GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: coded messages from a New York prison.

An indictment reveals new details about Iran-backed operatives allegedly plotting attacks across the U.S.

and Europe.

GEOFF BENNETT: The White House counsel is threatening Democratic lawmakers over their efforts to investigate Trump administration officials.

We speak with Democratic Senator Chris Coons about the incoming era of divided government.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And Judy Woodruff delves into the transformation of the U.S.

military over the last 250 years and the impact that's had on those who've served and those who haven't.

FORMER CPL.

JEREMY VILLANUEVA, U.S.

Marine Corps: For so many, the war never leaves them, and that, long after the headlines go away, we're still in that same place.

(BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Iran's top national security official today warned the U.S.

that it would strike American bases beyond the Gulf, including in Europe, if the United States resumes airstrikes.

GEOFF BENNETT: The warning comes a day after three men were indicted in New York for allegedly plotting to attack U.S.

Air Force planes at a base in England.

One of the suspects with deep ties to Iran allegedly directed the plot from a federal detention center in New York.

The threat prompted the U.S.

to relocate bombers from the British base back in September.

Nick Schifrin has more.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The attack was livestreamed and set to propaganda music, a man throwing a Molotov cocktail at a media company critical of the Iranian regime, as, 1,500 miles away, one of the organizers watched and recorded.

It was one of multiple terrorist attacks across Europe in March and April, including the stabbing of two Jewish Londoners and another arson attack on a Jewish-owned charity that the U.S.

now says was orchestrated remotely by this man, Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, seen here in 2024 with machine guns behind him.

The U.S.

accuses Al-Saadi of working on behalf of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and the Iranian proxy group Kataib Hezbollah based in Iraq.

Earlier this year, the U.S.

alleges he planned or promoted 18 terrorist attacks in Europe, as well as a plot against a New York synagogue.

He was then arrested in August by Turkey and extradited to the United States.

But that didn't stop his plots.

The U.S.

alleges that, while behind bars in Brooklyn, he directed and paid fellow militants in the United Kingdom to drive these white vans to a British air base.

The vans pretended to be from a gas delivery and swimming pool supply business, but were actually surveilling the Royal Air Force base at Fairford.

The U.S.

alleges the plotters had bought shrapnel and chemicals that could be used for a bomb.

The plot forced the U.S.

to evacuate B-1s that had been used to bomb Iran.

And the U.S.

alleges Al-Saadi initiated the attack while he was in the Brooklyn prison while speaking to his immediate family using code words.

COLIN CLARKE, The Soufan Center: This is something that really hearkens back more to things like gangs or the mafia, right?

So, allowing mafia members or gang leaders to have conversations that are then monitored, surveilled, and acted upon.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Colin Clarke is the executive director of The Soufan Center, which focuses on terrorism.

He says the plot against Fairford highlights Iran's willingness to use terrorism and other asymmetric attacks to fight what it considers a decades-old war against the U.S.

and Israel.

COLIN CLARKE: It just shows that the Iranians are going to continue to be relentless in their pursuit of what they see as revenge, even if we were to reach a deal tomorrow, which, by the way, is highly unlikely.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And in response to the 2020 U.S.

strike that killed powerful Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani, the U.S.

has long accused Iran of trying to assassinate senior American officials.

COLIN CLARKE: The United States killed Qasem Soleimani in January 2020 and helped the Israelis find and kill the supreme leader of Iran.

And so all bets are off when it comes to Iranian vengeance.

This is something we're going to see for the foreseeable future.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And this week's indictment shows, to seek that vengeance, Iran will increasingly turn to proxies, including the Iraq-based Kataib Hezbollah.

OMAR AL-NIDAWI, Atlantic Council: Most of the Kataib Hezbollah operations in the past have been crude military operations, lobbing rockets, short-range rockets against American bases.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Omar Al-Nidawi is with the Atlantic Council's Iraq Initiative.

OMAR AL-NIDAWI: This is the first foray of -- by Kataib Hezbollah into attacks, terror-style attacks, sophisticated-style -- sophisticated attacks on European soil.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And why is that significant?

OMAR AL-NIDAWI: It definitely pulls Iraq closer into the conflict.

It also highlights Iran's increasing reliance on these factions.

NICK SCHIFRIN: A plot thwarted this time that American officials fear Iran could try to repeat.

For the "PBS News Hour."

GEOFF BENNETT: Some news to report now in the U.S.

Senate race in Mississippi.

Democrat Scott Colom has defeated incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith.

The Associated Press called the race late this afternoon as the counting of absentee and provisional ballots extended Colom's lead to nearly 5,000 votes.

President Trump won Mississippi by more than 22 points back in 2024, but a surge in Black voters and a nationwide blue wave flipped the state.

When Colom takes office in January, he will be the first Democrat to represent Mississippi in the Senate in more than 35 years and the first Black person elected statewide since post-Civil War Reconstruction.

Democrats will now hold at least 55 seats in the Senate next year, with Alaska's race still not yet called.

AMNA NAWAZ: We start the day's other headlines with Veterans Day, which was marked across the country with parades, memorial services, and other ceremonies.

REP.

MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): Thanks so much.

Happy Veterans Day.

(APPLAUSE) AMNA NAWAZ: That included a rare moment of bipartisanship on the steps of the U.S.

Capitol, as Republican and Democratic lawmakers took a moment to honor those who've served.

And, earlier, at Arlington National Cemetery, President Trump laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

In his remarks, the president paid tribute to American service members and once again defended his war in Iran.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: We won.

