captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> o'brien: good evening. i'm miles o'brien. judy woodruff is away. on the newshour tonight: overwhelmed by water. the rain keeps coming, the rivers keep rising, overflowing dams and a levee, as tens of thousands in houston are washed out of their homes. then, north korea fires a missile over japan into the pacific ocean. how washington and seoul are responding to this latest provocation. plus, our "re-thinking college" series continues with a look at a different career path for high schoolers. why colorado is offering a new, statewide apprenticeship program. >> 28% will get a four-year degree in this country. so we're essentially telling everybody else that they can't be successful in our economy and in our country. and it's simply not true.

>> o'brien: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> bnsf railway. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> o'brien: the crisis in houston deepens by the day, as tropical storm harvey lurks just offshore. more than 3,500 people have been rescued, but officials have

confirmed four deaths. much as 30% more than 1700 square miles and is home to heat advisory is now under water. and more and more is washing into the city itself. p.j. tobia begins our coverage. >> reporter: images of a region pushed to the brink. torrents poured through parts of downtown houston, as a pair of aging dams overflowed. rescue crews had worked through the night, with flood victims crowding onto dump trucks heading for higher ground. some waited until morning, only to see the water climb higher. >> it quit raining and the water had gone down and we thought we were okay, until the fire department come and told us they were going to reopen the dams and they were going to reflood everything. so i said, let's go. >> i've been here two years. this is my second flood. i've lost two cars. so i'm a little overwhelmed.

i'm not sure what the next step is, or where i go. >> reporter: water also breached a levee in brazoria county, southwest of houston, and the county's twitter account urgently put out the word: "get out now!" the levee was later fortified. everywhere, storm victims faced desperate moments. a traffic camera captured drivers stranded atop a truck, on a highway that's now a river, a rescue boat arriving to carry them to safety. another man caught in fast- moving water clung to a sign as he waited for help. thousands poured into houston's convention center, filling it to nearly double the official capacity of 5,000. and tempers frayed. >> you really trying to understand, with the microphone in my face? with me shivering and my child wet, and you still putting the microphone in my face? >> reporter: mayor sylvester turner said today the city is working to open more shelters. >> we've certainly made the official request to fema. we need additional assistance, and so we've asked them to provide supplies and cots and food for an additional 10,000

individuals, and hopefully those >> reporter: ed emmett is in charge of emergency operations for harris county. >> even though the storm, today's the last day, it's going to move out, we're still going to have floodwaters, still going to have downstream effects. but we're going to have a recovery effort that's certainly going to take months or even years. i don't think you've seen a recovery effort like this anywhere in the u.s. >> reporter: some who evacuated earlier in this west houston neighborhood, returned today to see what remains of their homes. >> we left it last night with an inch of water. it's got at least two foot in it now. it's sad. everything can be replaced. >> reporter: scenes like this are playing out all across houston tonight, with families returning to storm-damaged homes, finding their possessions upended and waterlogged. there is also the human toll. a tearful police chief announced

sergeant steve perez drowned sunday, trying to get to work. >> it was too treacherous to go under and look for him. so we made the decision to leave officers there, waiting until the morning because, as much as we wanted to recover him last night, we could not put more officers at risk. >> reporter: all the while, the rain keeps falling. that's because harvey-- still a tropical storm-- is back in the gulf of mexico, soaking up new moisture. it's expected to make a second landfall tomorrow near houston, dumping even more rain on southeastern texas and southwestern louisiana. in corpus christi, where the storm first made landfall friday night, skies were blue as air force one touched down today. president trump was flanked by texas officials and members of his cabinet at the corpus christi firehouse, before heading to austin. >> we want to do it better than ever before. we want to be looked at in five years, in ten years from now, as "this is the way to do it." this was of epic proportion. nobody's ever seen anything like

this. >> reporter: fema director brock long said even with houston's shelters overwhelmed, there's no comparison to 2005's disastrous hurricane katrina. >> we're very aware of the issues at the convention center, but let us be clear: this is not the superdome. >> reporter: in louisiana, memories of katrina are still vivid. hundreds of boats and trucks carried water and other supplies to houston, a brigade of the so- called "cajun navy." >> we were all affected by the flood and various hurricanes in the past, so we know what its like to not have help. so we're just out there to help our neighbors. >> reporter: but the cajun navy may soon be needed back at home. evacuations are already underway in lake charles, as louisiana braces for the storm to head its way. >> o'brien: and our own p.j. tobias joins us now.

