GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Be Amna Nawaz i On the "NewsHour from the primary ballot for insurrection, raising more questions about the 2024 campaign.

Then, we examine the surprising resilience of the U.S. economy in 2023 and how it upended expectations of a recession.

And recent viral videos of retail theft prompt widespread c tells a different, more complex story.

NEIL SAUNDERS, GlobalData Retail: I think one of the rea so much is that it provides a narrative for things that are happening th e financials.

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

Israeli forces are widening their offensive on the Central Gaza Strip after flattening much of the north.

They targeted several refugee And the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry reports Israeli airstrikes k since yesterday.

Meantime, tens of many packing into tents hoping to find safety.

But airstrikes there left some wondering why they left their homes in the OM AR QANNAN, Displaced Gazan (through translator): We escaped from the shelling and came to Rafah, deemed a safe area.

The Israeli army followed We should have stayed at home and died there.

Why did they ask us to leave?

They are liars.

They ask you to evacuate and An d after many families gather there, they hit you.

GEOFF BENNETT: And in a rare move, Israel admitted wrongdoing airstrike on the Maghazi refugee camp that killed at least 106 people.

Israeli officials say the wrong type of munition was used.

Russia unleashed a massive, 18-hour aerial assault on Ukraine, killing at least 30 people.

More than 140 others were injured.

The barrage comes as Ukrainian officials are urgently from their Western allies.

Stephanie Sy has our report.

STEPHANIE SY: As the war in Ukraine one of the biggest air attacks since the conflict began.

ERIKA STEPANIUK, Lviv, Ukraine, Resident (through translator): The glass has been shattered.

It's everywhere.

This is a huge sho STEPHANIE SY: Russia launched more tha the region, targeting these seven cities.

In Dnipro, a maternity hospital and shopping mall were hit.

In Kharkiv, rescuers uncovered an elderly man who was pinned under the rubble of a collapsed building.

Firefighters in Kyiv were still trying to Earlier this week, the Ukrainians blew up a Russian warship in Crimea.

Ukraine says they have destroyed 20 percent of the Russian Black Sea fleet since the invasion began.

KATERYNA IVA not end well, that they would I had a premonition.

STEPHANIE SY: The war ha front lines.

The security of utilities drop.

In Poland a flying objec Officials said it seems to have been a Russian rocket, raising concerns about the implications of targeting a NATO member.

But the object left the airspace without inc WLADYSLAW KOSINIAK-KAMYSZ, Polish Minister of Def allied systems worked.

We and our allies are in ST EPHANIE SY: Western nations have provided financ patience is wearing thin.

A Ukrainian air force YU RIY IHNAT, Ukrainian Air Force Spokesperson (through translator): This is yet another sign for our partners to th at we could become the shield between the aggressor and Europe, so that we could protect ourselves and protect them.

STEPHANIE SY: American lawmakers are for their holiday break without securing any more money for Ukraine.

President Biden released a statement saying: "Unless Congress takes urgent action in the new year, we will not be able to continue sending the weapons and vital air defense systems Ukraine needs to protect its people."

As the war rolls on, Ukrainians brace for the long road ahead.

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

GEOFF BENNETT: In the day's other headlines: New landslides t Eastern Congo have killed at least 20 more people.

Several towns across the country have turned into thick piles of mud and Of ficials say more than 60 people total have died from flooding and landslides this week alone.

Observers partia Here at home, forecasters are warning of more high tide and dangerous surf conditions tomorrow in California.

The National Weather Servi coastal areas.

High tides yeste This rogue wave in Ventura, California, sent eight people to the hospital and floode Ohio's Republican Governor Mike DeWine has vetoed a measure that would have banned gender-affirming care for minors and barred transgender athletes from taking part in girls sports.

DeWine said decisions about transgender health care should be made by parents and doctors, not by the state.

Republican lawmakers hold a superm his veto.

And on Wall Street, stoc The Dow Jones industrial average lost 20 points to close at 37689.

The Nasdaq fell 84 points.

The S&P 500 shed 13.

Still to come on the "NewsHour": David Brooks and Jonathan Cap political headlines; we look at the surprising resilience of the U.S. economy in 2023 and how it upended expectations of a recession; and new research uncovers a link and between a certain hormone and severe morning sickness during pregnancy; plus, from wars to natural disasters to our political and cultural divisions, we look at 2023 through images.

