GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Be AMNA NAWAZ: On the "News solidifies his hold on the GOP.

A look at the tough road ahead for his Republican chal GEOFF BENNETT: Israeli leaders increasingly disagree in public over the as the war drags on for more than 100 days and the international community works to get more aid into Gaza.

MOHAMMED AL-SHONDOGLI, Displaced Ga My children are ill due to lack of food.

This is not enough.

AMNA NAWAZ: And a diabetes.

Why the cost (BREAK) GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "NewsHour."

The focus of the Republican presidential race now moves to New Hampshire after former President Donald Trump's record-setting win in last night's Iowa caucuses.

AMNA NAWAZ: Trump dominated his rivals by 30 points, winning all but counties.

Florida Gove closely by former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.

I'm joined by Republican strategist Kevin Madden, who advised Mitt 20 12 presidential campaigns.

Kevin, welcome back.

It's good to KEVIN MADDEN AMNA NAWAZ: came for former President Trump by the Associated Press last night.

It came just a half-an-hour after those caucuses first began.

A lot of Iowans hadn't even voted yet.

But the Associated Press put Here's what they said.

They declared Trum as well as their AP VoteCast, which is a survey of voters who planned to caucus.

Both, they say, showed Trump with an insurmountable lead.

Kevin, they make these calls when the math lines up.

They have been doing it for 170 years.

Is the criticism warranted, do you KEVIN MADDEN: I mean, you're Ev ery campaign I have ever worked on, we have seen these type of think that campaigns would be used to it.

But we also have to be very among a lot of Republican voters and a lot of Republican campaigns, and that's what's driving that level of consternation.

So I think they're -- we all know that the AP has rig with how they announce this.

But I think the media does have or not there is a great utility in answering or releasing the calls so early, still have people voting, especially in an age of the smartphone, where everybody has a supercomputer in their pocket inside these caucuses, and they're able to of information while still voting.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let's take a look so big.

He dominated In entrance polls, however, Iowans were asked what candidate quali them.

For people w 82 percent of those folks broke for Mr. Trump, 10 percent for Mr. DeSantis, 5 pe Vivek Ramaswamy, who has since ended his campaign, and 4 percent for Nikki Haley.

Why do these numbers stand out to you?

KEVIN MADDEN: Well, first of all, I thi now is the emerging view of the world -- emerging world view of And one of the first things that they're looking at right now is, can somebody win in November?

And what's really emerging about the electability argument is the idea that somebody is out there fighting for them.

And so that is a very, very, I think, poten are seeing right now.

And it's why this ai I think one of the other things that's very interesting is, if you look at general elections, many close general elections sort of live or die on that question: Which candidate understands or reflects the principles of people like me?

And so I think, for a lot of the folks that are watching this from t the Biden campaign, they see that number as very high and very potent with vo ters.

I think it c question.

AMNA NAWAZ: place here.

Mr. DeSantis really banked He finished well behind Mr. Trump, slightly Carolina, to Haley's home state.

Here's part of what he had to say GOV.

RON DESANTIS Can you name major achievements under her tenure?

Tell me if there are.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, We should also say she was saying she would not participate in the next de Mr. Trump took part.

He is not going to take ABC has now canceled tha But she's really presenting herself Here's a clip of her new ad.

NARRATOR: Both are consume The better choice for a better America, Nikki Haley.

AMNA NAWAZ: Kevin, those are very different messages.

They're punching very different directions here.

How are those arguments going to p KEVIN MADDEN: Well, on focused on Nikki Haley right now, is a very defensive argument And he's also in a state where he's almost skipping a number of other big prim between them there.

Not playing on the political media and both other candidates is in New Hampshire, that does create a v I think, for the DeSantis campaign.

Haley has had a sort of prepackaged strategy co she's going to say, this is the two-person race between me and Donald Trump.

And she's sticking to that strategy right now.

And so that is where I think we're going to see these messages g One other thing I'd note, too, is that Haley also believes that the best way to make the case to a lot of Republican voters is to show that she'd be the best candidate, again, to take on Joe Biden in a general election.

So that is a key component for her message with n all these other primary states.

You look at May -- I'm sorry -- go ing to be at stake, that's also her message to those voters as well.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the meantime, the GOP field has tigh night.

We mentioned So has Asa Hutchinson.

