AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

On the "News Hour" tonight: hopes for a lasting peace.

Israel and Hamas work to implement the first phase of the cease-fire deal.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the U.S., a deal to end the government shutdown remains elusive.

We speak with Senate Majority Leader John Thune about the stalemate.

SEN.

JOHN THUNE (R-SD): It's going to take Democrats to open up the government.

And I have said, give us the votes to open up the government.

Then we will have a conversation about some of these issues that you want to discuss.

GEOFF BENNETT: And ICE escalates immigration raids in Chicago, as the Trump administration moves to deploy the National Guard.

LAWRENCE BENITO, Executive Director, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights: They knocked down every door and took almost every person in that building, regardless of citizenship status.

There were children.

There were mothers.

All were taken.

(BREAK) GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Israel and Hamas have signed the agreement that President Trump proposed to pause their devastating two-year war.

Under the terms, Hamas will release all 20 living hostages in the coming days in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, while the Israeli military will begin pulling back, but stay inside Gaza.

AMNA NAWAZ: Tonight, the Pentagon announced that the U.S.

is sending 200 troops to help -- quote -- "support and monitor" the peace deal.

But uncertainty remains about some of the thornier aspects of the plan, such as whether and how Hamas will disarm and who will govern Gaza.

Nick Schifrin has that report.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In Gaza City today, medics make their way to a central square, but not to rescue it, instead to celebrate and savor the sweetness of what they hope is no more war.

NOUH AL-SHAGHNOUBY, Palestinian Civil Defense (through translator): Honestly, these are indescribable feelings.

We can't believe it.

But thank God the war has ended and we are alive.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Forty-five miles to the north, in Tel Aviv, singing and group hugs.

Gil Dickmann has been leading protests in the city's Hostage Square.

His cousin, Carmel Gat, was killed in Hamas captivity last August.

GIL DICKMANN, Protest Leader: She's not going to come back.

It's too late for her, but it's not too late for 48 hostages who are going to come back; 20 of them are going to come back alive.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Both sides today portrayed victory.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met his government with U.S.

negotiators Ambassador Steve Witkoff and senior adviser Jared Kushner.

And Hamas' Gaza head, Khalil al-Hayya, described today's agreement as the U.S.-guaranteed end of the war.

KHALIL AL-HAYYA, Gaza Hamas Chief (through translator): We have received guarantees from the mediating brothers and from the American administration, all of whom confirm that the war has ended completely.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Over the next 24 hours, the Israeli military will withdraw to this yellow line inside of Gaza, giving them control of 53 percent of the Strip.

Within 72 hours after that, Hamas must release all 48 living and deceased hostages, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive.

Israel has also agreed to release nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.

The deal was sealed overnight in an Egyptian conference room with representatives from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and Hamas.

Today, Witkoff and Kushner also met Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and envisioned a broader regional peace.

JARED KUSHNER, Former Senior Presidential Adviser: I really hope that what we were able to accomplish over the last months and particular days doesn't just end this war, but also has the opportunity to continue what we worked on last time, to bring the countries of the region closer together.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: And all Americans should be proud of the role that our country has played in bringing this terrible conflict to an end.

NICK SCHIFRIN: At a White House Cabinet meeting, President Trump called the deal momentous.

DONALD TRUMP: Very much involved.

I have never said I think quite like it.

But it's really peace in the Middle East.

NICK SCHIFRIN: On Sunday, President Trump will head to Israel, where some are ready to give him a hero's welcome.

WOMAN: I love you, Trump.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Israel's been waiting for this for 733 days, and the families of the living hostages hold their breath, desperate for reunions, nervous about disruptions.

MATAN ESHET, Cousin of Hostage: I got really excited and really anxious as well.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Twenty-eight-year-old Matan Eshet spoke to our producer Karl Bostic.

He's the cousin of Evyatar David, one of the first kidnapped by Hamas on October 7 from the Nova Music Festival.

In August, Hamas released a haunting video of David malnourished.

MATAN ESHET: Hamas starved Evyatar deliberately and filmed him looking like a skeleton digging his own grave.

The only thing I think about is what Evyatar has been going through.

There's been days that I couldn't think about what's wrong with me because the only thing I have in my mind is, what's Evyatar going through?

Does he know which day is it today?

Did he get some food today?

Did they beat him today?

NICK SCHIFRIN: Like everyone here, Eshet is grateful for U.S.

leadership.

MATAN ESHET: I can't gather the words to thank President Trump for helping us making this deal, making the previous deal as well, putting his food down and saying it's going to happen, and it is.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But as he walks through this crowd that's gathered weekly for two years, he's worried the war isn't really over.

MATAN ESHET: I'm scared that Hamas will stay in power, and I'm hopeful that the entire international community will put their foot down and make sure that Hamas will not be in power again.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But that's politics.

His personal prayers for his friend is that he will be the man he once was.

MATAN ESHET: He will start to get the treatment that he needs physically, mentally, and we're hopeful that he will go back to as close to normal life that he had before.

Evyatar was kidnapped at 22.

He's 24 already.

KARL BOSTIC: So he's going through two birthdays?

MATAN ESHET: Two birthdays.

And we are close to his third.

I'm just joyful that he will have his birthday back home.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And, tonight, senior U.S.

officials said some 200 U.S.

troops will be sent to Israel, not Gaza, as part of a -- quote -- "oversight force."