Maine's top election official ruled last night that Donald Trump is constitutionally ineligible to appear on that state's primary ballot next year, citing his efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

Shenna Bellows, Ma after receiving three challenges from Maine voters, including former Republican state senators, seeking to bar Trump from the ballot.

SHENNA BELLOWS (D), Maine Secretary of State: It's a very We lay out why under Maine law the secretary of s I'm duty-bound to make this determination.

We also -- I, rather, laid out that the record demonstrates that, in fact, the events on January 6, 2021, which were unprecedented and tragic, were an insurrection in the meaning of Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.

GEOFF BENNETT: Rick Ha He's an election law expert and La w School.

Rick, thank So, Maine joins The process in Maine, where the secretary of state determines eligibility, is very different from the process in Colorado, where that was decided by that state Supreme Court.

But through what reasoning and on what judgment do both decisions rest?

RICK HASEN, UCLA School of Law: Well, you're right that the decision in Maine started administratively, but it's clear it's going to go to the courts and will ultimately be resolved by state courts and maybe the U.S. Supreme Court.

The issue in both cases is the It 's whether Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, which bars from future office wh o had pledged an oath to support the Constitution, but then engaged in insurrection or supported the U.S.' enemies, they would be disqualified from serving.

And so there's a bunch of legal questions.

Does this apply to the president, the office of the There's also the question of whether Trump engaged in insurrection.

That's more of a factual question.

The secretary of state in Maine Co urt in the earlier decision in finding that Trump is disqualified from serving in office.

It's something that involves complex, novel questions from a part of the Constitution that really was put in place after the Civil War and hasn't been used in recent times.

GEOFF BENNETT: What about Donald Trump's right to due process?

Does it matter that he's not been charged with, tried for, or convicted of RICK HASEN: It's a great point.

I think there are -- you can kind three buckets.

There are le provision.

There are fa Did Trump en And your question goes to This is what upset some of the dissenters in the Colorado decision.

Whose decision is it to make?

On what basis of evidence?

In Colorado, it was a trial court that made the determinat In Maine, it was the administrator, the chief election officer of the state, that made the determination.

Is that enou I think that's one of the go ing to have to resolve.

GEOFF BENNETT: M And Maine's GOP chairman says he disputes the idea that a single political elite -- that's the phrase that he is referring to the secretary of state -- can disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of Maine voters with one decision.

What do you make of that argument?

It's less a le RICK HASEN: Right.

I do think t Legally, there's a part of the Constitution that says that certain people are disqualified if they have participated in an insurrection.

That was adopted through a democratic process.

And that's part of our set of rules, just like o 35 years old, you can't serve as president, right?

So these are rules that were democratically adopted.

The application of those rules to the facts could be complex.

And having that decision-maker be a secretary of state, rather than a jury or so body, is maybe problematic.

But I think the broader point is going to tolerate having one of the leading candidates for president be taken off the ballot, whether that's by an administrator or by a court.

We're going to see different decisions across the country.

Unless and until we get some resolution from the U.S. Supreme Court, we're going to c to have these fights in state after state.

In some places, Trump might appear on the ballot.

In other places, he might not.

GEOFF BENNETT: And that they will weigh, not necessarily did Donald Trump engage in an insurrection, but what authority, what entity has the right to make that determination and then bar him from the ballot?

RICK HASEN: There are purely legal questions about the application to There are these factual questions and then there are these procedural Do nald Trump really only has to prevail on any one of them in order for the cour U.S. Supreme Court, to conclude that he remains on the ballot.

The challengers have to prevail on all of them.

And that's -- could be tough, especially because we don't hav to apply this part of the Constitution.

And so it's really anybody's gu myriad problems.

I think one to want to do is not have a decision, if the court takes the case, that divides on party lines, which would further inflame partisan passions in the United States.

GEOFF BENNETT: Rick Hassan, always appreciate your insights.

Thanks for speaking with us.

RICK HASEN: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: And for more on the question of whether Donald Trump should be barred from the 2024 ballot, as well as some reflections on the past year in politics, we turn to Brooks and Capehart.

That's New Y The Washington Post.

Good to see JONATHAN CAP DAVID BROOKS GEOFF BENNET to ban Donald Trump from its presidential that prevents insurrectionists from holding office.

David, what's your assessment of this decision by Maine's secre DAVID BROOKS: Yes, I thought Colorado was pretty terrible.