off this is not mandatory evacuation, people are beginning to feel unsafe and want to get out >> do you get the sense there's still people in their home trying to get out >> folks are beginning to evacuate. i believe there's the folks who were -- the hold-out who wanted to stick it out in their homes are either left or making a move to leave. actually, this afternoon, we

spent some time with folks who did leave. they did evacuate in a timely fashion. and wanted to get back to their homes. we showed you some of that in our report earlier. their neighborhood was breach with waist high water. home completely destroyed. they said they're going to rebuild and there's lots of stories like that around town today o'brien: it's hard to come up with adjectives to describe this particular event. can you give us a sense of how people are responding generally? we have the sense that the response has been relatively smooth. is that what you see? >> yes, it's really remarkable. folks are calm. the couple that we were with whose home was completely destroyed. said they would rebuild. there were no tears, they didn't seem anguished. it is early days, but i seen remarkable resilience from the folks on the ground in houston and also from the first

responders. >> o'brien: "get out now!" that was the blunt, urgent message to residents of brazoria county. authorities in the suburban houston community ordered a mandatory evacuation of the area on sunday for fear of what came true today-- a levee breached by floodwaters. i spoke with the top elected official of brazoria county, judge matt sebesta, about the threat they're facing. thank you for being with us. bring us up to date on that levee breach and the consequences of that >> thank you, miles. yes, this morning, we hit a breach of a levee at the columbia lakes subdivision near west columbia on the west side and we had water coming into the subdivision, but we had great volunteers that got out there, got that under control. so at this point in time, that particular position on the levee has been fortified. the water that was coming in was from the local rains we've

gotten over the last three, four years, but it is very close to the river which is still rising in that area. and the national weather service is predicted that the level will be higher than the top of the levee. we're still very concerned about that area as the river continues to rise. o'brien: give us more details on how the folks there were able to get this under control. >> well, my understanding and i've not been out there personally. they got out there and they used plywood and what have you to get the leaking temporarily stopped. volunteers came in. we had a local contractor donated material. there was concrete sacks. there was different material broad in. stacked in to take care of that leaking area. o'brien: sounds like a heroic effort >> well, great volunteers. that's what texas and brazoria county is known for o'brien: i gather you're not out of the woods yet though

given what you just said >> not at all. our worst flooding is in front of us for the west side of the county, we have two major river that is flow through the west side, the is an bernard river and the braz is river, they're still rising, we had a major flood on the braz is river last year where the crest was at 52.56, we're above that level. and we will be in major flood stage for many days to come. it will be pouring a whole lot of water out into its flood plain going into another body of water oyster creek which will spread out. last year, when this happened, oyster creek was running at below normal. the ground was dry and some areas, we've had up to three feet of rain in this county over last three, four years -- three four days. so every low spot all the creeks and bayous are full already.

all of this river water will just make it even worse. and that water will continue to flow through the county for many days to come. o'brien: do you have any idea are out of their homes now and what you might project as that flooding continues? >> i hope most people are out of their homes, this has been a mandatory evacuation area for last 48 hours. the people in the braz is river went through this last year, they had a first hand experience, they should be gone, i hope they're gone. the san bernard river it's been awhile since they've been in major flood. i hope they've left. we're a rather large county. we have limited resources this time to get out and assist people, because we have such widespread rain and damage all up and down the texas coast, so we're a little bit sparse on having resources come in to assist we're mostly local

resources at this time. our sheriff's office rescue squad local dps troopers and game wardens we've had a few come in from the outside, we're hoping to get additional help because we know in the river bottoms we're going to have a lot of flooding. o'brien: we wish you well as that unfolds, mat sebesta is a judge in brazoria county thank you. >> thank you, miles. >> o'brien: adding to the complexity of the disaster: exxon mobil acknowledged today harvey has damaged two of its refineries, causing the release of hazardous pollutants. a full assessment of the damage won't be possible while conditions on the ground remain dangerous. one thing that is clear, thousands in houston have been forced from their homes in need of food, water and a roof over their head. the george r. brown convention center has become the city's largest shelter. rachel osier lindley is there. she's an editor with dallas pbs station kera in houston, reporting on the storm. we spoke a short time ago and i began asking about how many people are there now.