It's just a question of when we want to end it.

We want to make sure we have a total victory, not a 93 percent victory.

It's going to be total.

AMNA NAWAZ: Mr.

Trump also used the occasion to make the case for his proposed Triumphal Arch just outside the cemetery, saying it would be dedicated to veterans.

Yesterday, nine members of the Kennedy family sued to block construction of the arch.

They say it would cast shadows on the graves of their family members and block sight lines from the Eternal Flame at President John F. Kennedy's grave site.

Following the president's remarks, a group that included Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth were admonished by an Army sentinel at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

They were taking photos near the sacred site, which houses the remains of a World War I soldier.

As they walked away, they can be heard talking and laughing, leading to this response.

MAN: All visitors will maintain an atmosphere of silence and respect at all times!

AMNA NAWAZ: It was Hegseth's first public outing since narrowly surviving an impeachment effort in the House last night; 18 lawmakers were absent for that vote, including 11 Democrats.

Some were reportedly stuck in traffic.

Today, Democratic Whip Katherine Clark said that members who missed vote had disappointed the American people.

But PBS News confirms that the voting outcome would have been the same even if all Democrats had been present.

In Abu Dhabi, peace talks between Ukraine, Russia, and the U.S.

ended today with an agreement to exchange prisoners, but no major breakthrough on ending the war.

Top U.S.

negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff spoke to the press following roughly two hours of talks.

They were joined by Ukraine's delegation, but not the Russian side.

Meantime, in Copenhagen: VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President: Europe must be at the table.

AMNA NAWAZ: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the Danish Parliament that Europe's involvement is essential for future talks.

Russia has pushed back on this.

Kushner and Witkoff will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow tomorrow, and hope to convince him to include Europe.

In Italy, more than 6,000 schools received e-mailed bomb threats today, which authorities confirm was part of a coordinated hoax.

Hundreds of schools were evacuated, and police conducted searches classroom by classroom.

Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says the e-mails were aimed at generating alarm and concern, and that an investigation is under way.

Scotland and Ireland reported similar incidents, though no evacuations were ordered.

It follows a series of hoaxes across Europe targeting airlines and broadcasters.

In Ireland, one person has been charged after pro-Palestinian protesters confronted former President Joe Biden as he left an event in Dublin.

PROTESTERS: Blood, blood, blood on your hands!

AMNA NAWAZ: Demonstrators shouted at Mr.

Biden for his support of Israel, and video showed several objects being thrown toward his vehicles.

Police clashed with the protesters and made three arrests, though the crowd soon dispersed.

The former president was attending a ceremony at Trinity College honoring his son Hunter.

Two other men who were arrested have since been released.

In New York, search-and-rescue workers are digging through rubble this evening after the partial collapse of a three-story building in Brooklyn.

Footage from the scene shows a large emergency response in the Flatbush neighborhood.

Local reports cite fire officials as saying at least one person was killed and several others injured, though the "News Hour" has not been able to confirm that.

Fire officials say the collapse occurred this afternoon in an area where construction had been taking place.

A grand ocean liner that once crossed the seas as the fastest of its kind will be starting a new life under the water as the world's largest artificial reef.

The S.S.

United States is being intentionally sunk off the Florida Panhandle coast.

It's part of a multimillion-dollar project to lure divers and fishing enthusiasts to the area and to create a habitat for Marine life.

In 1952, the ship set a speed record on its maiden voyage.

It went on to cross the Atlantic more than 800 times, carrying presidents, Hollywood stars, and even royalty.

But a rise in air travel hurt demand and it ended up mothballed at a Philadelphia pier.

The ship will rest some 180 feet below the water's surface, joining some 500 other artificial reefs.

On Wall Street, today, stocks ended higher thanks to a rebound in AI stocks.

The Dow Jones industrial average added roughly 250 points.

The Nasdaq jumped more than 1.5 percent.

The S&P 500 has now recovered nearly all of last week's losses.

And Stacy Keach, the prolific actor, famous for his role as private investigator, Mike Hammer, has died.

ACTOR: You're hurting me.

STACY KEACH, Actor: I'll make a note.

AMNA NAWAZ: He played the tough guy detective for nearly 15 years across multiple TV series and films.

He was also nominated for a Tony, and took on a diverse range of roles, from Hamlet to Hemingway, across six decades on stage and on screen.

But his career almost came off the rails in 1984, when he spent six months in a U.K.

prison for smuggling cocaine.

His wife says Keach died peacefully after a long and difficult battle with a heart condition.

Stacy Keach was 85 years old.

Still to come on the "News Hour": the Justice Department sees a major shakeup in the wake of Democrats' midterm victories; a new book details how companies are using AI to charge customers more; and a look behind a new film about a football game played by World War II soldiers in the Pacific.

As Democrats gear up to take control of Congress, the White House is threatening them over planned investigations into the Trump administration.

In a letter this week, the top White House lawyer warned the likely incoming House Oversight chair, Robert Garcia, that aggressive oversight of the administration -- quote -- "may cross the line into blatant criminality."

It comes amid a wave of high-profile resignations within the Justice Department following last week's Democratic wins and reporting that there are more to come.

Here to discuss this is Devlin Barrett.

He's a New York Times reporter who covers federal law enforcement.

Welcome back.

Good to see you.

DEVLIN BARRETT, The New York Times: Thanks for having me.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let's start with this letter.

Is there any basis for the White House to be threatening members of Congress for their oversight?

DEVLIN BARRETT: Look, as a legal document, it doesn't mean very much.