And I think this is an even worse thre throwing the Republican front-runner off the ballot for a crime, as you said in one of your questions, he's not even convicted of, he hasn't even been charged with.

The process should always be, voters decide, voters decide.

It should be that doubly when we have an entire democratic system is under a an d people don't trust it.

They think t If suddenly oh, the game really is rigged.

And then if you have one Democrat throwing really think some Republicans aren't going to start throwing people off the ballot somewhere else?

It's just -- I jus that Donald Trump tells, which is those liberal elites are out to get you.

And, suddenly -- I don't know if she's a liberal elite, but somebody's out to sile voice.

GEOFF BENNET of a different source?

(LAUGHTER) JONATHAN CAP I don't buy it.

The idea that this is a cabal of liber is ridiculous, one, because these challenges are being brought by Republicans.

There are Republicans who are trying to keep Donald Trump off the Republican primary ballot.

That is definitely the case in Colorado.

And the same people who brought that case Th e other thing is that these aren't random -- the Maine secretary of state random official.

This is someone who didn't just make up this decision She had a hearing a week ago, an eight-hour-long hearing, where she had all sorts of briefs, all sorts of testimony, and she came to her decision.

The key thing here is that this case is going to go before the Supreme Court, because the one thing the Supreme Court does not like is dissonance within the country.

You have got Colorado and Maine saying he's got to be off the ballot.

You have Michigan, and I believe today California said Trump is on the b You can't have a hodgepodge of decisions around the country involving something this major.

So the Supreme Court is going to have to decide this case.

And, as the Minnesota secretary of state said to me last weekend, he deciding unanimously either all states have to have him on the ballot or all states have to have him off the ballot.

But there's not going to GEOFF BENNETT: How do you think the court might weigh th DAVID BROOKS: Yes, we have an (LAUGHTER) (CROSSTALK) DAVID BROOKS but I would be shocked if the Supreme Court took Donald Trump's na The last thing the court, which already has its own credibility problems, want is be seen to tell 75 million Americans, the guy you want to vote for, you can't vote for that guy.

That would create some sort of de GEOFF BENNETT: Jonathan, how much weight do you give that question, though one person, in this case in Maine, make a determination for thousands of voters as to Donald Trump's political future?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: I mean, elections -- the r hodgepodge -- these hodgepodge of decisions is because elections are run by the states, and they have their own laws.

And, in Maine, the secretary o So this is not the end in Maine.

This is the beginning in Maine.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, as th in New Hampshire, Donald Trump's ascendant rival there, trying to clean up a response she gave when she was asked by a person at a town hall you see there in New Hampshire about, what was the cause of the Civil War?

And she did not name slavery in her response.

And, after much backlash, she later said, of course it had to do with slavery.

David, what did you make of her initial comment and then her attempt to clean it up and clarify?

DAVID BROOKS: Yes, Republican presidential candidates should not be disagreeing with Lincoln's second inaugural.

Lincoln knew this was a war about slavery.

For 30 years, we had the war.

America was split over slavery.

Then the war happened.

It was about sla Slavery ended with the I like Ron D greatest accomplishments ever.

And so I think what was disturbing about playing political games from South Carolina, that you have come from a state where a lot of people don't want to say it was about slavery.

They want to say it was about random civil An d then she had that voice in her head, and she thought the politically calculated thing to do was to give the answer she gave, rather than the honest truth.

And that is a bad moment for her.

GEOFF BENNETT: What about t object to her saying flatly and plainly that, yes, it had to do with slavery?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Yes, I agree with that.

And I agree with David.

The only thi It's a stench.

(LAUGHTER) JONATHAN CAP to secede from the union which was -- led to the Civil War over slavery, a stat had a proclamation in 1860 that said flat out, we don't -- the non-enslaving states are trying to make us give up slavery.

So, for her to do what she did, especially after what s at Mother Emanuel, probably her biggest moment on the national stage, and certainly as governor of South Carolina, stepping up and being a leader and taking down the Confederate Flag, for her to backtrack like this, I shouldn't be surprised, because she's backtracked on a lot of statements of principle, especially when she got in league with Donald Trump.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, Chris Christie agrees with you.

Here's what he told New Hampshire voters a FMR.

GOV.

CHRIS CHRIST today about this because she's dumb.

She's not.

She's smart.

And she know And she didn't say it because she's a racist, I know her well, and I don't believe Nikki has a racist bone in her body.