yesterday, it was 5,000100 and today at 9,100, it has grown substantially. they were already at capacity yesterday but the red cross said they're not going to be turning anyone away. they have expanded into other parts of the convention center, pretty much every square inch is being used as either a dormitory or a makeshift hospital large spaces where people are sorting donations and bringing in donations of everything from clothes and shoes, it is -- it's packed4 4 as itatq0v1e0s10=50

>> o'brien: we just got an update from rachel, after we spoke. she now tells us that the convention center is running out of cots. some of the most critical pieces of any city's infrastructure are its hospitals. in a major flood event like harvey, they are also among the most vulnerable. we turn now to bill mckeon, the president and c.e.o. of texas medical center, a sprawling health complex southwest of downtown houston. i spoke to him by skype a short time ago.

of engineering and today, all of those are open, there are. we're helicopters are landing here. nonstop from surrounding areas. o'brien: so you have 10,000 bed in all, we can presume they're close to being full. do you have reports of patients being adversely affected by the storm >> we brought in physicians and

nurses, technicians through the ahead of time and we've been on this campus for last five days, day and night. bets it's been quite miraculous to see the number of dedicated medical professional that is have really came here ahead of time been away from their families. and dedicated to serving the patients here this environmental catastrophe. >> to be clear, the staff stuck inside for all intents and purposes >> that's correct. o'brien: you have in your medical city the mdanderson cancer center, many people are outpatient and in need of' of' ongoing chemotherapy. what are people in those situations supposed to do. >> well, again, the medical staff actually knowing this was coming, had accelerated some of those chemotherapy sessions. also, people are still accessing local hospitals and the communities can also receive that outpatient care. they have rescheduled now so when you think about it from the

medical city, it's only been two days, three day that is people from far outside have not been able to access the medical center so those are being rescheduled now as we speak. o'brien: there was early reports that the hospital in the medical center was evacuated. i understand that's not true. would you clarify what happened there? >> sure. so there was a water pipe that actually burst in the basement of the hospital. initially they were thinking they might have to evacuate the building but found that they contained the leak. the leak did actually contaminate some of their dry goods, some food supply. so they actually asked police and fire department to really divert new patients on to, one of our many hospitals here on our campus. and they continued to provide care for the patients that are there. so some of the critical patients moved across to other hospitals less than 60. they continued to provide care to the patients that are there in the hospital. so they have not evacuated just

some of the patients had to move across to some of the sister institutions o'brien: give us a little bit of perspective on that. any time you think about moving patients, particularly those in greatest need of care, that gets a little bit dicey. >> with 23 hospitals in one campus, the move of those patients is essentially across another building. many buildings are connected through tunnels or for above ground -- above ground ramps across to other hospitals, so it's actually done quite easy easily here on the texas medical center >> thank you for >> o'brien: president trump's visit to texas put a spotlight on the coordination of federal and local resources. congress will play a key role in deciding how much help the u.s. government offers. congressman ted poe is a republican from texas. his district covers the northern suburbs of houston, which he has represented since 2005. he joined us by phone.

o'brien: thank you for being with us, i know you've been in your district. tell us little bit about what you seen and heard. >> it is still raining, water is rising.

o'brien: in the wake of hurricane sandy this became a political issue. and a lot of members of congress were unwilling to provide additional funding for people o suffered losses in the wake of sandy. were you among those people and if you -- do you have a turn,

about now? >> the original bill for sandy was for 17 billion dollars. i support that day. i think most members support that day legislation. but by the time it$f house floor. there had been addition that is had been added that had nothing to do with hurricane sandy and it was then over $30&t&t of about half of it was not sandy recovery, i thought the precipitations bill should have dell specifically with sandy and so i did not vote for that additional funding to other projects that didn't involve hurricane sandy o'brien: you do you think that makes it difficult for you to come back to washington and ask for money for your district >> not at all. the bill we want to present to congress will be specific hurricane recovery monies, and not at items on that legislation that have nothing to do with the hurricane recovery from harvey. i don't see a problem with that at all. o'brien: ted poe