As a political document, it's quite important, because it's sending the message about how much the White House plans to fight these investigations.

We have already seen the administration fight even judicial inquiries about what the administration has done.

So I take this letter to basically mean, we intend to fight every subpoena you send us.

AMNA NAWAZ: Related to that, we saw the attorney general, Todd Blanche, over the weekend say that Democrats' talk about investigating some of the administration was akin to outright threats and that some of those could be considered a crime.

Do you see the attorney general launching probes into Democratic lawmakers who are engaged in oversight?

DEVLIN BARRETT: Well, we have already seen them launch probes into Democratic lawmakers for very shaky premises.

For example, there was an attempt to get an indictment on lawmakers who made a video talking to military officers about not following illegal orders.

I don't think there's any reason to expect they will stop launching investigations of Democratic lawmakers.

But I think, when it comes to this particular fight over investigations, they're going to be very hard-pressed to craft a sort of criminal theory of why a congressional investigation is in any way a crime.

They haven't articulated that certainly.

The letter really doesn't, nor does Blanche in his comments.

AMNA NAWAZ: Devlin, let's talk about some of those resignations, several high-profile folks leaving their jobs in the last week, and some were very strong enforcers of the president's agenda, among them Harmeet Dhillon, who was the president's former personal lawyer and led the Civil Rights Division to DOJ, Jason Quinones, who oversaw investigations into the president's opponents.

Brett Shumate was central in attacking DEI programs, and John Eisenberg oversaw national security at the Department of Justice.

What do we know about why they're leaving and why now?

DEVLIN BARRETT: First of all, it's not completely out of the ordinary for senior DOJ officials to leave after an election, to leave after two years.

But, obviously, this is a very different type of Department of Justice in the Trump administration.

And I think what you're seeing here in a lot of these cases is senior officials who, for very different reasons, each sort of unique to their own jobs, did not live up to some of the expectations that the White House set for them or even that Todd Blanche set for them, particularly when you look at the U.S.

attorney in Miami, who's in charge of this grand conspiracy investigation of former officials.

There's been a lot of disappointment by the White House that that hasn't produced more in the way of criminal charges or accusations.

AMNA NAWAZ: You think that they were forced out of these rules or asked to leave?

DEVLIN BARRETT: Our reporting shows that there is a significant amount of displeasure from senior officials with the U.S.

attorney in Miami who just left.

And there were significant disagreements in some of these other issues like national security, like civil rights.

AMNA NAWAZ: Permanent replacements for those roles would require Senate confirmation.

With the incoming Democratic majority, how do you see that playing out?

DEVLIN BARRETT: Well, that's why these departures are categorically different than many other administrations, because it's going to be extremely hard to confirm someone in these top jobs that the president would like to have in these top jobs.

So it may be that, for the people who stay in the Trump Justice Department, they may be in a sense locked in for a long -- for the rest of the ride.

AMNA NAWAZ: There's also this reporting that the DOJ warned its field office leaders in a meeting earlier this week to prepare to be on -- quote -- "wartime footing" when Democrats take over or to leave if they couldn't do that.

When you hear that, combined with these resignations, what do you think we should expect to see from the Department of Justice?

DEVLIN BARRETT: So one thing is, this happened in the type of call where the person -- the senior official doing these calls does a lot of this sort of rhetoric.

Like, to many of the career staff, it comes across as wild rhetoric.

But this kind of rhetoric is not that unusual for this senior official.

But what's really interesting here is, the elections had consequences for the Justice Department.

And one of those consequences is states like Texas are now going to be run by Democratic officials.

Until now, states like Texas have been very cooperative with the Trump administration on issues related to ICE and immigration.

You have already seen local officials in Texas say they are going to cut back on that cooperation.

So I think what you're seeing in terms of statements like that is, you're seeing from Stephen Miller on down, this administration is preparing for more arguments and more fights with local officials, similar to the ones that they have had with officials, for example, in Minnesota.

And, politically speaking, in some ways, Texas just became Minnesota.

AMNA NAWAZ: The Democrats are also preparing their agenda for the when they assume the majority in both chambers of Congress.

The idea of impeaching Todd Blanche, attorney general, has also been raised by a couple of lawmakers, including Jamie Raskin, who's poised to become the chair of the House Judiciary Committee.

How likely is that kind of move, based on your reporting, and how is that resonating within the Justice Department?

DEVLIN BARRETT: Todd Blanche has overseen a drastic set of changes at the Justice Department, causing mass departures, mass firings, and there is a tremendous morale problem within the rank and file of the department.

Nobody really, I think, has a great read on what Congress is going to do.

I think we're now -- that letter we talked about earlier shows that everyone is sort of like drawing lines and talking tough.

But, at some point, Congress is going to have to show up and cast votes, and we will see then how much they are willing -- which officials they really want to go after.

Obviously, Pete Hegseth is another important target at the Pentagon.

The Democrats are going to have to make some decisions and make -- decide priorities about who they want to really go after.

AMNA NAWAZ: We will be following your reporting, for sure.

Devlin Barrett of The New York Times, always great to see you.

Thank you.

DEVLIN BARRETT: Thanks for having me.

GEOFF BENNETT: As Democrats prepare to take control of Congress, Delaware Senator Chris Coons is poised to become chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

A staunch supporter of Ukraine and a critic of President Trump's war with Iran, Coons comes to the role at a consequential moment for American foreign policy.

And Senator Coons joins us now.

Welcome back to the program.

SEN.

CHRIS COONS (D-DE): Thank you, Geoff.