But there's still no consol I want to share with you what the editor is at "The National Review" w They said: "The party has better alternatives, but if the Iowa results are any indication, perhaps not for very long."

Kevin, has that window to consolidate arou KEVIN MADDEN: I think it's still open, but everybody's certainly running out of time.

I mean, we're talking about 1 percent of the delegates that are at stake were waged last night.

But there is a very real sense An d if you look at the picture of what base -- GOP base voters were sayi a precursor for what we're going to see from GOP base voters elsewhere, it paints a very compelling argument that the party and many of its base voters are coming to terms with the idea that Trump is going to be their nominee.

Inevitability, I think, for Nikki Haley and Ron DeSa to fight against.

They have their work cut out AMNA NAWAZ: All ri Thank you so much.

KEVIN MADDEN GEOFF BENNET for the GOP nomination and the delegates who will vote at the Republica this summer is only just beginning.

Domenico Montanaro of NPR is here to walk us throu It's good to see you, friend.

So, we know that 4 proportionally.

How did Donald Trump moving forward?

DOMENICO MON not so long road after GEOFF BENNETT: Yes.

DOMENICO MON the Trump campaign, which is more sophisticated this time to make a lot of efforts to move up states in the process that favor him with the kinds of processes that favor him.

And by the end of March, we're going So we're talking about only a couple of months here.

And when you look at that you have about a dozen stat Madden was talking about that have winner-take-all, if a winner -- if the person gets above 50 percent, meaning a state like California has 169 delegates.

If Trump were to get over 50 percent, like he did last night, he gets all of those delegates That's new.

That's somet And when you look at those two dates that 19 , there's over 1,200 delegates at stake just on those two weeks.

And 1,215 is the magic number that somebody needs to get.

And with all of these potentially winner-take-all states, I'm circli 23, because March 19, I'm calling winner-take-all Tuesday, because there are finally going to be actually states saying whoever wins gets all the delegates then.

And we may be talking about Trump wrapping up the nomination by the end of March.

GEOFF BENNETT: Really?

Domenico, I ways in which Donald Trump and his allies reengineered the infrastructure of the Republican Party and installed MAGA acolytes in his supporters in key state positions.

Many of them are state party chairs.

Tell me more about that and how he is now DOMENICO MONTANARO: I mean, it's a hugely undercovered story, I mean, th to hire people who really understand the delegate process and people weren't really paying that much attention.

Sure, the DeSantis campaign was tr They had people who were trying to influence this But, look, Trump is a quasi-incumbent.

He's the former president.

And while he was president so that you wouldn't have something like what happened in 2016 on the floor of the convention, where Ted Cruz and people who were associated with him could mount this kind of potential challenge.

It didn't wo moment that we all had to watch, where Ted Cruz is coming down from the rafters.

GEOFF BENNETT: Right.

DOMENICO MON I want it wrap And they have pushed, incentivizing people to go to Mar-a-Lago or Bedminster to be wind and dined or to be threatened with potential punishment if Trump does become president and to be iced out of the process.

GEOFF BENNETT: Let's look ahead to New Hampshire.

How well does Nikki Haley have st aying in the race?

DOMENICO MON Hampshire, considering that she finished third place in -- And I think it's going to be difficult for her to win in a place like South Carolina.

I think she -- if she finishes a reasonably close second place, considering has had a double-digit lead there, she can still make the argument that she needs to move on.

But you got You're not going to have another state that's quite as moderate, where Haley can sort of appeal to those voters, because it's just not the majority of the Republican caucuses right now, Republican primary voters right now.

I mean, we saw last night, in the entrance said that they felt that, even if Trump was convicted of a crime, that he would still be fit to be president.

You had only thr I mean, that is not the profile of the kinds of voters that Nikki Haley can really appeal to and win out with.

GEOFF BENNETT: Domenico th anks so much for coming in.

DOMENICO MONTANARO: You're welcome.

AMNA NAWAZ: In the day's other headlines: Major snow and ice storms and bitter windchills plagued much of the country again.

In state after state, classes were canceled, Stephanie Sy has our report.

STEPHANIE SY: After days of freezing cold woke up to find schools and offices closed.

More than 1,300 flights on the East Coast were canceled.

For many places on the East Coast, including Manhattan, it's the first significant in years.

New York had not seen mo Philadelphia has faced a similar snow drought.