republican of texas, thank you. >> o'brien: it will take years to rebuild from harvey. it's too early to know the full extent of the damage, but a vast majority, some 80%, of homeowners in areas under water lack flood insurance. how to help them is sure to be a big political fight back here in washington. lisa desjardins is here to help explain. which is shall we say troubleds at the least >> talk about biblical and strange timing here. let's look at a few key points about this important national flood insurance program. this program expires soon, expires september 30th, it is right now miles 24 billion dollars in debt. this is the largest flood insurer by a lot in this country, 5 million americans get their flood insurance through this federal flood insurance program and now congress has to decide how to renew it in just 30 days after this disaster.

o'brien: what is the role for congress? they obviously were under a deadline, anyway. seems more urgent >> i think that there's also a tricky issue here, some republicans want to massive's reform this program meanwhile other republicans are more endorsed about bringing down premiums for those in flood areas and some democrats with them. listen to sound bites from a hearing in june of this year. >> we know this is a program that is 55 billion dollars under water and runs an act we are yell annual deficit of 1.4 billion. >> i truly believe that this can be bipartisan but i'm concerned that if you do not heed my call to work together on the details of this package, it will cause irreparable harm. >> the chairman wants to limit the scope. >> i think we can agree this is a broken program.

we hear these stories time and again about people having severe damage, building rebuilding multiple claims, time and again on the same location. it sort of sounds like definition of insanity >> we know flood areas are increasing and cities are. let's look at this miles about where the most flood insurance is. 80% of the national flood insurance program is in those states you see in gray. there's also the states with the largest congressional delegations the coastal states and key point we now know that repetitive losses from flood damage. that's only 1% of those who have flood insurance. miles, is 25 to 30% of the cost, we're seeing homes that are now seeing two, three, times of flood damage within a ten-year period. we just heard from that woman who said she's been flooded twice in two years. so it's a real problem. >> this is really a program that

encourages bad practices. building in the wrong place, doesn't it? >> that's the question. of course, there's some people who say communities should be here. how do we support those communities? someone has to pay for it. but others say well, federal government is taking this risk and encouraging them and that's a problem long-term. there hasn't been a serious debate yet about those issues o'brien: it will be busy sent in washington when you consider all the things on the plate including this >> here's the trick is there may not be time to have the really difficult debates as we're saying, another issue with the insurance program, lawmakers haven't tackled the maps are out of date and we also know that the maps are changing because the weather patterns are changing. this is something they haven't tackled. they didn't have to deal with the flood insurance and government funding which runs out september 30th and they have to try and pass a budget and try and deal with tax reform. at lot o'brien: seems that the climate and the weather is changing faster than >> grid locks seems to have

powers than almost anything. o'brien: we'll be tracking this closely. >> o'brien: you can track all our coverage of harvey, including ways you can help. that's on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. >> o'brien: the u.s. and its asian allies are trading barbs in the wake of north korea's latest missile test early today. nick schifrin has our report. >> reporter: it was an alarming way to wake up-- 6:00 a.m. on japan's hokkaido island, and the air raid sirens go off as a north korean missile flies unseen above. residents posted videos on social media, and received a text that was also displayed on computer screens: "please take refuge in a sturdy building or underground." never mind most japanese homes don't have a basement. >> ( translated ): they said "please get into a solid building," but we were thinking ours here would be gone in the first blast. >> reporter: the test shook a key u.s. ally, admitted japanese prime minister shinzo abe.

