Corporate funding is provided by mutual of america designing customized individual and Group Retirement products. Thats why we are your retirement company. Additional support is provided by and by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. From the tisch wnet studios in Lincoln Center in new york, this is pbs newshour weekend. Who who thanks for joining us this afternoon, three weeks of war now reportedly claimed the lives of more than 1,000 palestinians and at least 42 israelis, israels and mamas today observed a 12hour ceasefire but shortly after the ceasefire end adha mass spokesman said they rejected israels offer to extend it and the Israeli Military said three rockets had been fired from gaza into israel. All of this has john kerry met in paris with Foreign Ministers from western europe, turkey and qatar to tr trito broker a more permanent peace. All of us want to obtain as quickly as possible a durable, negotiated ceasefire that responds to both israels needs in terms of security and to palestinian needs in terms of the Socioeconomic Development and access to the territory of gaza. Kerry also met privately today with the Turkish Foreign minister who is apparently acting as a conduit between the United States and hamas. In another part of paris today, pro Palestinian Protesters clashed with french police, there saban on demonstrations there after earlier demonstrations end up targeting synagogues and jewish shops. Earlier i spoke with Nicolas Casey of the wall street journal who is in gaza city. So, nicolas, you have been in gaza through this temporary ceasefire. What has life been like . Well, gaza gazans went outside, for, for many this is the first time they have seen their homes after they fled and reporters also got a chance to get out and see what has gone on and i think what we all learned is that large parts of gaza are completely destroyed right now. I myself have this bad since i was in haiti after the earthquake in 2010, and i would say that there is only a few parts of the world right now that have gotten to this level of destruction, syria being the first one that comes to mind. There were entire areas where the buildings were barely standing. I saw a mosque that a minaret had been basically blown to pieces, there were animals that were dead out in the street. There were people trying to get people out of the rubble and get their bodies so they could be buried, and in the cemeteries there werent enough places to bury people. Was this an opportunity for people to restock supplies, food, water . Reporter it was. They were trying to do a lot of things at the same time. I think the first thing was just to satisfy the curiosity of what happened to their homes and then the second priority was also to try to get them supplies because they think the fighting might be coming again really soon. I saw a lot of people who were carrying mattresses, mattresses seemed to be the thing people needed most, they would go to the house and get as many of them as they could. Many were trying to get water and some food. 95 percent of ga stan water is undrinkable, it is salty, actually, so water has to be drank out of bottles, and you have to find it and the water people were struggling to do that today. What about the refugee population . We are hearing now numbers up to 140,000 people have been displaced. That is almost ten percent of the population. It is about 165,000 people right now, and that is a huge number that was about three times as much as during the 2008 war which was the only war that sort of has gotten to this level we are at. So gave huge number of people in gaza that arent in their homes right now, they are staying in schools but even the schools have become places that arent safe, just a few days ago, a u. N. Shelter which was in a school was attacked and this was an attack that killed 16 people, and, you know, the fact that they may be getting some warnings that there may be an attack that is going to happen in their neighborhood from israel, there is not a place for them to go to right now. This is a very small strip of land, about 36 miles long, and there is no way out of here right now, so talk of a refugee here is a bit silly because there is no place to really take refuge from here, you cant leave. uael right, nicolas cas casey of thew york journal joining us by phone. Thank you so much. From the latest about the mood in israel we are joined now by a jodi, the Jerusalem Bureau chief of the new york times. What is the Public Opinion on the streets of israel now about what has been happening. Reporter yes. People here are really behind this operation. They are, the tunnels, they feel this is a war of no choice. They feel they were attacked and, you know, some people are really kind of a little bit blind to the death toll on the other sides. I think others are quite sympathetic to it, but they really, really blame hamas for the deaths. They think hamas has caused or is complicit in the deaths by not allowing people to leave, by hiding ammunition in civilian neighborhoods, et cetera. And they the fact that israel is completely isolated around the world and been all of these demonstrations and calls for has had a backlash here, people are getting angrier than ever and just feel like nobody understands them and they want to get the job done. What about the recent protest in the west bank that we have seen in the pdst few days . Is there an increase in concern . Absolutely. The west bank is, you know, closed to most israelis and gaza is and people have been talking and worrying about a third intifada here for as long as i have been here which is two years. However, i think israelis are pretty confident and have a reason to be that their Security Forces are well deployed in the west bank and basically they kind of stopped the Security Threat from the west bank with the preparation barrier. I mean, i think some people really want