They will not work -- they will work not only with Israeli forces, but also troops from Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates, countries that could end up part of the international security force, Geoff, that is supposed to secure Gaza long term.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, Nick, how narrow is phase one compared to some of the longer-term challenges for peace in Gaza?

NICK SCHIFRIN: It's very narrow.

You're absolutely right.

This is entirely focused on what we just highlighted, the hostage release, the movement of Israeli troops within Gaza and the release of those Palestinian detainees.

And, as we have discussed, phase two, so-called phase two, has huge challenges, Hamas' demilitarization, which a senior U.S.

official tonight actually called decommissioning, that international security force that I just mentioned, and the creation of new governance in Gaza.

None of that's going to happen quickly.

GEOFF BENNETT: The Hamas perspective was included in your report, but what are Israeli officials saying about how they intend to implement this plan?

NICK SCHIFRIN: It really depends on who you ask, Geoff.

So, the foreign minister was on FOX News earlier today, and he said the hostage release should -- quote -- "bring the end to this war."

But you spoke to the Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Michael Leiter, and we will hear that soon.

And he said that the war would restart if Hamas doesn't disarm.

The Israeli government is not unanimous.

Even tonight, we're seeing that Bezalel Smotrich, the far right minister, said he would vote against this deal because of the release of what he called the next generation of terror leadership.

That is the release of the Palestinian detainees.

He posted that on X. So I think Israel's future actions very much depend not only on phase one, just the next couple days, but also what happens on phase two.

And frankly, Geoff, the war still isn't over.

There's still not a cease-fire.

You see this video from earlier today.

That's tank fire on one of the main roads going from North to South Gaza.

And Palestinians tonight reported some airstrikes, including one that hit a residential building.

And so very much hope tonight in Gaza that this war is actually over, and the hope is in Israel as well, but it's not quite over yet.

GEOFF BENNETT: Nick Schifrin, our thanks to you for that reporting.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, as Nick mentioned, we spoke earlier today with Israel's ambassador to the U.S., Yechiel or Michael Leiter.

And I asked him, why now?

What changed politically, militarily or diplomatically to make this agreement acceptable today, when it wasn't previously?

YECHIEL LEITER, Israeli Ambassador to the United States: The answer is pretty simple.

There are a number of vectors that actually came together.

And this happens during the course of history, where something wasn't workable and suddenly it becomes workable.

The first thing is that the president, President Trump, decided to really turn to the Arab countries and Turkey and tell them, look, you have got Hamas leadership sitting in your countries.

You have got to turn the screws on them.

And you have got to tell them that either they take this deal and let the hostages out, or I'm going to give full backing to the Israelis to militarily decide the fate of the leadership in -- both in Gaza and outside of Gaza.

So that's the one vector.

The other vector, of course, is alongside of, that our military, the IDF, has surrounded Gaza City, the last stronghold of Hamas.

Most of their leadership has been eliminated.

And we made it very clear that, if they don't move to agree to release the hostages, we're going to move militarily into the city and destroy their last stronghold.

So these two vectors came together.

And, ultimately, the Arab states, together with Turkey, brought Hamas to its knees and to agree basically to this agreement, which is a defeat of Hamas, is what we pursued from the very beginning.

GEOFF BENNETT: Taking your explanation of these vectors, as you describe them, given the immense human toll over the past two years, how does Israel respond to those who say that this outcome could and should have been achieved much sooner?

YECHIEL LEITER: Well, if it could have been achieved sooner, it would have been achieved sooner.

The problem is that certain people, both in the political world and in the world of media, create narratives, and then they pass commentary on the narratives.

The only problem is, the narrative isn't true.

The government of Israel, prime minister of Israel was intent on ending this war.

He made the aims very clear.

The hostages have to be released, Hamas has to be disarmed and Gaza has to be demilitarized.

Those were the conditions.

And the conditions were not met until now, until the president picked up the ball and took it to the states that were mediating.

That's Qatar, Turkey and Egypt.

Saudi Arabia too deserves some credit.

And told them, look, we have got to end this thing, end it now.

You have influence over Hamas.

Bring that influence to bear.

And the prime minister's parameters for ending the war were met.

Until now, it simply wasn't possible.

GEOFF BENNETT: When the hostages are returned, if Hamas stages a public display, if they exploit them in any way, as that terrorist group has done in the past, would Israel see that as a violation of the cease-fire terms?

YECHIEL LEITER: We expect that Hamas will try to violate the terms.

We don't know exactly how.

But once all the hostages are released, we have got to go into the second phase and the third phase, which is the de-radicalization and the disarming of Hamas.

And it's going to be a bumpy ride.

There's no question about that.

But we're going to be as patient as we can and hope that it's going to be implemented as the president has promised.

We have to see the creation of this international body that the president has taken upon himself to lead.

And if he's at the head of it, it's quite possible that we're going to see the end of Hamas rule in Gaza and a civilian population rise to a state of affairs where they're living in freedom and pose never again a threat on the people of Israel.

That's really what we want to achieve.

We cannot have jihadis living at our border again.

And once that's in place, the people of Gaza and the people of Israel will live side by side in peace.

GEOFF BENNETT: Hamas is demanding the release of Marwan Barghouti, a figure many Palestinians regard as their most legitimate national leader, one that Israel views as a terrorist.

And we should explain he was jailed for planning attacks during the second Palestinian intifada, which he denies.