>> ( translated ): the missile, which passed over our nation, represents the greatest and gravest threat to our nation, ever. it also is an egregious threat to the peace and stability of the asia pacific region. >> reporter: south korea's response was even more aggressive. the defense ministry released video of every step of a drill that it called a direct strike on north korea's leadership: a fleet of american-made f-15s flying two sorties and dropping g.p.s.-guided bombs. ( explosion ) the south koreans said they hit their mock target. and if that message wasn't direct enough, air force colonel lee kuk-no made it obvious. >> ( translated ): if north korea threatens the security of the south korean people and the south korea-u.s. alliance with their nuclear weapons and missiles, our air forces will exterminate the leadership of north korea with our strong strike capabilities. >> reporter: the response was so grave because today was unprecedented. the missile, which launched from a pyongyang suburb, was the first time a ballistic missile designed for a nuclear tip

overflew japan. it flew for 14 minutes and splashed down 1,700 miles away, almost enough distance to have reached u.s. territory guam, which the north koreans previously threatened to target. the north koreans have now launched more missiles in the last three years, than in the last three decades. they say they're responding to u.s.-south korea exercises that have been ongoing for the past nine days. the u.s. says they're defensive computer simulations, as seen in the 2013 version. but in geneva today, north korea's u.n. ambassador depicted those exercises as preparations for war. >> it is an undeniable fact that the u.s. is driving the situation of korean peninsula towards extreme level of explosion, by deploying huge strategic assets around the peninsula, to conduct a series of nuclear war drills and maintaining nuclear threats and blackmail, for over a half century. >> reporter: the aggressive rhetoric drew a curt reply from president trump that ended, "all

options are on the table." analysts describe that today's missile test was designed to create considerable chaos, but not confrontation, and also to create distance between the u.s. and its allies. >> they're trying to show that the u.s. is not in a position to do anything for the japanese right now. and i think it's part of a broader strategy really, kind of try to show the united states is a kind of paper tiger in the region. >> reporter: chris hill was the u.s. ambassador to south korea and headed the u.s. delegation in talks designed to dismantle north korea's nuclear program. he advocates a strategy combining diplomacy with sabotaging north korea's missiles. >> we do need to look at mor direct measures in that narrowing space between peace and war. i don't see how we can simply rely on china or rely on some kind of sanctions program. >> reporter: just last week, both president trump and secretary tillerson praised north korea's self-control. >> i am pleased to see that the regime in pyongyang has

certainly demonstrated some level of restraint that we've not seen in the past. >> reporter: since then, north korea launched two sets of missiles. but ambassador hill says the u.s. is right to continue talking diplomacy-- it just needs to push its point more. >> diplomacy is a little like the advertising business. if you haven't said it 50 times, you haven't said it at all. >> reporter: today's launch shook the region. the u.s. is trying to reassure allies and deter north korea, which doesn't seem to feel pressure right now to stop testing. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> o'brien: in the day's other news, there's word that libya is paying militias to stop migrants from crossing to italy. the associated press reports the tripoli government is using funds from the european union, with italy's support. it's led to a sharp drop in crossings, but it also empowers the militias that have destabilized the country. meanwhile, some migrants are still trying to flee. about 700 have been rescued in the last 48 hours. israeli prime minister benjamin

netanyahu has thrown up a new roadblock to peace talks with the palestinians. in a speech last night, he told a cheering crowd that israel will never surrender its west bank settlements. >> ( translated ): this is our forefathers' legacy. this is our land. we have returned here for good. there will be no more uprooting of settlements in the land of israel. settlements will not be uprooted. it was proven that it's not helping peace. we've uprooted settlements. what did we get? we got rockets. and therefore, it won't happen again. >> o'brien: netanyahu has made similar remarks before, but this time, he spoke just after president trump's son-in-law jared kushner visited the region. he's leading the new peace effort. the palestinians condemned the prime minister's remarks. they have long called for all of the west bank to be part of a palestinian state. on wall street today, the dow jones industrial average gained nearly 57 points to close at 21,865.

the nasdaq rose almost 19 points, and the s&p 500 added two. still to come on the newshour: a look at the nation's first statewide youth apprenticeship program. masses of tourists push out locals in venice. and much more. >> o'brien: next we continue our series, "re-thinking college," with a look at the nation's first statewide youth apprenticeship program. as hari sreenivasan reports, it offers high school and college credit and pays students for their work. this story is part of our weekly education segment, "making the grade." >> reporter: in colorado, this factory floor may be the classroom of the future. >> this goes into that hopper, gets melted back into a liquid, as it goes through the machine