and believe in a solution with the palestinians, and therefore i think feel awful about it, especially the unrest on the north bank, i think a lot of people that are, others are quite hopeless about it. To give us a snapshot, what is it like in different parts of the israel . Is life different in parts closer to gaza than other cities . Absolutely. The rockets have gone through quite a bit of israel and i think you will hear israeli leaders talk about 70 percent or something but one or two or three a day sirens in lots of the country and in the south it will be dozens and dozens a day, so in the south, around gaza, a lot of the small communities people have evacuated and moved to relatives in other parts of the country or to who els hotel. Otherwise, most of the stores are closed, they stay home. People will go down to the beach or the cafes that were closed and a cautiously venturing out. The rest of israel and jerusalem, most of them are normal, it is a little slower, the traffic and people are certainly on edge and it is what people talk about, and a lot, a lot of people have soldiers or reservist whose are in gaza or about to go in and so everybody has had kind of carrying their phones around and every minute people are afraid to leave their houses lest someone come and tell them their son has been killed. People are cancelling their vacations. You know, none of that compares obviously to what happened in gaza where people are getting killed by the hundreds, but, you know, it is not like life is normal by any means but it is certainly better here than in the south and better in the south than in gaza. Judy of the new york times, thank you so much. Thank you. Elsewhere overseas the u. S. Embassy in libya was evacuated early today because of the deteriorating security situation in the capital city of tripoli. 150 people, including 80 marines were driven across the border into tunisia, the state department called the move temporary, in recent weeks gazans have been killed in fighting between rival militias in the neighborhood of the embassy. That deadly Ebola Outbreak which has killed 660 people in western africa has now spread to the continents most populace nation, nigeria, that Nations Health minister said today all ports of entry into nigeria, including airports, seaports and land borders have been placed on what he called red alert. A liberian man whose sister died of the disease got sick on a plane to nigeria early this week, he died in a hospital there yesterday. The official Chinese News Agency reported today that a food supply based in china forced production can dates forndle production dates on meat and sold them in restaurants in china after their expiration date. American restaurants chains, including mcdonalds, pizza hut and kfc all said they stopped using product from the firm. Subway sandwich says its restaurants do not use meats supplied by the shanghai company. Word twice as many homes as previously believed, about 300 have been destroyed by the biggest wildfire in the states history. The fire was triggered by lightning have burned in a mostly Recreational Area a few hours northeast of seattle. Hundreds of animals have died in the blazes and thousands of people remain without electricity. In arizona thousands of people lost power and flights into Phoenix Airport ground to a halt for about two hours after a massive dust storm hit the area last night. Some outbound flights were also delayed. These dust storms known as haboos occur a few times a year during the rainy season from mid june through september. And new Research Suggests that babies can apparently recognize and remember a nursery rhyme before they are born. The Research Done at the university of florida showed the heart rate of fetuses slowed when they were read the same nursery rhyme again and again first by their mothers and then weeks later by strangers. The heart rate of fetuses who were read a different nursery rhyme showed no change. And now to our signature piece, a few weeks ago, thousands of fans gathered in minnesota to celebrate the 40th anniversary of a prairie home companion, the iconic show broadcast every saturday night on 600 public Radio Stations around the country. As its four million listeners know, the show is home to that made up, but oh so real place called lake wobegon. All of it, of course, was created by minnesotas own Garrison Keillor. Recently, the newshours Jeffrey Brown visited with him where it all began its saturday and the band is playing honey, could we ask for more. Reporter from the beginning, its been an oldfashioned variety show, loved for its music skits. Well, its been a quiet week in lake wobegon, minnesota. Reporter and, most of all, the storytelling of Garrison Keillor. The 4th of july best pie in town contest was won by marlene, the Church Secretary at lake wobegon lutheran church. Reporter keillors famous tales of life in lake wobegon, his fictional minnesota town, have captivated listeners by the millions. And his work, including writings and recordings, have earned him a National Humanities medal, a grammy and a peabody. Thats the news from lake wobegon, where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average. This is where we want to do a prairie home companion. Reporter at st. Pauls fitzgerald theater, home base to a prairie home companion since the late 70s, we talked of fact, fiction, and the enduring power of his creation. Have you ever stopped to think about why it worked so long and why, especially, the medium of radio . I think theres. Theres a lot of power in listening to one person talking to you. And. And this should never be underestimated. There are movies made, enormous amounts of money invested in them, and theyre very diffuse and theyre very artistic and edited and postproduced and jumping from here to there and. And complicated narratives and so on. But one person sitting and talking to you and, youre