Would Israel ever agree to his release, or is that a red line?

YECHIEL LEITER: Marwan Barghouti is a red line.

He can deny anything he wants.

He was found guilty in a court of law for at least five murders.

And those were the ones that we documented and proved.

There are others, many others, that he's responsible for.

He was the head of the Tanzim.

And the Tanzim was the Fatah hench-squad that killed people, many people.

So he's responsible indirectly for many murders, directly for five, for which he's sitting in jail for life.

GEOFF BENNETT: You mentioned earlier you see this deal as leading toward the destruction of Hamas.

Tell me more about that, because Hamas has not agreed to disarm.

They have not agreed to leave Gaza, as Israel has insisted in the past.

YECHIEL LEITER: The agreement, the 20-point plan, is very clear on the disarming of Hamas.

And it's also very clear that if they do not disarm, then we're going to go back into military confrontation.

They have to disarm.

Hamas cannot remain standing in Gaza.

That's the plan and that's what has to be implemented.

This plan is basically ensconced with the government's directives for completing this war.

And that's the disarming of Hamas and the demilitarization of Gaza.

If that doesn't happen, then this peace plan is not going anywhere.

And if they don't do it willingly, then this international agency that's being created has to do it.

And if the international agency doesn't do it, Israel's going to have to do it.

GEOFF BENNETT: May I ask you, as someone who has experienced profound personal loss connected to this war -- you lost your son in combat in Gaza in November of 2023 -- how does this moment resonate with you on a personal level?

YECHIEL LEITER: Well, I miss my son more than I can describe.

He was my oldest son.

He was my best friend.

He was so alive and connected to life.

He left me six grandchildren, but he's not coming back.

And the only thing that I have is to live what he lived for.

And he gave his life for the safety and security of the state of Israel and the Jewish people.

And I carry him forward.

And I'm going to find some consolation when the hostages come home and I see the parents embrace their children once again, these children who have been kept in dungeons underground for two years.

When I see that embrace, I'm going to feel a sense of consolation.

And if I experience soon the end of -- really the end of this war and the end of the confrontation with both Palestinian extremism, with this Islamism that really wants to destroy us -- they say openly, just to destroy Israel.

So when I see that subside and I see moderation rise to the surface, I see Gaza begin to be rebuilt, where people can raise their human development index and live side by side together with us.

I will find consolation in that.

GEOFF BENNETT: Israeli Ambassador Michael Leiter, thanks again for your time.

We appreciate it.

YECHIEL LEITER: Thank you, Geoff.

Good to be with you.

AMNA NAWAZ: For a different perspective now, we turn to Mouin Rabbani.

He's a former United Nations official and non-resident senior fellow at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs.

He's also co-editor of Jadaliyya.

And that's an online publication that focuses on the Middle East.

And welcome to the "News Hour," Mouin.

I want to begin by asking you just about what we heard from the Israeli ambassador there, saying it was the combination of pressure from Arab countries on Hamas leadership and the Israeli military pressure on Hamas in Gaza, that that's what got Hamas to the table and to sign off on this deal.

Do you agree with that?

MOUIN RABBANI, Senior Fellow, Middle East Council on Global Affairs: Yes, it's a fantastic distortion of events.

What actually happened is that this is an agreement that Israel and specifically Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not want.

But what happened is that the United States took the decision that this agreement was going to be reached and implemented.

And it took no more than a single phone call from Trump to Netanyahu, and the deal was done.

Of course, there was military pressure in the Gaza Strip in the form of genocide.

And there was pressure from Arab and Muslim leaders on Hamas.

And this led them to make some concessions they rather would not.

But Israel has consistently rejected an agreement now for two years.

And, as we saw already in January and again now, a simple message from the United States to Israel is all it takes to make things happen.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, from the Hamas perspective here, though, they have previously wanted guarantees that Israel would not renew the war before it returned hostages, right, that that was a condition for them.

They don't have that guarantee here.

MOUIN RABBANI: Yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: And they're still agreeing to return hostages.

So what changed for Hamas?

MOUIN RABBANI: Well, the agreement stipulates that there's not only a cease-fire, but an end to the war.

And President Trump has announced that on multiple occasions.

That's the most they're going to get in terms of a guarantee.

I mean, one can't take any commitment made by President Trump or the Israelis seriously.

But in terms of guarantees, that's the best that is available.

I mean, concretely, there really isn't more that could have been offered that would have satisfied Hamas or the Palestinians, the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip who've been subjected to this genocidal military campaign for two full years now.

AMNA NAWAZ: This does seem to say, if I'm hearing you correctly, that they're putting some faith and trust in President Trump, in his ability to have some kind of influence over Israel, to not restart the war here.

What is that faith and trust based on then in President Trump?

MOUIN RABBANI: Well, I think it's misplaced.

I mean, ultimately, this agreement will be implemented and this agreement will continue to be implemented if the United States decides it's in its interest to continue doing so.

What we saw in January, there was an agreement and it later emerged that the Trump's primary interest was ensuring that he had a diplomatic achievement on the day of his inauguration and that, once that passed, he lost interest.

And in February, the U.S.

basically authorized Israel to abrogate the agreement and to renew the genocide.

That may well happen now, because a deadline for this agreement was tomorrow, because that's when the Nobel Peace Prize is going to be announced.