>> reporter: and these students may be hired for prime jobs before they even finish high school. manufacturers like intertech plastics in denver are facing critical shortages of skilled labor, and they want to teach teens how to work for them. >> we couldn't support the growth in both facilities because we didn't have the people. >> reporter: noel ginsburg is the c.e.o. >> from the day i started the company to this day, the biggest challenge we have was around having the right people with the skills we needed to grow the business. we have 40,000 unfilled tech jobs in colorado. college is not cheap, right? so, if you could earn up to 40 to 50 credit hours for college by working in a business like this, and get paid, and get your high school diploma, who would want to do that? it's a pretty cool deal. >> reporter: colorado's governor, john hickenlooper, is behind the idea. >> we are one of the fastest growing economies in the country. you can't sustain that without talent. and it is a global competition for talent now.

and a lot of that talent, it's not ph.ds and the superstars; a lot of that talent is middle skills. >> reporter: partnering with the state, ginsberg founded careerwise, an apprenticeship program that links colorado industries and school districts. >> reporter: starting this year, high school juniors and seniors can spend three school days a week as on-the-job apprentices, earning classroom credit and a paycheck. >> we'd like to have 230 career paths that will, in ten years, serve 20,000 young people in a whole host of careers, from banking and finance to advanced manufacturing. >> reporter: colorado leaders believe they are in the forefront of addressing what economists call a middle skills gap-- unfilled jobs that require more than high school, but less than a four-year college degree. >> for more than 30 years, we took on this challenge that we were going to make sure every kid went to college, and this was the only solution. but we've barely nudged the needle in terms of how many kids actually go to college and

graduate. and in that sense, i think it's been a failure. >> i was part of that mantra, saying "everybody should go to college." the reality of it is, that's never going to happen. in this country, where the percentage is 28% will get a four-year degree in this country. so, we're essentially telling everybody else that they can't be successful in our economy and in our country. and it's simply not true. >> reporter: so after two years three years of apprenticeship, they can get a job in here? after graduating high school, the program offers apprentices full-time employment and financial support toward community colleges degrees. the pitch convinced visiting high school student kevin roquemore to add another choice to his career path. so what are you going to do after you graduate high school? what are you thinking right now? >> so i have a plan a, and plan b. my plan a hopefully is to go to the major leagues, just start out, go to college, play baseball. >> reporter: okay, i don't know your athletic skill, but let's just say the baseball route doesn't work out. how are you going to pay for college? >> my plan b is to be in manufacturing and engineering. >> reporter: alejandro garcia's

parents were thrilled to hear he was accepted into the program. >> ( translated ): we preferred him to attend university, that's what we wanted. but when we heard of this opportunity, we jumped straight on it. >> reporter: but will schools become training grounds for industry? will apprentices miss out on crucial classroom learning? the idea of critical thinking, the long-term life lessons that you pick up being in an academic environment, those are necessary too. >> they are, but what i believe is that those skills can be learned in the workplace. the workplace is real, and you have different personalities. i think soft skills are better taught in business, not the classroom. >> reporter: looking to fine- tune their apprentice program, colorado leaders traveled to switzerland, where 40% of companies offer student apprenticeships.

>> so, why an apprenticeship? swiss firms do not only train because it's a tradition, there is an economic rationale. it is an investment for young people, for making sure we have a low unemployment rate. >> reporter: suzi le vine, former u.s. ambassador to switzerland, hosted the delegation and is now working with colorado's careerwise apprentice program. >> we're at the front end of an apprenticeship renaissance in the united states. when you look back at hamilton and franklin, they started out as apprentices. in switzerland, two-thirds of young people go into apprenticeship. their youth unemployment is just 3.2%. we need that here in the united states. >> i think what colorado is doing is a great first step. >> reporter: gail mellow is the president of new york's laguardia community college, which also offers programs that link high school students to middle skills. while enthusiastic about colorado's new program, mellow

cautions that europe and the united states have very different social structures. >> the challenge is that if we model those steps exactly as what happens in switzerland, we don't have the robust safety net, so, our robust health benefits, the living wages. those are often not offered by american businesses. >> reporter: and she's concerned that apprenticeships could lead to short-lived jobs, that improved technology could eventually wipe out. it's not a dead end job? >> it's not, it's a job that's going to lead to a better job, that'll lead to a better job. that's what we used to call a career. >> reporter: for now, colorado's apprenticeships are financed by federal and state funds, business and philanthropy. but the future plan is for industry to provide the biggest investment. in denver for the pbs newshour, i'm hari sreenivasan.

