form. they talked recently with jeffrey brown for our arts and culture series, canvas. >> would you like to have me take you home in my car? >> oh no, i'm too tired, i'd rather walk. a scene from the legendary comedy team of george burns and gracie allen. >> i'll tell you what you do. you go home, get your coat, come back and i'll give you a ride in my boat. i've got a boat too. >> oh, wait a minute, my sister's got my coat. >> that's alright, my brother's got my boat. >> oh george, you're silly.

>> so we've established, he's going to be george. >> i'll do george. jeffrey: nearly a hundred years later, keegan-michael and elle key do their burns and allen. >> do you like to love? >> no. >> like to kiss? >> no. >> well, what do you like? >> oh, lamb chops. >> lamb chops. could you eat two big lamb chops alone? >> alone? oh, no, not alone. but with potatoes, i could. >> say goodnight, gracie. >> and, scene. goodnight gracie. that's right. jeffrey: it still works. >> it still works. it works 100 years later. >> you don't expect it. >> yeah, misdirection is misdirection, no matter whether it's 2023 or 1923. jeffrey: the keys love these comedic connections. >> it's always nice to know where you're coming from or where you came from. even jokes have a history. even jokes have an origin. and not just necessarily specifically where the joke came from, but also just humor. >> that same thing that we're laughing at now? our parents laughed at, our grandparents, laughed at.

>> our great grandparents laughed at. >> and then you go, wait a second, how far back does this go? jeffrey: they first explored all this in a podcast series titled the history of sketch comedy. >> ahead of us is a colorful and enlightening journey through the world of sketch comedy. i'm not wearing any pants, film at 11:00. jeffrey: and now in a new book by the same name, with a cover that has keegan as some of the key characters along the way, from medieval jester to blues brother. elle came up with the idea. >> so from a, how book publishing works, they're like, well, we want a picture of keegan. and i was like, well, i think the book covers so much history, i think just a picture of keegan isn't enough. would you be ok with seven keegans? >> this november i want everyone

of you to ask yourselves what has changed in the last four years? >> who killed osama bin laden? >> what has my administration accomplish? >> did we accomplish killing america's biggest enemy? check, did that. boom. jeffrey: the book is a tour from the ancient world to modern classics, with a focus on sketch comedy, the skits and short playlets that are acted out. >> who is on first? >> what are you asking me for? >> i am not asking you, i am telling you. >> it's ded, that's what wrong with it. >> no, it's resting. >> i would like to rent a car. >> we are number one. >> we try harder. jeffrey: keegan describes in his youth seeing his normally stoic father dissolve into belly laughs while watching eddie murphy on saturday night live.

it would change his life. >> watching others, it affected me. and watching the power -- there's a power to comedy, the same way there's a power to drama, that you can touch other people and uplift other people with these art forms. and i wanted to be a part of that, desperately. jeffrey: do you think of yourself as a comedian or actor first, or both? >> i think of myself as an actor who does comedy. jeffrey: but the acting part is the important part to you. >> yes, to me, the acting part is the important part. because a character in a sketch, much like a character in a drama, they have no idea that they're in the play. they are living their lives and the actor gives over to the given circumstances of the play, or the given circumstances of the sketch. jeffrey: and the greats, the keys write, are all great students of the art form. >> keegan and i together call it

comedy math, is where the turn is, how long of a setup do you have before you heighten to make the joke go even to a crazier place or a wackier place. and, and how do you get the audience to go along with you so that you don't go too far? jeffrey: but their favorite sketches are when things do go too far, what they call the, "hey you can't do that" moment. >> a hey you can't do that moment is kind of that, it's kind of one of those, i can't believe they went there moments. >> something wacky, ridiculous happens that you're like, no, that's just not right. you can't just do that. that's silly. jeffrey: do you know when you are going to do that? do you know when you have hit that moment? [laughter] like, i can't do that, can i? >> but i'm gonna. there are moments when it comes up organically and spontaneously. and then there are moments when you absolutely know you're about to do it. you know that you're about to do a zinger. jeffrey: but what about now, when the news is very, very serious?

is there still a place for comedy? the keys think so. >> that involuntary reaction that happens within us when a joke is told, i think it's therapeutic for us to guffaw, to belly laugh. it is not to take away from the seriousness of the times. we can still seek out ways of helping the world and being philanthropic or trying to find a way to be helpful in navigating this darkness that we're kind of encountering right now. but i do believe that we need a reprieve now and again. and comedy can offer that. >> i grew up here in new york city and my family's jewish. and i grew up in a family that told jokes. and i was always told or led to believe that it came out of, it didn't matter how difficult things were, we use humor to get

through tough situations. and a lot of the humor that we talk about in the book comes from the culture where they used humor to kind of lighten really dark, challenging times. jeffrey: and that abides. >> that does abide. >> yes, it does. jeffrey: the book is the history of sketch comedy. keegan-michael key and elle key, thank you very much. amna: the power of comedy. anna laugh we all need these days. and remember, there's more online, including a look at oklahoma city's proposal for a new multimillion dollar arena to keep the thunder basketball team in town. voters there will soon decide whether it's worth it. that's at pbs.org/newshour. and that's the "newshour" for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. on behalf of the entire "newshour" team, 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 klorfine, and koo and patricia yuen. >> architect. beekeeper. mentor. a raymondjames financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life well-planned. >> actually, you don't need vision to do most things in life. yes, i'm legally blind, and yes, i'm responsible for the user interface. data visualization. if i can see it and understand it quickly, anyone can. it is exciting to be part of a team driving the technology forward. i think that's the most rewarding thing. people who know, know bdo. >> the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines 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. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

wow, you get to watch all your favoritstuff. it's to die for. now you won't miss a thing. this is the way. the xfinity 10g network. made for streaming. ♪ hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpo and company." here's what's coming up. carnage in gaza cannot continue. that's a new warning from the u.n., as israeli forces take control of gaza's largest hospital. then, i speak to u.s. senator chris murphy, who says the vilian death toll is already too high. plus, the power of words. american israeli historian omer bartov defines genocide. and islamophobia in america. journalist laila