But for purposes of this race, the reason she did it is just as bad, if not worse, and should get everybody concerned about her candidacy.

She did it because she's unwilling to offend anyone by telling GEOFF BENNETT: So, what about that?

I mean, he's saying that she equivocates How damaging will something like that be to her standing in New Hampshire?

DAVID BROOKS: First, it's a lesson that young viewers to major in history, because our fi two topics about the Insurrection Act and the Civil War, so you should (CROSSTALK) (LAUGHTER) DAVID BROOKS GEOFF BENNETT: Yes.

DAVID BROOKS: I do I think the people who are voting for her in New Hampshire, or say they're go be voting for New Hampshire are doing it as an anti- her, and maybe they will have a moment of pause.

And she got a lot of big bucks from a lot An d maybe they will have a moment of pause.

But compared to Donald Trump, stupid, in because Donald Trump produces those by the minute.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, on this final Fr the major political threads and themes of the year.

Jonathan, you first.

JONATHAN CAP (LAUGHTER) JONATHAN CAP going to get bumpier, I think, in 2024.

We have got two huge constitutional questions that are about to come before Co urt, one, ballot access, and the other one is presidential immunity.

We have never been in a situation where those -- where the Supreme Court has had to even entertain these questions.

And the ramifications of that for the 2024 years.

This is the But, quite honestl last democratic, small-D democratic, election this country ever has.

And that's the one thing that gives me pause about 2024.

GEOFF BENNETT: David, how about you?

DAVID BROOKS: Yes, I mean, we is right now.

And, as Jona But, to me, our national situation has been salved, S- economy, by a lot of good things that are happening underneath politics.

So, economic growth is phenomenal right now.

Unemployment is low.

Inflation is down.

Income inequality is down.

Wages are up.

Real wages a And so if -- into recession, and we seem to be doing it.

And if we had not, if we had just fallen into 7 percent unemployment, imagine where the country would be?

So, just to pay tribute (LAUGHTER) DAVID BROOKS The economy And the best thi Our economy is outpacing Europe, Japan, China now.

And so there are underlying good forces in America that were all wounded by how Donald Trump wants us to feel every day.

But there's a lot of good de creasing crime rates.

And so there's just a lot GEOFF BENNETT: Well, we will end on that hopeful no (LAUGHTER) GEOFF BENNET see you again next year.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Thanks, Geoff.

Yes.

DAVID BROOKS GEOFF BENNETT: All right, take care.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: All right.

GEOFF BENNETT: Most Americans think there's more crime ago, according to a recent Gallup poll.

That's despite clear data showing violent crime has actual So, why the misperception?

Economics correspondent Paul Solman takes a deep dive be getting outsized attention.

PAUL SOLMAN: OK, a question for you: Is reta JERICKA DUNCAN, CBS News: Flash mob robberies across Los Angeles.

MAN: Just the latest in retail theft crime ring.

WOMAN: Retailers say this type of crime is reaching unprecedent JIM COOPER, Sacramento County, California, Sheriff: It is up massive.

PAUL SOLMAN: Sheriff Jim JIM COOPER: It's not even the drip, drip, drip.

It is the faucets full on, where these fo PAUL SOLMAN: Last month, Cooper took to social media to blast big box retailers for ignoring shoplifting and California's laws for being too soft on retail crime.

To prove his point, Cooper sent dozens of detectives on a weeklong crackdown, netting 285 arrests, recovering tens of thousands of dollars in stolen merchandise.

JIM COOPER: We have people going just from store to store to store.

So it's very frustrating on law enforcement's part and really the public.

The public's tired of it.

PAUL SOLMAN: But i Well, we reached out to our public, online VICTORIA, West Virginia: I have a part-time job we are seeing an increase in theft.

PAUL SOLMAN: Victoria in Athens, West Vir CARLTON, Ohio: I think all the coverage reinforces an idea in people's head that it's a bigger problem than maybe it really is.

PAUL SOLMAN: So which is it?

JEFF ASHER, AH Datalytic retail theft is going down, but that we don't have evidence to support that there's a rise, especially a surge, in retail theft.

PAUL SOLMAN: One problem, says crime overdramatize the issue.

JEFF ASHER: These problems are gett I think some of that might be just a focus on a crime with poor data.

If you have a viral video, you have a large-scale theft or a theft that turns into a violent incident, it gets hundreds of thousands or millions of clicks, millions of views.