Great to be on with you again.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, as we said, you are set to chair Senate Foreign Relations with the U.S.

at war with Iran, with Russia's war in Ukraine continuing.

There is growing national concern over artificial intelligence.

As Democrats prepare to take control of Congress, what are your top foreign policy priorities?

And where do you most want to change the administration's course?

SEN.

CHRIS COONS: So, Geoff, as I was campaigning up and down the state of Delaware in the last few months, I heard over and over that folks' top concern was their costs.

And when I asked, why do you think your costs have gone too high, they would say Trump's tariff war with Canada and Trump's illegal or immoral war against Iran.

I heard that over and over from voters.

So finding a way that we can deliver on that to lower their costs by repealing Trump's tariffs, by ending the war in Iran, by improving wages and the way that wages are growing and rebuilding our alliances globally will be among the top priorities for me.

As has recently been covered, there is an intersection between corruption in the Trump White House and this latest scandal involving AI.

The Trump White House was in bed with Nvidia, the largest, most important chip manufacturing company that makes advanced AI chips, and the CEO of Nvidia was in bed with a Chinese spy.

Despite hearing that months ago, leaders in the Trump administration failed to warn that this was an urgent national security issue.

So, to me, we need to both have some oversight and investigations about recent developments in Nvidia and China and AI, actions by Elon Musk to control whether or not Ukraine can defend itself using his Starlink system, and we have to knock down the tariffs that have raised people's costs.

GEOFF BENNETT: On Nvidia, The Wall Street Journal is reporting exclusively tonight that Nvidia's board is preparing to oust the CEO, Jensen Huang, over what are now two reported affairs, one with an employee and the one that you mentioned with the suspected Chinese spy.

Nvidia, as you know, the it's central to the AI economy.

Huang is practically synonymous with that company.

Given how much is riding on Nvidia's success, how concerned are you about the fallout and the disruption to the broader economy?

SEN.

CHRIS COONS: I'm concerned.

Frankly, the reason we have continued to have a strong stock market and, to the extent there's been a strong economy, it's all rested on huge investments in AI data centers and in the future of the AI economy.

The underlying American economy has been quite weak.

In fact, some have argued it's in a recession, except for the investments in AI.So the central role that Nvidia and Nvidia designed and manufactured chips play is a core concern for me, in particular the urgency of putting limits on exporting Nvidia's chips to China.

I have a bipartisan bill with Senator Ricketts that would put guardrails on those exports.

It is called the SAFE Chips Act.

And part of what is so concerning to me about these recent allegations about Nvidia -- look, I'm not that interested in the salacious details of the private life of the CEO of Nvidia.

I'm very interested in why credible reports of a national security threat were not acted on, and Jensen Huang was allowed to continue advocating for the export to China of some of his most advanced chips, in particular to the company represented by the Chinese spy.

GEOFF BENNETT: I want to ask you about this effort to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, which failed yesterday in the House.

Should Democrats revive that effort when you take control of both chambers next year?

SEN.

CHRIS COONS: Look, Geoff, my hope is that President Trump will read the tea leaves, recognize that Secretary Hegseth, more than anyone, is responsible for giving him bad advice about the war in Iran and the current situation we find ourselves in, with no easy or positive way to get out of the war with Iran, and fire him and replace him.

I do think that there will be another effort in the House to impeach and remove Secretary Hegseth.

But, frankly, what would be best for our country is to just move on to new leadership.

Secretary Hegseth has fired dozens of senior flag-rank officers across the Pentagon with no justification or explanation in a way that has demoralized and weakened the senior ranks of the American military at exactly the moment when we can least afford that.

I think it's time for those firings to move to the secretary level and for Trump to find a next secretary of defense who can be confirmed by the Senate.

GEOFF BENNETT: Speaking of new leadership, I want to ask you about your party's own leadership.

The midterms delivered this overwhelming vote for change, and you have senators as far apart ideologically as Bernie Sanders and Elissa Slotkin Democrats, obviously, both calling for Chuck Schumer to step aside a Senate Democratic leader.

Our audience is seeing a press conference they held yesterday over in the Senate.

Do you believe that Senator Schumer is the right person to lead your caucus in the next Congress?

SEN.

CHRIS COONS: So, we're in the middle of vigorous caucus discussions about this.

And let me point out that there may have been a press conference where they are both calling for change.

Neither of them are offering themselves as the alternative leader.

There's no clear candidates stepping forward yet to say, I would prefer to be the leader of the Senate caucus.

And, as you just commented, we picked up likely seven seats, especially with the announcement today that CNN has called the election in Mississippi for Scott Colom.

I am optimistic about what our new majority can deliver for the American people.

I think fighting publicly over who our next leader ought to be is a distraction from coming together around a common, concrete, simple goal.

And I will point out that this remarkable seven-seat new majority, this pickup of seven seats, was powered by senators Gillibrand and Blunt Rochester and Kelly, and, yes, Senator Schumer, and their very successful fund-raising and candidate recruitment efforts as part of the DSCC team and our caucus leadership.

So we are going to discuss this several more times before there's any vote in December.

And I welcome input and the opportunity to hear from anyone else who might consider stepping forward to be caucus leader.

GEOFF BENNETT: Understood.

What does it say about Democrats' willingness to embrace change if after an election like this the party keeps the same leadership?

SEN.

CHRIS COONS: Well, it would reflect the fact that Senator Schumer led our caucus to success in the election.

But I do respect the fact that there are young voices, there are newer voices in our caucus, obviously, folks like James Talarico, who I hoped and prayed would be successful in his election in Texas, but I wasn't certain.