Now that Trump is actually going to the region and is going to bask in the glory of this agreement, is that going to motivate him to ensure that it continues?

Or, to the contrary, will he allow Israel to -- as it has done in the past, to find ways to elude its commitments and to find a way either not to implement things or to resume its full-scale campaign?

Those are unanswered questions.

And Hamas wasn't going, the Palestinians, for that matter, weren't going to get better than what's on offer in that respect.

AMNA NAWAZ: Among the other long-term questions, of course, are some of the issues we have heard the Israeli ambassador raise about whether or not Hamas will demilitarize and what that future governance will look like.

We should just remind folks, Hamas saw its leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, killed during the war.

That followed the killing of its exiled political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, in Iran earlier that year.

What is the Hamas version of their future in Gaza?

What does future governance look like to them?

MOUIN RABBANI: Well, I think the key issue is the Palestinian future, rather than the Hamas future.

Having said that, the proposal that was announced by Trump and Netanyahu at the White House last week dealt with three sets of issues, the immediate issues, exchange of captives, cease-fire, Israeli withdrawal and so on.

And that has now been negotiated and agreed.

A second set of issues regarding particularly governance in the Gaza Strip and the future of Hamas' weapons has neither been addressed nor negotiated.

And then there's a third set of issues which concerns the broader political issues, which was only tangentially addressed in the proposal.

And that's not really on the agenda at all.

As far as governance is concerned, Hamas long ago accepted that it would not be part of any governing structure in the Gaza Strip after the end of the genocide.

What has happened is, is that the proposal, without consulting any Palestinians, basically formulated this colonial viceroy, Tony Blair, to rule the Gaza Strip essentially on behalf of Israel more than on behalf of the Palestinians.

That is now dead in the water, because it also makes it extremely complicated for Arab and Muslim states to directly participate in funding reconstruction and in sending a potential stabilization force.

As far as disarmament is concerned, Hamas leaders today made very clear that decommissioning is something they're prepared to negotiate, but disarmament is not something that they're prepared to do this side of Palestinian freedom.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is Mouin Rabbani from the Middle East Council on Global Affairs joining us tonight.

Thank you so much for your time.

MOUIN RABBANI: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: A federal grand jury has indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James on two fraud-related charges.

The indictment, returned in the Eastern District of Virginia, accuses James of one count of bank fraud and one count of false statements to a financial institution.

James said she will fight the charges.

LETITIA JAMES, New York Attorney General: This is nothing more than a continuation of the president's desperate weaponization of our justice system.

He is forcing federal law enforcement agencies to do his bidding, all because I did my job as the New York state attorney general.

GEOFF BENNETT: The indictment comes two weeks after former FBI Director James Comey was charged with lying to Congress.

The James case was brought by the same prosecutor as Comey's, former Trump personal attorney Lindsey Halligan.

It marks another escalation in President Trump's use of the Justice Department to target political opponents and figures who previously investigated him.

For more, we're joined now by NPR justice correspondent Carrie Johnson.

So, Carrie, what more should we know about these charges?

CARRIE JOHNSON, Justice Correspondent, NPR: James says she's going to fight them in court.

She's due in court on October 24 in Virginia, and she says she's keeping her job.

Geoff, this is a result of a monthslong investigation by federal prosecutors in Virginia.

Earlier, a Republican career prosecutor had basically been forced out of his job after he concluded there was not enough evidence to indict Tish James on fraud charges related to this property she purchased in Virginia in 2020.

Instead, as you noted, he was replaced by one of Trump's former personal lawyers, who brought this case before the grand jury herself today.

And it's the latest in a string of actions following the president's tweets and social media posts to use the DOJ to investigate his perceived political enemies.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, what does this case, combined with the Comey case, signal about the independence of the Justice Department and the integrity of the federal prosecutorial process under this administration?

CARRIE JOHNSON: Historically, presidents since Richard Nixon have tried to keep the Justice Department at least an arm's length away, or vice versa.

Since the Trump immunity decision by the Supreme Court last year, where the Supreme Court majority basically said the president can talk with the Justice Department about anything, including investigations and prosecutions, Trump has taken that line to heart and has basically in public directed the DOJ to go after people who investigated him in the past.

Trump has also said publicly these won't be the only investigations we see.

And we know that the national security adviser and others have been under investigation too.

GEOFF BENNETT: In the 20 seconds or so we have left, what's next?

What's the timeline for this case?

Is this going to move fairly quickly?

CARRIE JOHNSON: This is in the Rocket Docket, the Eastern District of Virginia.

I do expect things to move rather quickly here.

May not be a trial this year, but possibly early next year.

GEOFF BENNETT: NPR's Carrie Johnson.

Carrie, our thanks to you.

We appreciate it.

CARRIE JOHNSON: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: In the day's other headlines: Colombian President Gustavo Petro is accusing the Trump administration of carrying out military aggression by striking alleged drug boats in the Caribbean.

Those comments come a day after Petro said Colombian citizens were killed in the latest U.S.

military boat strike, though he did not provide any evidence.

The Trump administration called that allegation baseless.

During a meeting with European officials in Belgium today, Petro doubled down on his criticism of the U.S.

GUSTAVO PETRO, Colombian President (through translator): The reality is that the United States wants to isolate itself.

I have asked all Caribbean foreign ministers to meet with us, because what we're hearing now are missiles and an internal repressive war in North American cities against Latin Americans.