ISAIAH STOUT, Philadelphia Resident: My daughter's Sh e doesn't remember the snow, so this is her first So yesterday, I said, it might snow today, you guys, so when they woke up this morning, see snow all over the ground, they lost their minds.

STEPHANIE SY: In the country's interior, temperatures ha A brief warm-up is predicted, but a new surge of cold air is expected by the end of the week.

Windchills in the Rockies, Great Plai Austin Rowser is managing the snow removal in Omaha, Nebraska, where crews have been working overtime.

AUSTIN ROWSE days for nine, 10 days in a row.

So, it's been -- obviously, that's a lot of time.

It's a lot of effort, a lot of work and a lot of d into the snow.

STEPHANIE SY AUSTIN ROWSER: The best thing for anybody to do in any location an is just to make sure that you have plenty of time, slow down, understand how your vehicle operates differently.

We can't sla STEPHANIE SY: Farther south, snowplows cleared the roads du in Tennessee.

A layer of snow covered Western Alabama.

But it wasn't all misery.

WOMAN: Our arsenal of snowball STEPHANIE SY: With federal offi for snow lovers who have waited two years for enough snow to put up a proper fight.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Stephanie Sy.

AMNA NAWAZ: So far, the arctic wave is blamed for at least seven And a new ice storm is moving into the Pacific Northwest and heading east.

The top tax policymakers in Congress announced a bipartisan agreement today to expand the child tax credit and restore a variety of breaks for businesses.

The package totals roughly $78 billion paid for by ending a pandemic era business credit.

Lawmakers are pushing to win passage before tax filing season kicks off.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an urgent new appeal today for help against Russia.

He met with in Switzerland.

And he warned against lett VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President: If anyone thinks this is only about us, this is only about Ukraine, they are fundamentally mistaken.

If one must fight against Putin together in the years ahead, isn't it better to put an end to him and his war strategy now?

AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared his forces have regained momentum in the war, and he insisted Russia will not give up any territorial gains in Ukraine.

Back in this c not guilty to federal hate crimes charges.

Anderson Aldrich has admitted shooting patrons of Club Q in Colorado Spring of 2022.

Aldrich pleaded guilty to state Th e federal charges carry a possible death penalty.

A federal judge in Boston blocked JetBlue Airways today from buying The Justice Department had sued to block the merger of low-cost carriers worth $3.8 billion.

Today, the judge agreed it would hurt competition and drive up fares.

Wall Street had a lackluster day following the holiday weekend.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 232 points to close at 37361.

The Nasdaq fell 28 points.

The S&P 500 slipped nearly 18.

And the 75th prime-time Emmy Awards are now history with some historic fi Quinta Brunson won best actress in a comedy, "Abbott Elementary."

She's the first Black woman to do that in more than 40 years.

And Ali Wong became the first Asian American best actress in a limited series for her rol in "Beef."

Overall, the And "The Bear," about a struggling Chicago sandwich joint, won best comedy.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": Donald Trump appears in court for the defamation case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll; a new book explores how populist politicians have transformed the Democratic Party;a group of students take it on themselves to address the growing mental health needs in schools; plus much more.

GEOFF BENNETT: The Biden administration will soon designate Houthi militants in Yemen as a specially designated global terrorist group, a White House official tells the "NewsHour."

It follows more than 30 Houthi attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

And it's a reversal from the first days of the Biden administration, when the U.S. delisted the Houthis as a foreign terrorist organization.

Earlier today, Israel and Hamas agreed to allow more medicine into Gaza, both for Gaz and for the more than 100 Israelis still held hostage.

But attacks in the last 24 hours in Lebanon and Iraq have caused Middle East and U.S. officials to voice concerns about the risks of a wider war.

Nick Schifrin reports.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Across the region tonight, Today, Israel launched one of its largest salvos against Hezbollah in Lebanon since October the 7th.

Just yesterday, a mother and son In Northern Iraq, Iran launched a rare ballistic missile attack on what it said was a local office of Israel's spy agency.

but among the dead was a Kurdish multimillionaire An d off the coast of Yemen, U.S. warships launched the third round of strikes on the Houthis in six days, the target today, four Houthi ballistic missiles before they could be fired.

The Houthis struck a Maltese-flagged ship that was able to sail away.

MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN BIN JASSIM AL THANI, Qatari Prime Ministe now in the region is NICK SCHIFRIN: Three thousand miles away, at the World Economic Foru the region and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan acknowledged concerns of JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. National Security Adviser: We have to guard against and be vigilant against the possibility that, in fact, rather than heading towards path of escalation that we have to manage.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Purposely or not, Hamas' Octobe And, today, de-escalation runs through Gaza, said Sullivan and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al Thani.

MOHAMMED BIN And as soon as it is defused, I believe everything el NICK SCHIFRIN: But the spark and smoke of the war in Gaza continues to spread.

Today, in Central Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp, families carted all they had left.

The U.N. says Gazans are stalked by the long shadow of starvation.

Today in Rafah, Mohammed Al-Shondogli waited for food with his children.

MOHAMMED AL-SHONDOGLI, Displaced Gazan (through translator): Our bodies are ill. My children are ill due to lack of food.

This is not enough.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Des two dozen rockets into Israel, the highest number in more than a week, and a reminder of how far Israel is from achieving its military goals.

But there is disunity on how to achieve those goals.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed.

War cabinet member and opposition leader Benny Gantz is willing to stop if it comes with the release of more than 100 hostages.

MEN AND WOMEN: Happy bir WOMAN: Bring them home now NICK SCHIFRIN: There is a Today is Kfir Bibas' first birthday.

He and his family were taken from their homes 102 days a Hamas says they were killed in an Israeli airstrike, but his extended family holds out hope he survived to see his second year.

As for that agreement between Israel and Hamas to allow more medicine into Gaza, it was negotiated by Qatar.

Netanyahu said t medicine both for Israeli hostages and millions of Gazans who need it.

For more on the direction of Israel's war in Gaza, as well as the splits within the Israeli war cabinet, we turned to David Makovsky, distinguished fellow at the fo r Near East Policy, former journalist and was a senior adviser for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations during the Obama administration.

David Makovsky, thanks very much.

Welcome back DAVID MAKOVS be with you.

NICK SCHIFRI As we just s It appears that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant other.

What's behin DAVID MAKOVS It's one of the two bi Basically, the Netanyahu/Gallant school says the way to get the hostages is to put more military pressure in this war.

The more you dig under the tunnels that Mohammed Deif and Yahya Sinwar are located... (CROSSTALK) NICK SCHIFRI DAVID MAKOVS of securing their release.

The other school is of the centri chiefs of staff, pride themselves on their pragmatism, Benny Gantz, you mentioned, another, Gadi Eisenkot, who lost his son, by the way, in this war.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Yes.

Yes.

DAVID MAKOVS You don't have all the time in the world, and the best way to secure the release is to cut a deal with Egypt, Qatar, whoever that may be.

And then, if that involves some sort of extended pause, so be it.

You could always renew hostilities at a later time, but in terms of what to prioritize, hostages or the war, the priority should go to the hostages.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The second big division within the war cabinet, as you Ne tanyahu and Gallant, the defense minister.

Yesterday, Gallant said that Palestinians will govern Gaza in th Netanyahu has not said.

And then he took a not-so He said -- quote -- "Political in What's he saying?

DAVID MAKOVS road about what does postwar look like?

Let's be real.

The Palestin They governed Gaza from 94 to 2007 until until this war.

(CROSSTALK) NICK SCHIFRI DAVID MAKOVS The prime minister, however, is very fearful that Gantz and Eisenkot, the centrist enlarged his government after the October 7 atrocities, that they will walk, that they will go for elections, and that he will be stuck with the people holding the balance of power.

Guess who?

The hard rig minister and the like.

So he doesn't seem to want his government depends on these two guys.

So he won't say the words P.A.

He won't say the words Palestinian He won't say the word Palestin He will just say, let's see Right now, we don't have to decide.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But This is life and death for many people.

This is the fate of the war Th is is important.

DAVID MAKOVS Of course.

I think the bit now.

Are you goin You wanted to keep Palestinians from being killed.

You told the million people go to the south.

OK, now you have almost won the north, Do you have a plan to bring them back to their homes?

And, if so, who's going to run public orders, civilian servi And so I think what Gallant and Halevi are trying to tell Netanyahu is, hey, we can't just kick the can down the road.

There are going to be some de NICK SCHIFRIN: There is some genuine frustration in the Biden administration with Netanyahu himself.