PAUL SOLMAN: But it's also retailers themselves blaring the alarm and locking aisles upon aisles of items behind Plexiglas.

And there's the phrase were now hearing quite often, org thieves swiping merchandise, and reselling it.

Earlier this year, Target cited theft to explain closing nine stores nationwide.

But multiple analyses showed less crime at Target locations that closed, compared to ones nearby that stayed open.

Target didn't respond to our request for commen And Jeff Asher points to a report from the Council in most cities that kept good track of the data, retail theft is actually lower this year than before the pandemic.

So why the disconnect?

Underreporting, perhaps, but also sto outsized attention.

Are you suspicious of the narrative NEIL SAUNDERS, GlobalData Retail: I'm not suspicious of it.

I just wish that there were some very solid numbers to back it PAUL SOLMAN: Neil Saunders is a retail analyst with GlobalData.

NEIL SAUNDERS: I think one of the reasons retailers mentio provides a narrative for things that are happening elsewhere in the financials.

So we have had a lot of retailers this year, for example, saying, well, our profitability is slightly down, our margins are slightly down.

One of the reasons for that is because rates of theft have PAUL SOLMAN: Saunders says companies rarely give very detailed data on how much inventory they have lost, what's known as shrink.

While shrink includes theft by customers and employees, it also inc have been lost in transit or left in a warehouse somewhere.

And, yes, data from the National Retail Federation, the industry shrink up in 2022, but barely, and still in line with 2019 and 2020.

Earlier this month, the federation actually had to retract an estimate that organized retail crime accounted for nearly half of all shrink in 2021.

According to one analysis, it was actually more like 5 percent.

In a statement to the "NewsHour," the federation acknowledged the -- quote -- da ta on the scale of retail theft," but countered that the industry is spending billions to increase security, however inconvenient to shoppers and damaging to sales.

Quote: "It defies logic to suggest that all this money and energy is being invested to attack an imaginary problem or to serve a convenient narrative" -- unquote.

And, indeed, workers at three Macy's stores outside Seattle, at least, agree.

Hundreds went on strike over Black Friday weekend, saying the company wasn't doing enough to protect them from thieves.

Union worker Azia Domingo.

AZIA DOMINGO We don't know if there's a weapon.

We don't know what And it's that fear right there th safely take care of ourselves, to safely take care of our customers.

PAUL SOLMAN: Macy's response, it -- quote -- "priori -- unquote.

And it says JIM COOPER: Retail theft is a big issue right now.

PAUL SOLMAN: And in Sacramento, Sheriff even though data from California's Department of Justice shows shoplifting in the county last year was below pre-COVID levels and way below a decade ago.

JIM COOPER: Having been this job for 31 years, DOJ's data is inaccurate.

Number one, a lot of these crimes don't get reported.

The public's not reporting crimes.

These big box retailers aren't re So, if no ones filing on it, you have no id And that's really what it comes down to.

It's not down.

It hasn't be PAUL SOLMAN: For significant issue in your area, more than 60 percent said no.

But that still left a lot of yeses.

Sure, our responses are just so-called anecda analyst Neil Saunders' overall assessment.

NEIL SAUNDERS: I think it's probably fair to s to be.

The big ques of a problem is it?

I think those are the ve And we don't have a clear view on those things.

PAUL SOLMAN: But one thing does seem clear.

Viral video views are not a reliable answer to the question.

For the "PBS NewsHour," Paul Solman.

GEOFF BENNETT: 2023 was a year in which many experts got a lot of things wrong about the U.S. economy.

Many economists be rate hikes would trigger high unemployment and a recession.

Instead, inflation was cut in half.

The economy added more than 2.5 million jobs, highs.

Roben Farzad back at the year's top economic trends and what's in store for 2024.

It's good to see you, friend.

ROBEN FARZAD Thank you.

GEOFF BENNET see a recession, and the debate was over how long and how serious it would be.

That recession obviously failed to materialize.

What did economists misread?

ROBEN FARZAD: It shows y a once-in-a-generation hit, and the supply chain lockdowns and unemployment spiking to 15 percent in a week, and then moderating, and Uncle Sam throwing trillions of dollars of stimulus at the problem.

So what's going to come out of There's no neat history book And so Jerome Powell's job, I think the conventional wisdom was that, if we did inflation, the only way to truly kill it was to send the economy into a recession, potentially a deep recession, the likes of which we saw in the early '80s after that inflation.