And he certainly has hit the national stage with prominence and energy and optimism.

We have got new Democratic senators in states like Iowa and Kansas where I never thought we'd have a Democrat again in my lifetime.

And a lot of these folks are new to our caucus.

We're just getting to know them and hear from them in our caucus deliberations.

And I do think there needs to be a role in our caucus leadership for some of the newer, younger generation of voices.

GEOFF BENNETT: Democratic Senator Chris Coons joining us from Wilmington, Delaware, tonight, always good to speak with you.

Thanks.

SEN.

CHRIS COONS: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: And we should note that we also extended an interview invitation to Senator Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and we hope to bring you that conversation soon.

AMNA NAWAZ: Companies have always tried to maximize profits, but now there are a host of sophisticated tools to adjust the price of goods and services.

But at a time when so many Americans are frustrated with rising costs, those tools are under greater scrutiny.

Our economics correspondent, Paul Solman, explains how that technology is transforming the prices we pay.

PAUL SOLMAN: A simple experiment; 400 shoppers across the U.S.

logged in to Instacart and bought the same 20 items from the same stores, then took screenshots of their carts.

The result?

LINDSAY OWENS, President and CEO, Groundwork Collaborative: Seventy-five percent of items in the cart were offered at different price points to different shoppers in the exact same pickup location at the exact same time.

PAUL SOLMAN: Lindsay Owens, who heads Groundwork Collaborative, in conjunction with researchers at Consumer Reports and More Perfect Union, had discovered an experiment Instacart was running on shoppers.

LINDSAY OWENS: To test how much they could charge them for every item in their carts without their knowledge.

The price point differences were as much as 23 percent.

PAUL SOLMAN: Soon after it became public, Instacart halted the experiment and explained -- quote -- "Those tests raised concerns, leaving some people questioning the prices they see on Instacart.

That's not OK."

But Owens says plenty of firms are OK with variable pricing, and not just to experiment.

LINDSAY OWENS: Age-old impulses to nickel-and-dime you or squeeze you or turn a profit have been supercharged by new technologies.

PAUL SOLMAN: Instead of one price for a good or service, companies can now use algorithms to jiggle their prices based on your personal data.

LINDSAY OWENS: They might be able to collect your location from where you log on, your I.P.

address, if you're shopping online.

They may have detailed information about your purchase history because you shop there regularly, you use a loyalty card, or you log in to an app before you make a purchase.

They may be able to ascertain or try to guess demographic information about you.

PAUL SOLMAN: Owens' new book, "Gouged," expands on her work at Groundwork Collaborative, a consumer advocacy group.

ELIZABETH PANCOTTI, Groundwork Collaborative: We did a dive into 315 patents.

PAUL SOLMAN: Walmart patent applications for customer tracking tech, for instance.

ELIZABETH PANCOTTI: We found evidence of Walmart creating the technology that can connect to your Apple Watch or other kind of wearable device and look at things like your heart rate, what your blood sugar is, and they talk about using that in the ice cream aisle.

And so when you open the freezer door, you grab your favorite pint of Ben and Jerry's.

They know which one makes your blood sugar spike or drop or your heart rate responds.

PAUL SOLMAN: Walmart plans to install digital price tags in all U.S.

stores by the end of the year, which could allow them to change prices in a heartbeat.

But in an open letter, Walmart executive Dan Bartlett said -- quote -- "Walmart does not and will not use an individual customer's personal information, income, shopping history, urgency, or willingness to pay to set an individualized price."

And so a reasonable question, will they or won't they?

Owens says so-called personalized pricing technology is everywhere these days.

LINDSAY OWENS: Data gathering, cloud computing, machine learning, such that, when they gather all that information, they can try to figure out what it means about you.

PAUL SOLMAN: To prove the point: ELIZABETH PANCOTTI: So everyone's going to add a Big Mac meal with a medium Coke.

PAUL SOLMAN: Owens, her staff, and I ordered the same meal on Uber Eats from the same location to the same delivery address at the same time.

I have got my total?

Yours.

WOMAN: Yes, mine is $19.25.

PAUL SOLMAN: Nineteen twenty-five.

WOMAN: Eighteen seventy-eight.

ELIZABETH PANCOTTI: Twenty sixty-nine.

LINDSAY OWENS: Whew.

WOMAN: Twenty-two thirty-five.

WOMAN: Eighteen thirty-five.

PAUL SOLMAN: And I have got $22.55.

What could possibly explain?

LINDSAY OWENS: For most of us, it looks like they're varying the fees.

And this is Uber's cut, right?

PAUL SOLMAN: All of us were charged $13.59 for the meal.

It was Uber Eats' delivery fees that varied.

LINDSAY OWENS: I have $2.49 for the delivery fee.

PAUL SOLMAN: I'm $3.49 here.

ELIZABETH PANCOTTI: I'm $4.49 for -- this is the exact same location.

PAUL SOLMAN: So the algorithm is all over the place because it's so many variables that it can make this kind of discrimination?

LINDSAY OWENS: Yes, look, it could be random.

Like we could all be subject to what is effectively a pricing experiment.

It's a little hard for us to know.

We can't get entirely under the hood of their process.

PAUL SOLMAN: Uber did not respond to our request for comment.

But how to explain these?

LINDSAY OWENS: Expedia was shown to be charging individuals who logged on from the San Francisco Bay Area more for the exact same Manhattan hotel room than individuals who logged on from what they viewed to be less affluent areas of the country.

Another example, Target changing the price in the app as you approach the store.