>> o'brien: earlier this summer, we reported on how climate change is imperiling the city of venice. but some projections indicate there's an even more urgent danger: depopulation. the city is losing about 1,000 residents every year as millions of tourists squeeze them out. special correspondent christopher livesay reports. >> reporter: venice, more than any other place in italy, has withstood the test of time. very little has changed since this lagoon city was built in the middle ages-- except perhaps the people themselves. you might even think the locals had been replaced entirely by tourists like these. >> obviously, most of the people here are tourists! >> yes, yes, too much! >> i thought this was just a tourist area. i honestly had no idea people lived here. >> reporter: of course some do. giovanni-claudio di giorgio is one of them. he and his two brothers are concert musicians. but, they fear they're becoming

an endangered species. >> when i go outside my house, walk around venice, i feel alone. because i recognize that the people i see, don't live here. >> reporter: in the renaissance, it was merchants who flocked to the rialto bridge. today, it's tourists. many locals say there are too many, and they're leaving as a result. in the 1950s, there were over 170,000 residents. today, it's just over 50,000. >> this isn't even that bad. >> reporter: how do you shop for groceries on days like these? >> you don't. >> reporter: susan steer is an art historian who says venice has always been irresistible to visitors. >> the way young men would mark their entrée into adulthood was the famous grand tour, and

venice was a place where you could enjoy some culture, you could enjoy some of the finer things in life. and you could be introduced into some of the carnal pleasures that venice had to offer. >> reporter: you mentioned something about the type of tourist changing. what's changed? >> 50 to 60 years ago, venice was an expensive place for people to reach. gradually, travel has opened up so we have budget airlines. budget bus services bringing people into venice. >> reporter: and cruise ships. the sector alone employs 5,000 venetians. tourism at large brings in over two billion euros every year-- by far the city's biggest industry. tasked with the daunting role of managing it, is the venice tourism assessor, paola mar.

so six tourists jumped into the water from this bridge? >> early in the morning, they jumped into the canal. we have 25 million tourists per year. it's our main business. the problem is one of mass tourism-- we're up against people acting stupid, posting videos on youtube. we have zero tolerance for that. if you jump in the water, you're fined 450 euros on the spot, payable by credit card. >> reporter: starting this month, tourists can also be fined for having bicycles, feeding pigeons, and even sitting down in public squares. >> i'm sorry, it's not allowed to sit here. >> reporter: on the frontline of >> reporter: a common scene in crowded tourists sites, where locals rarely visit anymore. but down a few back alleys, you can still find places where the venetian way of life is unspoiled. like at this locals bar. the food on order: traditional dishes you won't find in most

tourist restaurants. and the lingua franca isn't italian; it's veneziano-- a dialect few outside the lagoon can understand. so there's differences from neighborhood to neighborhood. ( speaking in venetian ) >> reporter: giovanni-claudio di giorgio introduces me to members of his club: generazione 90-- or '90s generation, young venetians struggling to keep their beloved city afloat. >> venice doesn't have much to offer us young people. so we're trying to reverse this trend. >> reporter: would you like to stay in venice and raise a family? >> ( translated ): yes, yes, i'd like to. i'd like for my kids to have the same opportunity. but i realize that may not be possible. >> reporter: not possible, in part, because of the high cost of housing. modest-size homes can easily exceed a million dollars, as apartments routinely get converted into vacation rentals, squeezing middle-class locals off the island. thousands of people who work

here now must commute from the mainland, by bus and vaporetto. but some refuse to leave, like these venetians who have taken to squatting in abandoned homes. either they squat in a house, or they have to leave venice? >> yes. for the people that choose, for the families that choose to squat in houses, of course it's not an easy choice. it's like the last chance for living here. >> reporter: for working-class venetians, she says mass tourism is killing the city. i pose that question to paola mar, the tourism assessor. >> ( translated ): killing the city, i wouldn't say so. like anything else, mass tourism has its pros and cons. >> reporter: she says the city is doing what it can to protect the housing market from runaway speculation, by ramping up regulations on rental sites like airbnb. if tourism continues unabated, the city may consider restricting flows into saint