Is Netanyahu DAVID MAKOVS I mean, I think the pr back.

Every meetin as if he's like the father of the country.

He's viewed as someone who really cares about th And I think that's very important.

But somehow that public support is not translated you to do, which is there's certain tax transfers that you owe the Palestinian Authority and the West Bank.

Here, I think Netany right.

And I think NICK SCHIFRIN: As you were saying to me earlier, whenever Presi brings up two-state solution right now, it lands like a lead balloon.

Do you think, quickly, there is a different way to talk about the two-state solution t the U.S. could find?

DAVID MAKOVS we want something that gives dignity to both sides.

And I still think it's the right approach.

But a lot of us, and in the administration, they assume th to look like Costa Rica.

Yet, when the Israelis hear Hamas was able to do, by the way, without smuggling in things, their own industrial capacity.

They see that st And, therefore, we need to somehow talk about what sort of two-state about, and not just what the borders are going to be like.

And I myself have worked on this issue.

But how are we going to enforce it?

Yes, we say the word demilitarized, but the Israelis a outmuscle a more pragmatic Palestinian leadership to take it in a very different, more militant direction.

And we have we're talking about the same sort of two states, because, right now, us in the U. in Israel, we're just talking past each other.

NICK SCHIFRIN: David Makovsky, always a ple Thanks so much.

DAVID MAKOVS GEOFF BENNETT: Fresh off his win in Iowa, former President Donald Trump spent time in a New York City courtroom.

The trial that started today will dec her while he was president.

Mr. Trump was already found liable f about her years later.

William Brangham was in the courtroom, So, William, tell us what transpired in court today.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Geoff, today was jury selection.

So, 50 potential jurors were winnowed down to nine jurors.

And then Judge Lewis Kaplan gave instructions to those jurors today.

And he was as crystal clear about what this case is really all about.

He said, this is not a do-over of that previous case.

This is not a chance for Trump to get another bite at the apple, as he He was very, very clear to the jury.

He said that Donald Trump sexually assaulted -- very briefly, but very graphically, he described what happened in that dressing room.

He said then Trump defamed her when she came forward to say that this had happened.

He said she lied about it, that he had never met her, and that she made this up to make money.

And the judg So that's not what this case is about.

The judge said this case is about, wha And the striking thing about watching today's proceedings unfold is that, in the previous times that we have seen Donald Trump in court, it is always Donald Trump against some governmental prosecutor, a special counsel, an attorney general of a state, a district attorney.

Here, it was Donald Trump against this one woman who he violently sexually assaulted almost 30 years ago.

And just seeing them in court, I mean, it's possible they have been in the same room together since that assault almost three deca And I watched E. Jean Carroll very closely for the four hours that they were together in the room.

And only onc And that was the extent of it today.

GEOFF BENNETT: William, what damages?

WILLIAM BRAN She has already received $5 million from the previous case for the assault and for some defamation from Donald Trump from 2022 statements that he made.

These are about statements he made while he was president.

And E. Jean Carroll's lawyer referred to this as Donald Trump using the world's biggest megaphone to say that she was a liar, to say that she made all of these things up.

And they're arguing that they want that money to basically salvage her ruined reputation, for the emotional distress that she has suffered.

They argue that Donald Trump's statements about her has tweets.

She showed m millions of Trump's followers.

And they argue that they need to make him pay in order the former president has not stopped.

I mean, just today alone, he has posted 3 Trump's defense to all of this is that to argue reputational damage from what the president, then-president said is ludicrous.

They argue, and Trump's lawyer today said she told this story.

She's been on ta that to try to blame two statements that the then president made for unleashing all of these, as they call them, bad trolls on the Internet is inappropriate and they're trying to punish him for no good reason.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, William, we know that Donald T the first trial, when a jury found him liable for sexual abuse and defamation.

Why did he appear today?

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Geoff, It's legally hard to understand why he came to this trial, where he's al guilty on all of these major counts, and didn't come back when he could have potentially made a difference in that case.

And I think this, as many ha involved with have just become part of his political campaign.

I think he is hoping to create this montage of videos of him entering courtrooms all over New York and Florida and Washington, D.C., and Georgia to try to say, this is the deep state coming after me and interfering with me.

In fact, tonight, about an hour ago, he posted a post on TRUTH preferred to have been in New Hampshire, but I had to be in this court with a Trump-hating judge on another political witch-hunt.