So, the fact that we didn't see that, and we're still growing -- and, yes, there are indices that show continued misery -- I mean, it indicates probably a soft landing.

GEOFF BENNETT: Big tech stocks reclaimed their top spot as market leaders in 2023.

What fueled it?

ROBEN FARZAD coming down the pike, that it's going to put a lot of people out of work, but create millions of other new jobs.

And what do they c there, which routinely cross trillion-plus market capitalization values, which would have been unthinkable.

They are the But the problem with t I think they represent something like 30 percent of the Standard & Poor's 500 index.

So, you kind of -- right now, you live by them and you die by them.

Of course, they had a horrible year the year before.

GEOFF BENNETT: And yet, Roben, there is the economy and people's perceptions of it, what so many Americans apparently tell pollsters.

They have a -- sort of a grim view of the economy and where it's headed.

What accounts for that?

ROBEN FARZAD You knew what $20, $40 bought you at the grocery store.

And now you're still indignant that that carton of orange juice is smaller than it was before, and the price is higher, or what bread or eggs cost, or taking your kids out for pancakes on a Sunday.

And you're ancho yesteryear, we are not out of the woods.

But, in reality, that's not how inflat People are running victory laps right now, but the pace of inflat And maybe we have killed inflation, but the prices are sticky upwards, and will stay with us.

GEOFF BENNET picture of what's going to happen in 2024 in terms o ROBEN FARZAD: I mean, if we were sitting here a year ago a if we did -- would anyone have told you, Geoff, let's look at this crystal ball the four largest bank failures in history are going to happen in 2023?

And I would have said... GEOFF BENNET ROBEN FARZAD: I Gosh, who wo GEOFF BENNET ROBEN FARZAD There was too much money in the no t be FDIC-backed.

So they started moving it Bu t, you would have maybe suggested, oh, a So there are idiosyncratic things in this economy.

I think all eyes are on the Fed.

Will it really get the leeway to bring d Like, investors seem to be unanimous right now in thinking that.

Or is inflation going to stay with us far longer than anybody expected?

GEOFF BENNETT: So how will we know?

I mean, how will the Fed know hi ked them?

ROBEN FARZAD increase is falling, anybody is going to be happy about that.

They're going to know that they're locked out of the housing market.

They're going to know that a mort near the 2 or 3 percent mortgage they were able to get during the pandemic.

But the Fed has its eyes on other indicators.

I know, in his heart of hearts, Jerome Powel out of the housing market, he would do that, and not hurt credit conditions, not hurt small businesses.

In reality, And maybe you don't want to inject more stimulus into an economy th to any airport, any restaurant, any resort, right now is kind of overstimulated.

GEOFF BENNETT: Yes.

What story, what e ROBEN FARZAD: I thought that there are finally wage gains for people.

There is a sense of indication, if you were a service worker, if you were a so or someone who for years was kind of biting your tongue, never asked for a raise, that it wasn't like national fiat about a minimum wage had to prevail.

You had clout because of the conditions.

You saw what happened with UAW with s You saw what happened with UPS.

But at restaurant levels, at yo u just can't automate yourself out of these problems.

A lot of people right now cannot beg for workers The unemployment is -- unemployment rate is before -- below 4 percent.

And can you hire people without adding to inflation?

I think it's a really tricky thing to do, but there is vindicati few years ago were worth $8 or $9 an hour and now are worth maybe twice that.

GEOFF BENNETT: Roben Farzad.

I always fee (LAUGHTER) ROBEN FARZAD GEOFF BENNET ROBEN FARZAD GEOFF BENNETT: You The extent to which women experience morning sickness can vary, and those with extreme nausea and vomiting during pregnancy often face stigma when trying to receive care.

While the condition is understudied, new research is giving hope for better treatment.

Amna recently spoke with several women affected by the condition and one researcher working to understand the cause.

AMNA NAWAZ: Anywhere from 50 t sickness, but, for a smaller group, about 2 percent, it can be debilitating or dangerous.

The extreme nausea can lead to malnutrition or hospitalization, a condition known as hyperemesis gravidarum, or H.G.

for short.

But new research there could be a new treatment.

More on that in a moment, but, th is firsthand, two of whom are pregnant right now.

SARAH BREGEL, Maryland: My name is Sarah Bregel.

I'm a freelance writer and I live When I was first pregnant with my daughter, Piper, I was like a I was 24 years old.