As long as the United States refuses to join the world, we can unite.

GEOFF BENNETT: It follows Senate Republicans blocking a war powers resolution yesterday aimed at preventing the U.S.

military from carrying out the strikes.

Last month, the administration told Congress that the attacks are justified because the U.S.

is in armed conflict with the drug cartels.

Russian President Vladimir Putin now says his country's forces were to blame for downing an Azerbaijan airlines jetliner last December.

Putin explained during a meeting with Azerbaijan's president today that Russian air defenses had fired missiles toward an incoming Ukrainian drone, but they exploded near the jet as it was preparing to land.

Putin also promised to punish those responsible.

It was his first public admission of responsibility for the crash that killed 38 people and roiled relations between the two countries.

Hungarian author Laszlo Krasznahorkai has won this year's Nobel Prize in literature.

His breakthrough novel, "Satantango," as it's known in English, was released in 1985 and was later turned into a film.

The 71-year-old has since written more than 20 books, many of them surreal, dark, and as the Nobel judges put it -- quote -- "characterized by absurdism and grotesque excess."

At times, just one sentence will sprawl across multiple pages.

The panel in Stockholm today said his work reaffirms the power of art.

The award comes with nearly $1.2 million in prize money.

The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced tomorrow.

A federal judge in New York dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought by rapper Drake against his own record label Universal Music Group.

At issue was a diss track written by Drake's rival, Kendrick Lamar, as part of their long-running battle.

Lamar's song "Not Like Us" calls Drake a pedophile.

He accused the label, which represents both artists, of damaging his brand and reputation by releasing the song.

The judge said the track's content is merely opinion and that -- quote -- "A war of words does not violate the law."

Lamar himself was not named in the suit.

On Wall Street today, stocks took a breather after recent gains.

The Dow Jones industrial average fell nearly 250 points on the day.

The Nasdaq gave back 18 points, so a small loss there.

The S&P 500 also ended 18 points lower.

Still to come on the "News Hour": Senate Majority Leader John Thune discusses negotiations to end the government shutdown; tensions flare in Chicago over ramped-up immigration raids; and nearly 80 years after her death, a new collection of stories by Virginia Woolf is published.

AMNA NAWAZ: It is day nine of the government shutdown.

Formal negotiations are at a standstill, but, this afternoon, the Senate's majority leader, John Thune, offered his Democratic colleagues a potential off-ramp.

We spoke about it earlier today.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune, we know it's an extraordinarily busy day.

Thank you so much for making the time to join us back here on the "News Hour."

SEN.

JOHN THUNE (R-SD): Great to be with you.

Thanks, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: So I want to start by asking you about some news.

It was reported earlier you told Semafor that you're considering offering Democrats a vote on extending those health care subsidies they have been asking for as a possible off-ramp to this government shutdown.

What can you tell us about that potential offer and if you have enough Democratic support to move it forward?

SEN.

JOHN THUNE: Well, I think, at the end of the day, Amna, what's going to have to happen is, it's going to take Democrats to open up the government.

And I have said, give us the votes to open up the government.

Then we will have a conversation about some of these issues that you want to discuss.

And I think health care is certainly something that we are anxious to talk about as well.

And I think if giving them a potential vote on something in the future is a way for them to be able to go to their people and say, this is something that we got in exchange, then maybe that's what ultimately helps open up the government.

But, at the current time, none of this happens absent them voting to reopen the government.

We understand, and I have said this all along, happy to have that conversation about some of these other issues, but open up the government first, quit taking it hostage, and let's get the American people and the federal workers, let's get them back to work.

AMNA NAWAZ: But if guaranteeing them a vote on those health care subsidies is enough to get them on board to reopen the government, are you willing to offer that?

Is that what I'm hearing?

SEN.

JOHN THUNE: Well, what I'm saying is, show me 10 votes.

Actually, all we need is five, really, five Democrats to vote with us.

As you know, it's passed in the House.

The president will sign it.

All -- we have got 55 senators currently, a majority of the United States Senate, who have voted multiple times now to open up the government.

We need five more, ideally 10.

But bring to me the number of Democrats who will help us get the government opened up again and we can have that discussion.

AMNA NAWAZ: You have heard, of course, some of this dissent even among your own Republican Conference, concerns about those health care subsidies expiring and people's premiums going up at the end of the year.

Most notably, we heard from Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who said that she's -- quote -- "disgusted" that health insurance premiums are going to go up, as they will.

We have also heard some openness and willingness to talking about those subsidies from others in your conference, like Senators Sullivan and Lankford and Capito.

So have you been hearing more frequently or more vocally some of that concern from among your fellow Republicans to act on this issue?

SEN.

JOHN THUNE: Well, I will tell you, I think we all want to do what we can to lower health care costs to make health care more accessible and more affordable.

The issue that's been raised, although there are many issues, honestly, the proposal, the counterproposal the Democrats put forward had $1.5 trillion in new spending in it, in addition to -- or, I should say, included in this was the premium tax credit issue, which is about a $400 billion item.

What we have said is, if there's a path forward on that, it has to include reforms.

Right now, there's no income limit.

They took that off when they passed the enhanced subsidies a few years ago.

And, remember, this doesn't affect the base Obamacare program.

That stays intact.

And so there's just things structurally that make this program inflationary.

We want to drive health care costs down, not see them go up.