mark's square, effectively turning the heart of this once vibrant metropolis into an open- air museum. as for giovanni-claudio di giorgio, he doesn't want tourists to stop coming altogether-- he knows the economy depends on them. but if locals continue to leave at an alarming rate, he fears his generation will be the last that can truly call itself venetian. >> would i want to have a family and live here? yes, i would. but would it be feasible, right now? no, i don't think so. it will never be the same again, and we feel that this last generation is the generation whose responsibility is to ensure that more people have the same privilege as us. >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, i'm christopher livesay, in venice. >> o'brien: finally, from venice

to a tourist destination of a different kind. in tonight's "newshour shares:" the world is a big place, but a new attraction in the heart of new york city has managed to shrink it down to size. the newshour's julia griffin explains. >> reporter: brazil's copacabana beach. rome's colosseum. or india's taj mahal. pick one for your vacation destination. or, see all three in one afternoon-- on a much smaller scale. >> we wanted to give the impression that even though we are dealing with very small things, this is huge. >> reporter: eiran gazit is the co-founder of gulliver's gate-- a world of miniatures the size of a football field, in new york city's time square. >> i believe the way to create the experience properly was that each area would reflect its own flavor, tastes, smell and even the things that are important to that area.

>> reporter: achieving that required a team of 600 artists from eight countries. gazit's partner, michael langer: >> in russia, it was building the russian section. in rimini, italy, they were building the european section. and by doing that, we not only got the authenticity, but we also got a diversity of design. >> reporter: among the highlights? >> i'm very fond of the panama canal. i love how the water functions through the amazon and turns into a waterfall at the end, >> grand central is one of my favorites, because you see the layers that go between the subway, the regular train and the entrance. and if you actually look at the ceiling, you see that no detail was left behind. >> i think the volcano in south america is just really staggering. >> reporter: for design team head adrian davies, the massive miniature world is a feat of engineering and coordination: >> we have model makers, we have sculptors, we have writers, set painters, movie effect guys,

architectural model makers and train nerds, for want of a better word. >> reporter: indeed, gulliver's gate is a model-train maker's mecca. everything in the exhibit-- from the slopes of sochi, russia, to stonehenge-- is built in the industry's 1 to 87 scale. 300 scenes are home to 1,000 trains; 10,000 vehicles; and 100,000 thousand people. and unlike some of their real life counterparts, those drivers actually use their blinkers. the exhibit also offers interactive experiences. turn a souvenir key to trigger the loch ness monster in the scottish highlands, or a carnival parade in rio de janeiro. guests can even have 3d-printed figurines of themselves placed among the exhibit. >> so, if you had proposed at the eiffel tower, you could go ahead and recreate that moment and place it at the eiffel tower again. >> reporter: and while it's a big, miniature world out there, visitors might be most amused by the movie moments and pop culture references hidden among

the landmarks-- if they can spot them. >> it just makes you smile. and that's the whole idea, we wanted to create a place that would make people really smile all the time, and the smile just gets bigger and bigger as they go around. >> reporter: smiles that he hopes will last for years to come. for the pbs newshour, i'm julia griffin in the big-- i mean-- little apple. >> o'brien: there's more to explore online. you can virtually experience gulliver's gate-- take a 360- degree video tour on our website, www.pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm miles o'brien. join us online, and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

>> bnsf railway. >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc

captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> you're watching pbs.

>> rose: welcome to the program. it is the end of summer, as we prepare for the next season we bring you some of our favorite kferlingses here on charlie rose. tonight author chris smith and jon stewart talk about the daily show. >> any artistic pursuit for whatever affect it has on its audience or things like that, it is a relatively selfish pursuit, a cath ar sis for the individual. and it's a way to express ideas, and get them out and feel the is he ksh-- the is he duksz of it is it is going to scr or not going to score. that is the hit, that is the adrenaline. but what begins to wear on you is where it is taken. and i think this election could be a great lesson in that controlling the culture is not the same thing as power. >> the daily show for the hour next