I had no idea what was g The best way that I can describe it is essentially like y ARIEL MONTICURE-KLINE, Texas: My name is Ariel Monticure-Kline.

I'm from Fort Worth, Texas, and I'm For me, on my first pregnancy and second, which I'm currently in, I threw up 24/7, regardl if I had food or fluid in my body.

I was so violently ill that blood vessels broke in my CELINE PINA, California: My name is Celine.

I'm a depart And I'm from Bakersfield, California.

I will say, yes, this is my first I really came into this not knowing anything about what to expect.

I ended up having to go to the emergency room because I just -- I was, -- yes, I myself in the sense that I couldn't get out of -- I felt like I couldn't get out of bed.

I had zero energy.

I couldn't keep water, food down AUBREE WATSON, Michigan: My I live in Michigan and I have two children.

I was on TPN bags, which is total nutrition.

It has everything you need, so you don't have to actually eat.

I was on that for 12 hours a day.

SARAH BREGEL: No one ever said, there No one ever brought it up my first pregnancy until I was about halfway through, and I stepped on the scale, and the nurse looked at the number, and she looked at my chart and she said, no, this -- that can't be right.

And I said, no, it is.

I'm still not really keeping an ARIEL MONTICURE-KLINE: It wasn't until I adamantly advocated for myself and ended up s practices, because I didn't feel like I was being taken seriously, that I was recommended a home service.

The service here w Highly recommend.

But they not only ad They would come to my house and teach me about Zo fran is actually a medication given to chemotherapy patients.

AUBREE WATSON: I was literally throwing up 20 to 30 times a day.

I would throw up so much that it would, like, ruin the inside of my throat.

I would throw up blood.

And the only person I could ca ncer.

SARAH BREGEL -- pregnancy is miserable for people going through this.

There's not a lot of enjoyment.

It's about just making it th ARIEL MONTICURE-KLINE: I knew I wa say that I was filled with anything but fear when I found out I was pregnant.

And I'm still very much detached from my pregnancy or the idea that another baby's coming into this world.

CELINE PINA: I wish he would have understood the severity of the situation.

I feel like I -- coming into this, I knew nothing about the it was to not get to a really low point.

AUBREE WATSON: I don't think I will have any more children because I think it really affected all of us, not just me, but even my partner.

I don't think we could go through that again.

AMNA NAWAZ: Dr. Marlena Fejzo at the Keck School o California.

She's worked Dr. Fejzo, welcome.

And just put this into c How big a breakthrough is this, identify DR. MARLENA FEJZ because it tells us that there is actually something bi And a lot of people are mistreated who have this condition and told that it's all in their head or made to feel that it's their fault.

And it is also a huge breakthrough, because it gives us new ways to potentiall it and to treat it.

AMNA NAWAZ: And what does that Wh at could those new way Is that a pill that one day DR. MARLENA FEJZ who have this condition of severe nausea and vomiting, they have a lower levels of this hormone prior to pregnancy.

So, to prevent it, we would give them something to increase their le to the high levels of this hormone that people have during pregnancy.

So, that's one strategy.

And then the second strategy is to lower its action during pregnancy.

AMNA NAWAZ: And would that form of H.G., or could it also be applicable for the many, many women who suffer from morning sickness during pregnancy?

DR. MARLENA FEJZ those are the people who are going to benefit the most and have the least risk.

People with hyperemesis already have a high risk of adverse outcomes because of it, adverse maternal and child outcomes.

So, for them, it's worth it to test out the And then we would move into other people that have less severe symptoms once we know that everything is safe and we know how to do it correctly.

But it's going to take some time.

So, yes, I think so eventually, to things right.

And with tho AMNA NAWAZ: Dr. Fejzo, I know this is obviously a personal connection to this specific work.

I wonder if you wouldn't mind sharing your own experience DR. MARLENA FEJZ So, similar I could not eat, drink or move without violently vomiting.

It was really like a form of torture.

I just had to lie completely still we And I lost so much weight.

My doctor tried seven different drugs to get me to be able to eat.

So, finally, I was put on a feed the second trimester.

AMNA NAWAZ: But how does all of that inform your work now?

DR. MARLENA FEJZ So, during t turns changing my bedpan during the day, my doctor had told me that he thought that I just wanted attention from my parents and that's why they were there at my house.

So I knew that wasn't the case, but I was too weak to argue with him.

I couldn't even talk.

At one point, I had to use a buzzer because I was so weak.