And I think that, in order to do that, you're going to have to come up with some reasonable reforms to that program.

But that's something, as I said, we are willing to have that conversation.

We just need a half-a-dozen Democrats to open up the government.

AMNA NAWAZ: We should also just point out here those credits do expire at the end of the year, right?

Health care enrollment begins on November 1.

So I hear you saying you're willing to have the conversation, but in order for this to have an impact on people's lives, what is the Republican plan that would need to go into effect relatively soon to keep those subsidies from going away and keep those costs from going up?

SEN.

JOHN THUNE: Well, I think, the sooner we get the government open, the sooner we can start working on that issue.

And I think there are Republican ideas out there, reform ideas, and we have got some Republicans who have been having those conversations too.

But I think in terms of where the Democrats are - - and this is why I have indicated that if it's helpful to them at some point that we would have a vote on perhaps their proposal or our proposal or both proposals or something like that, we're open to suggestions.

But, right now, we have got a government that's shut down.

We have got military pay, people who aren't going to get paid starting early next week, air traffic controllers who aren't getting paid, Border Patrol agents who aren't getting paid.

And let's start by opening up the government.

And then I'm perfectly willing, as I have said, to enter into that discussion and perhaps create an opportunity, a path forward where there could be some votes on some of these things in the future.

AMNA NAWAZ: Do you see this shutdown extending into next week?

Should a lot of these federal workers, military troops expect to not get that next paycheck?

SEN.

JOHN THUNE: Well, I -- it's up to the Democrats really.

Again, it all takes us five.

We have got 55 senators, the majority of the 100 senators, majority in the House.

The president is willing to sign the bill into law.

And all it does, all that has to happen is we pick up the bill off the Senate desk, five Democrats join us, in addition to those who already have, and the government opens up again.

And then you don't have that discussion.

Everybody gets paid again.

That's the best way to end this.

But I hope that happens.

We're going to have another vote tomorrow.

They will have another opportunity to vote.

And if it doesn't get done tomorrow, we will have another vote on Tuesday.

And they will have another opportunity then to vote to open up the government.

But you can't take the government, federal government hostage.

This is something that is routine.

At least it has been in the past.

We need to do a short-term funding extension.

And the one that we put together is -- it's nonpartisan, has no policy riders, no Republican priorities in there.

It has a straightforward funding resolution to keep the government open until such time as we can complete and finish the appropriations process, and, by the way, something that, when the Democrats had the majority the last four years, and while Biden was president, they did 13 different times.

So this is just a -- this is a hijacking of a process that should be very straightforward.

And you shouldn't take a hostage like federal workers.

If the issue is to have that discussion on all these other issues, then, like I said, I have expressed a willingness to do that.

And the Democrats should take yes for an answer.

AMNA NAWAZ: I know you have talked about wanting to take the politics out of this situation, but I want to put to you also what we have seen from the White House, from the administration in this moment, which is to say withholding federal funds, but only from Democrat-led cities and states.

The president in the Cabinet meeting today said: "We're only cutting Democrat programs."

He said: "They wanted to do this, so we will give them a taste of their own medicine."

I know you say the Democrats are playing politics, but isn't that exactly what the White House is doing as well?

SEN.

JOHN THUNE: Well, again, it all ends -- open up the government, and then none of this happens.

I think it's -- any administration faced with a government shutdown, when they have to move resources around and decide which departments and which agencies are going to stay open and which employees are essential and which ones should get paid, et cetera, obviously, they're going to -- it's going to reflect their priorities.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, Leader Thune, to be clear, this wasn't about funding for essential workers or government programs.

This was literally cutting transit or infrastructure programs in Democrat cities and states.

Is that something you support?

SEN.

JOHN THUNE: If you're going to make decisions about where money goes, and, obviously, you are a Republican administration, you're probably going to have some priorities that might differ if you had a Democrat administration and be looking at different projects in different places around the country.

I don't think the process ought to be politicized, but then I don't think that shutdowns ought to be politicized.

And that's exactly what's happened here.

I mean, you had Chuck Schumer yesterday in a sit-down interview saying things get better for us by the day.

You get people who are going to be without pay, already starting without pay tomorrow, and then when the troops hit next week -- and, like I said, these are people who are important to the safety and security of the American people.

And they're not getting paid.

At the same time, the Democrat leader in the United States Senate is saying this is getting better for us by the day.

And this isn't a political game.

These are people's lives.

And, yes, we need to get the government open, and then all these questions that you're asking about where the administration prioritizes where they spend the money becomes a moot issue.

AMNA NAWAZ: At the same time, when you look at how Americans are viewing this, I'm sure you have seen this latest polling from during the shutdown.

An Economist/YouGov poll showed that 41 percent of people currently blame President Trump and Republicans in Congress for the shutdown.

Only 30 percent say that they blame Democrats.

So they see both sides is dug in, but they also see only one party is controlling the House, the Senate and the White House.

What do you say to that?

SEN.

JOHN THUNE: The House has acted.

Senate Republicans have acted and the president's ready to act.

The only holdup right now is a handful of Democrats to give us the supermajority, the 60 votes that are necessary in the Senate to get this done.

It's not a function right now -- and, frankly, it shouldn't be about the blame game or who gets blamed.

Government shutdowns hurt everybody.

And it doesn't matter who gets blamed.

That's what -- that -- it shouldn't be about politics.