So, again, I think, legally, the case i Politically, I think that's what the former president is doing here.

GEOFF BENNETT: William Brangham in New York City for us tonight.

William, thank you.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: My pleasure, Geoff.

AMNA NAWAZ: Diabetics across the country will now see a break in their out-of-pocket costs for insulin.

This month, Sanofi, on companies in capping their insulin co-pays at $35.

This comes after years of pressure by President Biden, lawmakers and activists for companies to lower their list prices.

White House correspondent Laura Barron-Lopez me here now.

Good to see LAURA BARRON AMNA NAWAZ: year's insulin price caps for Medicare recipients that took effect.

Tell us about the impact of both of these things together.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So, what took Lilly and Novo Nordisk to implement this cap on insulin co-pays at $35 that took effect January 1.

Now, that comes, as yo for people.

And that com and after the provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act that he passed with those Medicare insulin caps took effect last year.

Now, just to add some context about the full impact of this, I want t of the numbers about insulin in the United States.

So, in the U.S., around 8.4 million diabetics need to inje to the American Diabetes Association.

The three major manufacturers we're talking abou who cap their co-pays at $35, make up more than 90 percent of the insulin market.

And the Medicare provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act mean that now about 1.7 million Medicare beneficiaries stand to benefit from that $35 monthly co-pay cap on their insulin.

So that shows the significance of what's been happening.

AMNA NAWAZ: Millions of people, right, who have to worry about this.

Are there still people who are still left out of coverage righ LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So this could impact a lot of people, but the key wh at the manufacturers did between the Medicare provision is that the Medicare au tomatic.

That means t co-pay, whereas people who under private insurance or who are not insured, who don't have insurance who may benefit from what the manufacturers did, it's not automatic.

They have to register for programs.

And it can become pretty And I spoke to Shaina Kasper, a policy director at T1International.

They advocate for insulin access.

And she said that she's fearful that manufacture going to provide this reduction in insulin cost, and that essentially what needs to happen is a federal mandate, so that way these manufacturers for uninsured patients, for people who have private insurance can benefit from a cap on their insulin cost.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, Laura, you mentioned that insulin cap for Medicare beneficiaries as part of President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act.

Are there other health care measures that are taking effect should know about?

LAURA BARRON caps and the free vaccines.

But there's a lot more t So I want to run through the timeline.

Basically, 60 million people are covered under An d so this month, in January of 2024, prescription costs of certain drugs for Medicare recipient is going to be capped at $3,300 annually.

And that's especially helpful for people like arthritis and cancer.

Then, in September of this year, public.

That was made possib drug prices with manufacturers.

And then, by 2025, that annual cap on prescription An d, in 2026, those new drug list prices that Medicare was allowed to negotiate will take effect, so people will start to feel it.

Now I spoke to Juliette Cubanski, the deputy is how she described the significance of those coming negotiated drug prices.

JULIETTE CUBANSKI, KFF: This has been for years a concern for policymakers, particularly Democrats, who thought Medicare should have the ability to negotiate drug prices with manufacturers.

But prior to So giving Medicare the ability to negotiate drug prices is meaningful, because there are 60 million people covered by Medicare, and that's a lot of leverage that the federal government now has.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: to pass a law that allows Medicare to negotiate drug prices, she's talki decades to the George W. Bush administration, when this was trying to get passed.

And for those who are concerned about the deficit, she says this has an impact on that as well.

JULIETTE CUB around $300 billion over 10 years as a result of changes in the Inflation Reduction Act, and much of that is due to the new negotiation program that Medicare is currently implementing.

So, Medicare will save money because the cost of drugs will be lower.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So what that means, Amna, is that Medicare costs for American taxpayers will also be lower, and it will as well be lower for Medicare patients.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, you have been digging into this and reporting all this to lay out all of these details.

Do most peop And I guess, politically, is President Biden getting credit f LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: So the short answer, Amna, is that, no, most people don't unde these changes that are occurring.

And part of that may be because the Infl the president passed that includes also climate change provisions and a number of other e that it appears, some Democrats say, is hard for the average voter to understand.

But I spoke to Cornell Belcher, a veteran Democratic pollster, who said that, even more than a year after the Inflation Reduction Act was passed, voters still don't quite know what's in it.