They think you're getting closer to the store, you're probably going to spring for the purchase.

You're in the parking lot, you're definitely going to spring for the purchase.

PAUL SOLMAN: Now, look, I had a question out of economics 101.

Why shouldn't a company charge me as much as I'm willing to pay?

LINDSAY OWENS: I don't want to be charged the maximum amount I can pay for every single ingredient when I make a lunch sandwich, right, like, the maximum I could fork over for the mustard, the maximum I could fork over for the turkey, the maximum for the cheese, the maximum for the bread.

Prices in this country used to be more tethered to things like the underlying cost of making the good.

Add a fair margin on top, put a sticker on it.

PAUL SOLMAN: And here's another unfairness, says Owens.

NARRATOR: Harness your data to drive results.

PAUL SOLMAN: Firms can now use software to coordinate prices, apartment rentals, gas prices.

WOMAN: Welcome to McDonald's.

Will you be using your mobile app today?

PAUL SOLMAN: And fast-food.

LINDSAY OWENS: McDonald's is pushing algorithmic pricing recommendations to the franchisees.

And one of the things they talk about in the earnings calls is how good the adoption is, meaning how many of the franchisees take the recommended prices that are coming from H.Q.

PAUL SOLMAN: McDonald's was recently sued for price fixing.

The company's comeback -- quote -- "Optional tools are available to franchisees to help them make the best decisions for their businesses and customers.

But these tools do not automate, coordinate, or fix pricing in any way."

But consider how easy it is to actually finagle with pricing.

LINDSAY OWENS: It's virtually costless to change pricing on the electronic menu boards.

All sorts of inputs could go into that, whether local income, traffic.

PAUL SOLMAN: When Wendy's adopted electronic menu boards: LINDSAY OWENS: The CEO told investors that they were going to be experimenting with dynamic pricing as well.

KIRK TANNER, Former CEO, Wendy's: We will begin testing more enhanced features like dynamic pricing and daypart offerings, along with A.I.-enabled menu changes.

LINDSAY OWENS: So the public hated this idea that Wendy's was going to be changing prices based on time of day or traffic or weather, things like that.

And consumer backlash was swift.

PAUL SOLMAN: More than 80 percent of Americans believe that businesses should charge all customers the same price for the same item.

And that was true 40 years ago, when Nobel laureate economist Richard Thaler and colleagues asked consumers about the fairness of several pricing scenarios.

RICHARD THALER, University of Chicago: A hardware store has been selling snow shovels for $15.

The morning after a blizzard, they raise the price to $20.

It's not fair.

As you might guess, most people, like 80 percent of people, say, no, that's not fair.

PAUL SOLMAN: And thus, argues Taylor, if customers think they're being treated unfairly, they will take their business elsewhere.

RICHARD THALER: People don't like it, and if firms are caught doing it, there will be some price to pay.

And whether that price will be enough to make them stop is an empirical question.

PAUL SOLMAN: So, in the end, will it be enough or not?

For the moment, the use of pricing technology seems only to be growing.

And that raises a last question, what's a consumer to do?

LINDSAY OWENS: Sit down with your spouse before you book your airline tickets.

There's a decent chance one of you will get a better price.

Go with the person who gets a lower price.

The other thing I say, change how you comparison shop.

Sometimes, you will be offered a different price point in the brick-and-mortar store, online, in the app, with the loyalty points.

We have seen examples of consumers using a VPN to change their location, and sometimes that can result in a better deal.

We have seen examples of individuals who get a better deal when they're not logged into their loyalty program.

The company knows so much about your habits and purchase history that they know maybe you're a sure thing.

PAUL SOLMAN: Owens also has policy proposals.

They include a ban on using shopper data to set prices.

But, for now -- "Lion King" on Broadway for tomorrow night -- consumer protection... WOMAN: I have got $271.

PAUL SOLMAN: ... seems to be up to us consumers.

ELIZABETH PANCOTTI: Two eighty-two.

LINDSAY OWENS: Ooh.

PAUL SOLMAN: For the "PBS News Hour," Paul Solman in Washington, D.C.

GEOFF BENNETT: Over the last 250 years, the U.S.

military has helped shape the nation's history from the fight for independence to its emergence as the world's leading military power.

But, as our military reach has grown, fewer Americans are serving in uniform.

This Veterans Day, Judy Woodruff explores what that means for the country in her series Crossroads: America at 250.

JUDY WOODRUFF: So this is your first deployment.

FORMER CPL.

JEREMY VILLANUEVA, U.S.

Marine Corps: My wife had made these nice illustrations, and she listed right here all the things that I had missed.

Daniel being born was a big one.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Jeremy Villanueva had been a U.S.

Marine for just a year when the 9/11 attacks happened.

FORMER CPL.

JEREMY VILLANUEVA: The idea of being in the United States Marine Corps as an infantryman suddenly became very, very real.

JUDY WOODRUFF: He was newly married with a baby on the way.

FORMER CPL.

JEREMY VILLANUEVA: They put us on a boat and we sailed out December 1, and my son was born December 17.

And I didn't get to see him until he was 6 months old.

ENSIGN DANIEL VILLANUEVA, U.S.

Navy: I always wanted to join the Amphib Navy, so Marines would be on board, and I could feel a little bit closer to my dad and what he went through when he was on board a Navy ship.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Today, that son is a Navy officer and has served aboard the same kind of ship that once carried his father overseas to fight the war on terror.

From the Revolutionary War, when Americans took up arms to fight for freedom to today's war with Iran, military service has helped shape what it means to be an American.