pulled in, in ways that technology and art and all cannot. We want to be talked to. Reporter we want to be talked to. We do. Reporter that was evident at the shows 40th anniversary, held at macalester college, where keillor had recorded the very first one. Hes so creative, hes really a treasure. Its live, its variety, its different, its not like Everything Else youd see. Its a constant moment of peace in the week. Reporter arnie and Katie Heithoff of omaha listened to the show on their second date more than three decades ago and they still get emotional talking about it. I will tell her, thank you for 36 years of saturday night by the radio, because thats what it is, thats what it is. Its saturday night by the radio. Reporter now 71, he was born gary edward keillor. He grew up in the small minnesota town of anoka, his mother a nurse, his father a mail clerk and carpenter. Keillor wrote about sports for the local paper at age 13, attended the university of minnesota then going by the name, garrison, and spent time in new york as a young writer. In 1969 he took a job at minnesota public radio. 37 degrees in the twin cities, high today should be 48. Reporter and launched a prairie home companion five years later. Hed gone home in more ways than one. Reporter how much did you know about this place, lake wobegon, before you made it up . It was a mystery because i had, i had run away from it when i went off to the university of minnesota when i was 18. But to do that radio show, i had to go back to my aunts and uncles. And thats what lake wobegon is, its a lost world. Reporter maybe, but keillor gave it life, in many of his more than two dozen books, and in the show thats been performed all over the country and around the world. Be patient, this will pass. Reporter director Robert Altman made a prairie home companion into a feature film in 2006. Do some stops on this. Reporter keillors reallife Team Includes a fulltime staff of around 15, a house band, actors, technicians, and guest musicians who appear regularly. The production is financed through corporate sponsorships, Radio Station fees, and ticket sales. Its all rehearsed late in the week. Its okay, i think i need Something Else from you as well. Something with more killer potential. More killer potential . Oh, my goodness, did he say killer potential . Hold on, im coming. Hold on, im coming. Hold on, im coming; aflat. Hold on, hey. I am coming, yeah. Hold on. Hey i am coming. Reporter in the live performance, there are regular characters, like the mom who calls to nag her son. You give up on things so fast. Thats why you never married, honey. Mom, please, lets not get into this. Reporter and ads for fake sponsors. All brought to you by keillors fanciful imagination. Now, the deep valley bed is the bed that replicates the uterus, which, as you may remember, was not hard, it was very warm, and kind of surrounded you. Reporter keillor gets help writing parts of the show, but the news from lake wobegon, his weekly monologue, is all his. It was the 40th anniversary of the Worlds Largest pile of burlap bags in lake wobegon. So many people come from all over to see this thing. So many people who write into the web site, worldslargestpile. Org. laughter you pick up real stories in the course of a week and you find ways to work them in. You hear a story about a man who built himself a house around the corner from his mothers house, so that he could stand in his kitchen window and he could see her in her kitchen window. Thats a real story. Now the rest is up to is up to me. And i need to bring in some other people here. Im going to make his the only house in town that welcomes mormon and jehovahs witness missionaries. laughter reporter in fact, keillor often writes the news from lake wobegon on the morning of the show, and then gets up on stage without notes. I try to make my way from the beginning to the end. Oftentimes forgetting big swatches of it. laughter which, you know, makes you panic a bit. Reporter so does the story sometimes just change completely midcourse . Yes, yeah. And. And sometimes it ends abruptly. But youve got your ending line, you know . Reporter yeah. So, you just pause. You know youre not done, but they dont know youre not done. And you just pause, and you say, and thats the news from lake wobegon. Where all the women are strong and all the men are good looking and all the children are above average. Reporter keillors just released a new collection of his writings over the years, the keillor reader. And in a biographical essay is candid about how unlikely his success has been. Reporter you describe a young man who was very shy and, i want to quote it, absurdly selfconscious and timid and eager to please and arrogant, all at the same time. It doesnt sound like a likely formula for success. No, its not. I was the least likely person to wind up doing this, because growing up in the midwest youre told, dont think too much of yourself because you are no better than anybody else. This is baked into you. Reporter did you have to develop this character, Garrison Keillor . I think more or less. But. But every adult does this, we redo ourselves. We rearrange ourselves. Im also trying to put aside lifelong habits that only get in the way. Shyness being one of them. You dont talk about or give any hint as to your worries and your anxieties. Reporter those doubts and anxieties have never gone away. No. No. Reporter keillor says he has no plans to retire, despite suffering a minor stroke in 2009. In addition to a prairie home companion, he continues to record a Daily Radio Program about poetry and literature. And here is the writers almanac for friday. Runs a bookstore in st. Paul and is working on his first fulllength play, set to open this fall. Reporter is there a lesson that youve taken from the 40 years of prairie home companion about life . Hurry up. Hurry up. Reporter hurry up and . Hurry up and