It ought to be about you know what's in the best interest the American people, and that's getting the government open again.

AMNA NAWAZ: That is Senate Majority Leader John Thune.

Leader Thune, we know it's a very busy time for you.

We always appreciate you making the time.

Thank you again.

SEN.

JOHN THUNE: Thanks, Amna.

GEOFF BENNETT: President Trump and his team are ramping up efforts to deploy the National Guard to Democratic-led cities and to expand ICE enforcement operations.

Some members of the Guard have been moved into the Chicago area.

And the president argues they should also be in Portland, Oregon.

Those plans were the focus of two federal court hearings today.

And just this evening, a federal judge in Chicago blocked the Trump administration's request for now to deploy the Guard, saying there's no danger of a rebellion to justify it.

She said the Guard would only -- quote -- "add fuel to the fire."

William Brangham reports on those developments.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Handcuffing a city councilmember, deploying tear gas near a public school, and, in this stylized video shot and distributed by the Department of Homeland Security, rappelling from a helicopter and storming an apartment complex while families inside slept, it's all part of a wave of aggressive actions by federal immigration agents in Chicago in recent weeks.

LAWRENCE BENITO, Executive Director, Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights: Their behavior definitely feels like it has escalated, where they now have permission to use excessive force.

It feels like it's shoot first, ask questions later.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Lawrence Benito runs the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights.

His staff were on scene within hours after the helicopter-led raid.

LAWRENCE BENITO: They knocked down every door and took almost every person in that building, regardless of citizenship status.

There were children.

There were mothers.

All were taken, all were zip-tied, with no real communication about what they were there for or no real transparency whether they had warrants to do what they did or not.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin rejected those accusations, writing: "Children were never zip-tied.

This is a shameful and disgusting lie."

In the last month, more than 1,000 people have been arrested in and around Chicago since the Trump administration ramped up immigration raids in the city.

And, today, during a Cabinet meeting, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem defended the administration's moves and said they will ramp up the federal presence.

KRISTI NOEM, U.S.

Homeland Security Secretary: We're purchasing more buildings in Chicago to operate out of.

We're going to not back off.

In fact, we're doubling down, and we're going to be in more parts of Chicago.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: This week, over the objections of state and local leaders, President Trump mobilized and deployed some 200 members of the Texas National Guard to Chicago.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: We have cities where this tremendous crime.

And Chicago is one of them.

And if the governor can't straighten it out, we will straighten it out.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The administration says the Guard is needed to protect ICE agents from protests, which have erupted at an ICE facility outside the city.

Protesters have blocked government vehicles at the entrance to the site and agents have thrown demonstrators to the ground, deployed tear gas and fire pepper balls.

In one instance last month, a DHS agent appears to shoot a protesting Presbyterian minister in the head with a pepper ball.

In response, DHS said force was necessary because protesters were impeding operations and they'd been ordered to leave the federal property.

And further away from that facility, there have been two separate incidents in the last month underscoring the rising tensions between the community and federal officials.

In one instance, an ICE agent shot and killed Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, a 38-year-old father of two during a traffic stop.

DHS alleges Gonzalez resisted arrest and dragged the agent with his car.

Agents were not wearing body cameras.

And one eyewitness said Gonzalez was driving away, trying to escape.

And then, over the weekend, protests broke out when a federal agent shot a woman who allegedly rammed his vehicle.

Yesterday, hundreds marched peacefully through downtown Chicago in opposition to the immigration crackdown and the National Guard's presence.

The city and the state are both suing the Trump administration over the move.

GOV.

J.B.

PRITZKER (D-IL): Donald Trump is using our service members as political props and as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation's cities.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Earlier this week, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson signed an executive order declaring certain spaces off-limits to federal agents.

BRANDON JOHNSON (D), Mayor of Chicago, Illinois: That means that city property and unwilling private businesses will no longer serve as staging grounds for these raids.

WOMAN: No hate, no fear.

PROTESTERS: ICE isn't welcome here!

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In Southwest Chicago earlier this week, local officials and community leaders rallied at a shopping plaza they say has been used as a meeting point for immigration raids.

JULIA RAMIREZ, Chicago, Illinois, Alderwoman: Every week, we see more agents.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Alderwoman Julia Ramirez represents this area.

JULIA RAMIREZ: They aren't knocking on doors anymore.

And so we question sort of who they're targeting.

And, mostly, it's just Hispanic-, Latino-looking men.

And so we just feel like it's pure harassment just based off of the color of your skin and the neighborhood that you live in.

CORINA PEDRAZA, Grassroots Organizer: People are afraid to go out and buy groceries for their families.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Corina Pedraza is a grassroots organizer.

CORINA PEDRAZA: People who work five, six blocks down the street are scrolling through social media, are calling people, are wondering, do I have to cut through the alley?

How do I get to my job safely and ensure that I can get back home safely to my children, that someone is not going to drive by and snatch me and push me into a car?

And who knows after that?

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The president has defended the hard-line tactics of federal agents, citing public safety.

DONALD TRUMP: They don't want to have a safe Chicago, and we can solve the problem very quickly.

And we're doing that anyway.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In some quarters of the city, that approach is welcomed.

JOANNIE PITTMAN, Chicago Resident: Chicago has been really violent.

Can't even sit on your front porch no more.

People just get shot right in front of your face.

So I do feel like he's doing the right thing.