But today's military looks dramatically different.

From small localized forces that relied heavily on volunteers, it has grown into six branches with more than two million uniformed personnel.

COL.

GREG DADDIS (RET.

), Texas A&M University: We're moving from a regional power to a global power.

JUDY WOODRUFF: At the National Guard Memorial Museum in Washington, we talked about that history with retired Army Colonel Greg Daddis of Texas A&M University and Katherine Kuzminski of the Center For a New American Security.

KATHERINE KUZMINSKI, Center For a New American Security: While there was a U.S.

military, the concept was much more localized at the state level.

We shifted from a mixed force of conscripts and volunteers to the all-volunteer force.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But as the country expanded, so did its military reach.

COL.

GREG DADDIS (RET.

): I think, from a historical standpoint of thinking of Native Americans as being national threats, but, in fact, we were invading other nations, and that impulse continues after the late 1890s as we move into Spanish colonies and Cuba and the Philippines, and then just continue that outward expansion, especially with the two World Wars.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Fighting wars on a much larger scale required more troops.

The draft brought millions of American men into military service.

KATHERINE KUZMINSKI: The beginning of World War I, we saw the first real melting pot of the entire U.S.

Army specifically thinking about the United States as a fighting force in the world.

We, of course, had to induce a draft to make that happen in World War I and then again in World War II.

We saw that draft take us through the Vietnam War.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But, eventually, it went away.

KATHERINE KUZMINSKI: It wasn't politically tenable to the American population that we are sending our sons, because the draft was only for men, to fight the nation's wars without the broader public say in the use of those forces.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But after the war in Vietnam, there was a big shift.

The military became a smaller, all-volunteer professional force.

KATHERINE KUZMINSKI: We're able to have a smaller force because we rely on a number of factors of national power, to include our economy, our ability to raise and develop ambassadors and diplomats, and we lean on all of those measures of national power, and then we can leverage this professional military.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And the backbone of that military is increasingly made up of families like the Villanuevas, who pass down the tradition of service from one generation to the next.

According to Pentagon data, more than three in four new Army recruits had a family member who also served.

COL.

GREG DADDIS (RET.

): Serving in the military itself has become a family business.

When I'm teaching at West Point and the cadets that I have in class, their mothers have gone to West Point, their fathers have gone to West Point, and there's just now a very strong tradition of those who are serving, that their sons and daughters will follow in their footsteps.

FORMER CPL.

JEREMY VILLANUEVA: My dad worked until the day he died in a factory, so that I could go and I could serve my country, and I didn't have to worry about the same things that they had to worry about.

And I went and enlisted in the military so that my son could go ahead and commission into the military.

ENSIGN DANIEL VILLANUEVA: Family service was encouraged throughout my childhood, both from my father and my uncles and my cousins.

So joining the military wasn't that big of a question when I was a kid.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But that tradition may be weakening.

A 2025 Blue Star Families survey found just 37 percent of active duty family respondents would recommend service to a young relative, down from 55 percent in 2016.

FORMER CPL.

JEREMY VILLANUEVA: Unless you have lived through it, you can't fully appreciate what that sacrifice actually is.

The hardest thing for that parent is that we know exactly what that person is going to have to sacrifice.

And to see your own child make that same sacrifice, it's hard.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The Villanueva family knows the cost of military service.

Just seven months after returning home in 2002, Jeremy deployed again, this time to Iraq.

His wife, Michelle, was left at home with their young son.

MICHELLE VILLANUEVA, Military Spouse: As a mom, as a wife, we don't get a lot of thank-yous for the things that we did, the sacrifices that we did.

We lost a lot.

We lost a lot of time because of the war.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Now their son is experiencing some of those same challenges himself.

ENSIGN DANIEL VILLANUEVA: I'm going to have to miss out on Thanksgiving.

I will be missing out on Christmas.

Everything that's happened from February until August, I missed out on.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Today, fewer than 1 percent of people in the U.S.

serve in the military, and that means, for many, the wars these service men and women are fighting are far removed from their daily lives.

COL.

GREG DADDIS (RET.

): And I think many Americans, unfortunately, will just say thank you for your service, and that's where the conversation ends, and I don't need to do much more than show my gratitude in a public space.

And with that, then, I think Americans are more and more hesitant to question issues of national security.

If the armed forces become more insular, then those who are going off to war become more invisible to the larger whole.

And invisible wars then have a tendency to turn into forever wars, in my estimation, that the less that war is seen by American citizens, the less likely they are to ask questions about it.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But for those who fought those wars, the costs are harder to ignore.

Jeremy Villanueva now works with the organization Paralyzed Veterans of America.

FORMER CPL.

JEREMY VILLANUEVA: For so many, the war never leaves, and that long after the headlines go away and America moves on and moves on to a different conflict, we're still in that same place.

And for many of us, we will -- we're still serving.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And on this Veterans Day, Daddis has a message for Americans who haven't served in uniform.

COL.

GREG DADDIS (RET.

): It's a moment to reflect on your relationship with those who are serving.

And that relationship comes with the responsibility, to be an American worth fighting for, to not get so hyped up about this politicization and realize that we're all bounded together in one way.

And that, to me, is one of the incredible benefits of military service.

JUDY WOODRUFF: For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Judy Woodruff in Washington.

GEOFF BENNETT: Also on this Veterans Day, the themes of service to country and reflection on humanity are at the center of a new film.

AMNA NAWAZ: Special correspondent Mike Cerre caught up with some of the forces behind the film "Mosquito Bowl" and the real historical event on which it's based for our arts and culture series, Canvas.