CORNELL BELC to tell, from everything from historical env legislation, to historical negotiations with pharmaceutical companies.

But, again, the challenge is, and we're seeing that in -- with the voters, is, so many of them don't know, and they're not connecting the dots.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Juliette Cubanski echoed that, Amna.

And so this is something that the Biden campaign is going to have to addres AMNA NAWAZ: Well, do we plan to hear more from them on it?

I mean, so far, the opening reelection campa Will these issues be a bigger part of their message?

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: It is going to have to pa rticularly if the president is going to close that gap in voters' perceptions around the economy.

So being abl of that economic message.

And they have spent tens of th e reduction in insulin caps, some of which highlight the ability for Medicare to negotiate drug prices.

But, still, TV ads.

CORNELL BELC in 2012 or 2008, right?

I think he's got to -- the campaign has got to l in a new way than I think we have ever had to in the past.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Ultimately, Amna, a lot of the Democratic lawmakers sa id that they want to see Biden make this message more in key battlegr early as possible.

The key difference cycle and Joe Biden's campaign is that Democrats in battleground states say that Biden's campaign is actually heeding their warnings.

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, that is ou Laura, thank you so much.

LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: Between the House GOP's government funding fight and former President Donald Trump's hold on the Republican Party, much has been made of the far right's strong sway over the GOP and its agenda.

But what doesn't get nearly as much attention is the far l Party.

I sat down l It's the focus of his latest book called "The Rebels: Elizabeth Warren, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the Struggle For a New American Politics."

Joshua Green, welcome to the "NewsHour."

JOSHUA GREEN, Author, "The Re and the Stru Thanks.

GEOFF BENNET to the 2008 financial crisis.

How was that a clarifying moment and a c JOSHUA GREEN: I mean, to me, the 2008 crash in its aftermath was the defining event in recent U.S. political history.

And then it gave rise to this ri se to Donald Trump, but also on the left, which gave rise to my characters, first Elizabeth Warren, then Bernie Sanders, who nearly succeeded in winning the Democratic nomination in 2016, and then ultimately to this new generation of younger progressives, such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the cohort around her in Congress.

GEOFF BENNETT: You mentioned Elizabeth Warren.

And in the book, you explore ho response to the financial crisis.

And, at the time, she was an unli Walk us through her evolution, based on your reporting.

JOSHUA GREEN: Yes, Warren is a fasc I got to know her just after th She was still a Harvard law professor, but of the government's bailout of Wall Street after the crash.

And she used that fairly obscure position as a platform to really go after the administration, the banks, and articulate this version of left-wing populism that really hadn't had a voice in recent American political history.

It wound up catching fire, really starting a movement.

And within a few years, even before she ran for Senate in 2012, people in Washingt talk about the Elizabeth Warren wing of the Democratic Party.

So it helped give rise to this new brand of progressivism that we saw rise up in the wake of the crisis.

GEOFF BENNET How do you view the progressive in Because you could argue that he has governed like an economic populist and in many ways far less than the centrist Democrat that he was expected to be, given his long track record.

JOSHUA GREEN: Which is really a remarkable evolution.

I mean, when I first came to Delaware, was known as a great friend of business, was sometimes jokingly referred to as the senator from corporate America.

I think Biden's evolution in particular h the White House with Barack Obama as his vice president when that first crash hit, and the when he was elected president, inherited another great economic crash that followed the COVID pandemic.

And the resp have had.

After COVID, Bid loan freezes, small business loans, but all of it focused on the middle class in a way that hadn't necessarily been true of the response to the '08 crisis.

And so, when you hear Biden speak today about the economy, he talks about building it from the middle out.

He shows up on uni He does things that would have been fairl 10, 15 or 20 years ago.

GEOFF BENNETT: What is it about the Democratic brand of populism kind of populism that Trump supporters prefer?

JOSHUA GREEN: Well, the populism that I write ab is really focused on economic populism.

And I think my last book, Tr ump in right-wing populism.

And mostly, I think that's focu immigration, America first nationalism.

Certainly, there are some economic components.

Trump is very hawkish toward trade.

He's put in place -- he put in place steel in place.

There are areas of But, to me, it the left-wing populism that I write about in this book.

GEOFF BENNETT: What about the politicians Is there a ceiling of support for progre Democrats who might support progressive policies, there hasn't been enough support from the Democratic base to propel one of the progressive politicians into the White House.