BYRON SIGCHO-LOPEZ, Chicago, Illinois, Alderman: Deploying military on American cities is unprecedented.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez represents a heavily Latino district with a large immigrant population.

He says these enforcement actions are upending his community.

BYRON SIGCHO-LOPEZ: What I have seen is people selling flowers in the street being arrested.

What we're seeing, people leaving in construction sites being arrested.

These are working people.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: He dismisses the president's argument that National Guard troops will reduce violence.

BYRON SIGCHO-LOPEZ: If this is really about public safety, then the federal government would not be withholding over $800 million for violence prevention programs, billions of dollars for schools, billions of dollars for food, SNAP programs, for public health, programs that are basic for our communities.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: But, in the meantime, many Chicago communities remain on edge, awaiting the next steps from the Trump administration.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm William Brangham.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, a remarkable literary discovery has thrilled readers of Virginia Woolf.

More than 80 years after her death, a new Woolf book has been published this week, a collection of three comic stories written eight years before her first novel.

Malcolm Brabant reports from England for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

MALCOLM BRABANT: For 80 years, what's being hailed as a literary treasure was buried in the archives of Longleat, one of Britain's finest stately homes.

Longleat contains historic artifacts dating back 1,300 years, and they're under the stewardship of archivist Emma Challinor.

EMMA CHALLINOR, Archivist, Longleat House: It's definitely an exciting thing, maybe not exactly as you would imagine an Indiana Jones scene.

We didn't, for instance, have to dig through a secret tunnel and fight through cobwebs.

The volume itself was on a shelf, we knew where it was, we had it catalogued and we knew who it was by, for instance, where it had come from.

But I suppose it took an intrepid researcher like Urmila to fully understand the significance of the work.

And that really is the great discovery, and that's the treasure.

MALCOLM BRABANT: Professor Urmila Seshagiri was the expert who recognized the book's value.

She teaches English and humanities at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

URMILA SESHAGIRI, University of Tennessee, Knoxville: My heart was beating very fast as I walked up that staircase, because I had been waiting four years to see this typescript, and I was consumed by curiosity and this desire to know whether this was an original work.

And when the archivist handed me the document box and I opened it and I saw just from the first page that it was a new work, that Woolf had revised it and had perfected it, I was stunned.

MALCOLM BRABANT: So how significant a work is it?

It was an early work, when -- she was about 25 when she wrote it.

URMILA SESHAGIRI: To be sure, "The Life of Violet" adds to our understanding of Woolf as a writer of fiction, as a biographer, as a cultural critic, as a feminist.

But I think the best part is that it shows us that Woolf was very funny and she could write in a broadly comic idiom that was made up of parody and hyperbole and fantasy.

MALCOLM BRABANT: This sculpture in the London district of Richmond is a fine representation of Woolf, who inspired poet and academic Jane Goldman to become an expert on the author.

"The Cambridge Introduction to Virginia Woolf" is one of Goldman's published works.

JANE GOLDMAN, Author, "The Cambridge Introduction to Virginia Woolf": She's been an iconic figure since she first became famous with her novels in the 1920s.

She's very iconic as a radical experimental writer, a feminist, a pacifist.

MALCOLM BRABANT: While famous for inhabiting unconventional intellectual salons in London, Woolf was equally at home in the countryside of Southern England.

A 16th century weatherboarded house now belongs to Britain's National Trust that conserves historic landmarks.

Woolf lived next to this 12 century church in Rodmell, a village with a timeless quality.

Virginia Woolf died by suicide in 1941 at the age of 59.

She had been bedeviled by mental illness.

And in a final note to her husband, Leonard, she wrote: "I feel certain that I'm going mad again.

I feel we can't go through another of those terrible times, and I shan't recover this time.

I begin to hear voices and I can't concentrate.

So I'm doing what seems the best thing to do."

After writing the note, Woolf walked to the nearby fast-flowing River Ouse.

Her body was found three weeks later.

During Virginia Woolf's life and immediately after she died by suicide, the world didn't look particularly kindly upon her.

And that's largely as a result of the lack of understanding about mental illness.

Do you think that people do understand what she was really like now?

Does this help?

URMILA SESHAGIRI: Maybe there's a stubborn tendency to inaccurately label her as a suicidal madwoman, if I may use a very out-of-date and unkind phrase, and that tendency perhaps pronounced in people who haven't read her writing.

But I think that the readers of her work, who are numerous and loyal and scattered around the world, love her writing because it bursts with life and with beauty and it's profoundly affirming.

JANE GOLDMAN: The culture still wants to make her the poster girl of this suicidal woman novelist and writer.

So it's important that, when you read any work by her, you soon find her being very earthy and bawdy and funny in a lot of her writing.

So, to have something at the beginning of her writing career, the very first piece of sustained fiction that she writes, is such a joyous thing to read.

MALCOLM BRABANT: And Seshagiri believes the new book will strike a chord with today's students of literature.

URMILA SESHAGIRI: Young people who are resistant to having their personas or their thoughts caged in any way are very, very receptive to that liberation, to that freedom of thought, of perception that Woolf offers them.

MALCOLM BRABANT: So there's now more texture to the Woolf time capsule, but, as with so many artists, proof that true validation came after she was gone.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Malcolm Brabant in Rodmell, Southern England.

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

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

For all of us here at the "PBS News Hour," thanks for spending part of your evening with us.