MIKE CERRE: Purdue's "Touchdown Tony" Butkovich was the country's leading rusher in 1943, and a first-round NFL draft choice.

He is portrayed in the film by Ray Nicholson.

RAY NICHOLSON, Actor: I want to play for the New York Giants.

I want to live the hell out of my life.

Ultimately, that's what this movie's about.

It's about this invincibility of youth, feeling like you're on top of the world, the world's at your fingertips.

MIKE CERRE: World War II forever changed the world for many college football stars like Tony Butkovich, who put their promising careers on hold to serve their country.

PAT MCAFEE, Actor: I have heard some of you have vacated your football dreams to chase a higher glory and serve in the United States Marine Corps.

Is that accurate?

RAY NICHOLSON: Sir, it is this recruit' desire to protect and defend my country, sir!

MIKE CERRE: The Mosquito Bowl was an actual football game played on Guadalcanal on Christmas Day, 1944, between two Marine regiments loaded with top college and pro football players.

The film is based on the bestselling book by Buzz Bissinger, the celebrated author of "Friday Night Lights."

BUZZ BISSINGER, Author, "The Mosquito Bowl": I'd like to think that "Friday Night Lights," when I wrote it, and also "Mosquito Bowl," it was never about football as football.

It was about football as a vehicle for something else.

ACTOR: Gentlemen, the hopes and dreams of an entire town are riding on your shoulders.

MIKE CERRE: Like their previous "Friday Night Lights" collaboration, Bissinger and director Peter Berg use football in this film as a microcosm of American life and the times.

PETER BERG, Director: It's a reflection on humanity, on life, on love, on death that has combat in it, that has football in it.

MIKE CERRE: The film refers to their new Marine teammates as the greatest American offensive line in history for the Marines' island-hopping campaign in the Pacific, starting with their terrifying landing on Tarawa, and eventually reuniting his former college teammates and opponents on Guadalcanal for that Christmas Day football game to boost morale.

BRENT COMER, Actor: I think there's a time in everybody's life, hopefully, where someone feels called to lend themselves to something that's bigger than themselves.

MIKE CERRE: Brent Comer plays George Murphy, the tight end and captain of Notre Dame's 1942 team and captain of the 29th Marines Team on Guadalcanal.

CPL.

NEAL MCCALLUM (RET.

), U.S.

Marine Corps: In my company, we had five football standouts.

MIKE CERRE: Former Corporal Neal McCallum was only 18 when he was on Guadalcanal.

Now 99, he is believed to be the last surviving spectator of the Mosquito Bowl.

CPL.

NEAL MCCALLUM (RET.

): But they were not playing touch, they were tackling.

And this is what the commander of the Fourth Marines was afraid of, because that football fail was manicured from coral.

It was coral.

So if you hit the deck there, yes, you were pretty well bloodied up, you know.

MIKE CERRE: Director Peter Berg first learned about the Marines' ethos, central to the film, from his father, who was a Marine in Korea.

Author Buzz Bissinger is also the son of a Marine.

He only discovered through his book research that his father was on Guadalcanal and probably at the Mosquito Bowl.

BUZZ BISSINGER: Knowing my father, he loved football, he loved the drink, which they allowed them to do for the game, and he loved to gamble, so it was the trifecta.

But this was never intended as a football film.

MIKE CERRE: Director Berg also plays the part of their commanding general.

PETER BERG: I would love to tell you there will be no more casualties, no more deaths.

That's not true.

There will be more deaths.

MIKE CERRE: The last major battle of the war on Okinawa in 1945 was one of the costliest.

More than 12,000 American soldiers, 100,000 Japanese soldiers, and 100,000 civilians died on Okinawa.

Nearly a quarter of the Mosquito Bowl players, including Purdue's "Touchdown Tony" Butkovich and Notre Dame's George Murphy, were killed in action.

PETER BERG: I don't quite understand how war could be glorified if you really take a look at it.

I mean, I guess there is glory in brotherhood and in sacrifice, but the barbaric nature of what happened to so many young men, women, children, soldiers, Americans, Japanese, it's hard to be pro that.

CPL.

NEAL MCCALLUM (RET.

): I remember that very well there.

MIKE CERRE: Corporal Neal McCallum returned to Okinawa last year for this documentary film on the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa.

CPL.

NEAL MCCALLUM (RET.

): The ones that died are the real heroes.

Their lives were cut short.

They never had opportunities like I had to get married, raise a family, get an education, prosper a little bit in the world, and to have a full life.

MIKE CERRE: Peter Berg and cast members spent time with today's Marines before the filming and for a special screening for them at Camp Pendleton, California, before the theatrical release.

SGT.

ALEXANDER PETERSON, U.S.

Marine Corps: Honestly, it was kind of surreal because you're watching Marines on the screen in the past, and then, like, every now and again I'd find myself looking around the theater, finding realizing that I'm in the room with the same people that are going to be doing what they're watching.

MIKE CERRE: Would you like to screen it for your fathers?

BUZZ BISSINGER: Oh, God, yes.

I mean, we talked about it.

We talked about it last week.

PETER BERG: Yes.

BUZZ BISSINGER: We were walking out of a screening, and Pete said: "Could you imagine our fathers sitting together watching this, watching something that was a part of their experience, and then realizing that their kids had made it, and, in a sense, made it to honor them?"

MIKE CERRE: For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Mike Cerre at Camp Pendleton, California.

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

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On behalf of the entire "News Hour" team, thank you for joining us.