And so, afterwards, after I lost the baby and I reco about it,and I saw there was so little known.

And so I knew that there was something biological.

I heard someone say it felt like being poisoned.

Yes, I could feel something was poisoning An d so I wanted to find out what that was.

And I decided to dedicate my life to figuring that out.

And now we are finally here.

So it's very rewarding.

AMNA NAWAZ: You mentioned there This has long been understudied when it come Why is that?

Why does it DR. MARLENA FEJZ One reason is because of the th for this and babies were born with limb deformities.

And so that really put a halt on pharmaceutical companies investing in researc well as doctors in using medicines to treat it, and also fear in patients of taking medicine in pregnancy.

So that stoppe But, in addition to that, of course, it is a during pregnancy, and so I feel like there is a lot of lack of research into conditions that affect only women.

And so, hopefully, that is changing now.

AMNA NAWAZ: Dr. Marlena Fejzo from the Keck School of Medicine a California, thank you so much for joining us today.

We appreciate it.

DR. MARLENA FEJZ GEOFF BENNETT: Finally tonight, we take a look back at some of the images that have defined this historic and often tumultuous year, and we hear from the photojournalists who captured them.

ANGELA WEISS I'm a staff photographer with AFP, Agence Fran Two of the biggest events I covered this year were the Trump arraignment and th I also covered the manhunt from the deadliest mass shooting of the year in Lewiston, Maine, where a shooter killed 18 people at a bowling alley, as well as at a bar and grill.

MATTHEW THAYER, The Maui News: My name is Matthew Thayer.

I work for The Maui News on the island of Maui in Hawaii August 8, there was three fires going on around the island.

We tried to do our best.

We have a sm covered maybe since Pearl Harbor.

PAULA BRONSTEIN, F And I have been covering the war in Ukraine since the beginning, mostly but I am freelance and I do a lot of feature stories that tell about humanity living against the backdrop of war.

BERNAT ARMAN I'm a Spanish photojournalist, Th is year, 2023, it's been quite an intense year in terms of breaking news.

We start with the earthquake in Turkey and Syria, which I covered the Turkish side.

And the end of the year, what we are covering along, with our colleagues, the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.

ANGELA WEISS: When I was assigned to cover th protesters.

There were p It was really chaotic.

Every day, a few photographers were allowed to So, you basically rush in, and you're facing him, and you have about 15, 20 seconds to make some photos.

And, in that And that's what we were looking for that day.

MATTHEW THAYER: As a photographer, you're tr the elements together.

And there was a Hawaiian man th He was in shock.

It was his c His family's been members of that church for 200 The breadth of the destruction and the human cost was a tragedy.

Lahaina is the beating heart of the island, as far as so much of the -- of what we do here.

And to know that i It was so hard to cover.

PAULA BRONSTEIN: When death and destruction every day.

They want to know other stories.

How are people getting on?

How is the w The amputees, how are they rebuildi I was really lucky to meet Serhi (ph) in a rehab facility in Western Ukraine, found out that his wife was about to give birth to their first son.

He's a double amputee and certainly lucky to be alive.

I have covered a lot of funerals, too many, too many to count, to be you.

And to be ab BERNAT ARMANGUE: I arrived few days after October 7.

I went to Israel to cover the funerals of the people that was killed during the H attack in the kibbutz and the festival, the protest of the relatives of the hostages demanding for the release, and some of the escalations in the West Bank.

It felt like a story that it's going to be a landmark in the history of the conflict.

PAULA BRONSTEIN: I was in Ukraine when the Israel-Hamas war started.

Many Ukrainians were saying to me: "God, now Ukraine is not even in the news.

We're going to be left behind."

ANGELA WEISS: These kind of stories are just historic.

They're absolutely important and monumental.

And they're also very challenging, just because you don't know how every day will pan out.

MATTHEW THAYER: I get emotional when I start thinking about the people and the history that was lost.

It was my -- career-changing.

The rest of my career will Every issue of the papers, stories about the fire, it's just so big and so important.

GEOFF BENNETT: And we invite you to tune into a special "Washington Week With The Atlantic" tonight on PBS.

Jeffrey Gold for the magazine's latest issue examining what a second Trump term could look like.

And on tomorrow's "PBS News Weekend": from sold-out stadium shows, the meteoric rise of some new singers, a look back at the year in music.

And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

Thanks for spending part And Amna and I will see you in 2024.