JOSHUA GREEN: You know, it's an interesting question, because, if you go back to 20 I was embedded with Warren and with Sanders for a time during the Democratic p when they were both running for president.

It seemed like in the moment that progressi one of them emerged as the Democratic nominee, partly because there were two of them running and they split the progressive vote.

But, really, I think there is a as left-wing progressives in Democratic primaries.

It's really only in deep blue places like Ocasio-Cortez's district i few other places where these true left-wing progressives, democratic socialists, have been able to get themselves elected.

But we have seen in a lot of th at they try and they fail.

So, one of the argumen may not be through these particular politicians, but through politicians like Joe Biden, who kind of code as more moderate, as more centrist, but who still take up and put into place a lot of the politics that my characters gave rise to.

GEOFF BENNETT: The book is "The Rebels: Elizabeth an d the Struggle For a New American Politics."

Joshua Green, thanks for coming in.

Good to talk to you.

JOSHUA GREEN: Thanks so much, Geoff.

Appreciate it.

AMNA NAWAZ: Mental health am especially coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many states are trying to make sure there are adequate resources for scho From PBS Wisconsin, Steven Potter reports on how peer support, school staff, and psychology researchers are trying to keep up with the growing rate of mental health issues among K-12 students in Wisconsin.

It's part of our series Early Warnings: America's Youth Me ANDY FARLEY, Principal, Brookfield East High School: I think every school principal would love to have more mental health professionals.

STEVEN POTTER: Despite having a handful of worker on staff, Andy Farley, principal of Brookfield East High School, says they still have trouble meeting the mental health needs of their 1,400 students.

ANDY FARLEY: It's never going to be enough.

STEVEN POTTER: Farley knows firsthand how can become.

A few years ANDY FARLEY: Incredibly difficult, incredibly difficult at our school level, incredibly difficult at our community level.

We all knew we had to do something.

STEVEN POTTER: They created a support network called the Hope Squad.

STUDENT: Does anyone want to share ab STEVEN POTTER: On a weekly to help their classmates stay mentally healthy, from the importance of getting enough sleep and social-emotional learning techniques to recognizing suicide warning signs.

Brookfield East sophomore Ledra Ashenbrenner is a Hope Squad member.

LEDRA ASHENBRENNER, Student: From a student standpoint, we are like the eyes and the ears of the school.

We bridge the gap betwee students are more likely to go to their peers if they're having an issue that they need help with.

KATIE EKLUND or social-emotional concern.

STEVEN POTTER: Katie Eklund is KA TIE EKLUND: But we know, out of that group, only 20 percent of those kid that support.

STEVEN POTTE suffering from anxiety and depression, including those harming themselves or considering KATIE EKLUND: Unmet mental health concerns we see often by the time kids get to high school, we see kids not coming to school, we see lower grades, we see higher incidence in the juvenile justice system, and just lower, poor psychosocial outcomes throughout life.

STEVEN POTTER: Eklund says children aren't getting the help they need because of a shortage of mental health professionals such as therapists, counselors, and school psychologists.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 70 percent of public schools say more students are seeking mental health services.

but 87 percent of those schools say they can't provide such services to all o in need.

Eklund and h with a $10 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

KATIE EKLUND: It's designed to increase the pipeline of school psyc workers and school counselors who are working in K-12 schools around the country.

STEVEN POTTER: She says the need speaks for itself.

KATIE EKLUND: In 2018, we had 60 to 70 unf We anticipate that school social workers and counselors are experiencing similar shortages, both here in the state and across the country, and that those shortages have only increased over the last five years.

STEVEN POTTER: While everyone ag ree that more mental health professionals are needed in schools, they would still ne to be paid.

And that's where the Democratic State Representative Robyn Vining increasing funding K-12 mental health services she says were well past the time for action.

STATE REP. ROBYN VINING We know that.

And so we cannot look away.

I don't believe that we can move forward right now with STEVEN POTTER: One of Representative Vining'S bills would increase state spending on mental health care services in the state'S school system by $100 million per STATE REP. ROBYN VINING suicidality.

And We're trying t this very difficult stage of life.

STEVEN POTTER: And so, at the local, state and national respond to the growing mental health needs of its youngest populations.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Steven Potter in Brookfield, Wisconsin.

GEOFF BENNETT: And that's the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: On behalf of the