captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for sunday, august 12: ington, d.c. braces for violence on the one year anniversary of the charlottesville, virginia geair program: cultural the exchange or low abor? and in afghanistan, a bloody battle as the taliban gains traction. next on pbs newshour weekend. pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. su ie and edgar wachenhe. the cheryl and philip milstein family. dr. p. roy vagelos and diana t. va los. .the j.p.b. foundation.walt barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided ca by mutual of ame designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your

retirement company.di onal support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the ti ssch wndios at lincoln center in new york, hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: good evening and thanks for joining us. they called it unit the right 2 but in washington d.c. today it s the counterprotestors and signs that read hate is not welcome here, who far outnumbered the white supremacists and so-called alt-right groups. starting this morning a rsalition of counterprotest he held rallies. >> at a metro station outside washington d.c. police escorted small groups of attendees for what they call a white civil rights rally.

the rally's organizer jayson kesler used the train ride tboo atmplain aut what he says as unfair tnt. >> not just about the civil right as beus that happens icin ety in general, to white ral,le or to people in gene but the civil rights abuse happened in charlottesville. >> sreenivasan: inll charlottesvirginia on the one-year anniversary of the deadly white nationalist rally, a group of more than 100 protestors elan antiracism rally and march. >> this is our place. >> a line of police briefly cordoned off the area where 32 , ar old heather haier was killed last yeher mother and a group of people were allowed m to the street and gathered around aemorial for her daughter. newsur pj tobia joins us at hie start of today's march. >>day so far has been marked by unity and protests. hundreds, maybe thousds on the reet already, more than 30 groups have assembled at different s around washington d.c. to protest jason

kesler's white civil rights rally that will be starting in a few hours here. groups as diverse as black lives matters and women's marchers to more radical fringe left wing groups like antifa. behind me is grp of protestors in lafayette park across from the white house. they have a pa system, they are protesting and chanting and singing. on my right is an empty spatial right now where jason kesler and his followers will be arriving soon. they are building a stage and constructing a pa system as we speak, hari. >> sreenivasan: how aey getting here, jason kesler and his crew? >> so their plan is taso mble at a metro station in vienna just a few miles from here, vienna virginia, about 20 or so of jason kesler's followers showed up there and got on a metro train, a subway. so they should be arriving soon in an area not far from here. their plan is to then march here to lafayette park. >> sreenivasan: let's talk a bit about his protestors r his

marchers versus the hundreds that are you seeing behind you. >> as rtsaid our re are that there are just a couple of dozen of white nationalists, kesler's followers who will make their way here. meanwhile there are hundreds of people behind me and thousands throughout the rest of washington d.c. and it's not just local people. i was in charlottesville yesterday. so many people i spoke to there said they would not miss the protesto come here and jason kesler in person. have i spoken to folks from new jersey, from new york, from north carolina, even. so folks have come from not just this area but l over the region for this protest. >> sreenivasan: you have done t lot of reporting on different extremoups and white aspremacist groups, what has changed in theyear? >> so much has changed. this time last year these groups really put the white supremacist message fooshed. edery time they mark marc there were swag tirk-- swastikas and the typical signifie white sprem see in erck ma. but now they have calibrated their message like today wi

jason kesler's rally. he is calling a white civil rights rally saying we don't think we are better than everyone we just want to be treated the same way. we have also seen this throughout the summer int portland withhe patriot prair group. their rallies are anti-immigrant, profirst amendment, free speech rallies they traditionally call them. they say we are notabout hate, we are just about asserting rights that the constitution gl uarantees ople, even white people. >> sreenivasan: pj, the people you spoke to in charlottesville and the ones you mavht h talked to today, do they feel that the issues that charlottesville surfaced last year have been resolved? >> well, yes and no. they feel that there has been a change. that a lot of these issues that you mentioned, around inequality and access to public resources and policing are now brothht to e surface. but they're very, very far from being resolved. as one african-american business owner told me yesterday, the problems aren't solved but now we know where everybody stands. so a process is, it iseally a

process of gibbing to address these issues came out of t tragic events of the unite the right rally this time last year. >> sreenivasan: pj tobia joining us fromashington d.c., thanks some of >> sreenivas: today, charlottesville's mayor nikuyah walker said she holds president trump responsible for encouraging hate. appearing on "face the nation," the city's first female african- aidrican mayor charlottesville still has not confronted the issues at the heart of last year's violence. sues were not the rally or just statues. the issue is this deep-seated racism that-- that we have here. and that's the challenge and that's a lot of work and it takes commitment. and while people don't want alt- right white men in khaki pants and polo shirts, they have been very comfortable with racism and how it plagues the community.>> reenivasan: last week's republican gubernatorial primary in kansas will enter its final stage tomorrow.

county election officials willn beviewing nearly nine thousand provisional ballots given to voters when their eligibility is in question. in the very close race between incumbent governor jeff colyer and secretary of state kris kobach, kobach lneeads by just hundred and ten votes. in hawaii today, governor david ige won re-nomination to his offi in that state' democratic primary, this despite a challenging year which included a false missile alert and the destruction of seven hundred homes from anic eruption. democratsn hawaii also minated ed case, a former u.s. representative and fiscal conservative, to the ss one open congressional seat. dozens of people have died in torrential rains and the southern state of kerala in india. mon rsoonns have forced more than 15,000 people from their homes. in china, heavy in in guangdong province destroyed homes and forced evacuations this weekend. roads are blocked and officials

say many cities in the province are flooded. it was a go for liftoff for thsi first-ever m to the sun today after a one day delay. early this morning, nasa's parker solar probe lifted off from capee canaveral. rst ever solar mission will get within four million miles of the sun's surface, and gather data for the ne seven years. the spacecraft is named for 91- year old astrophysicist eugeneer paho was the first to suggest the existence of solar winds 60 years ago. this is the first time nasa has named a specraft for a living person. a new wave of poaching could t wipe o remaining asian elephants in myanmar. read more at pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: anyone with children knows that full time child care can be very expensive, runng up to tens of thousands of dollars per year per child. some have turned ta less costly alternative: the state department's au pair program

which allows young people to come to america on a j-1 cultural exchange visa. they live with families, providing child care for a flat fee, regardless of the number of chilen. this month, a trial date was set in a class-action lawsuit brought on behalf of au pairs. the suit charges that what bega1 6 as a cross-cultural experience has devolved into ad system proing cheap, exploited labor. newshour weekend's ivette feciano has more. >> reporter: ali petschek is a stay at home mom in new rochelle, new york. she has three boys ages one through eight. she says she's enjoyed hosting seven different au pairs from all ter the world over the l six years. petschek estimates she and hers husband charlehave spent roughly $20,000 a year on the au pairs who work 45 hours a week. she says that kind of money would get them only about three

to four days week of part-time childcare from a nanny or babysitter. >> getting help helped our family to function better, i'll say. but the other thing that really interested me about the au pair program was the cultural ext.change part of >> reriporter: 21-year-old l pelaez jaquez is from mexico and works for petschek and her husband. she is one of the roughly 20,000 college aged individuals, mostly women, who work as au pairs for u.s. families. both the family and marisol paid fees to the sponsor agcy to participate in the au pair program. >> just think, like, it's an experience that, like, helps you grow up much because, like, you're completely out of like, your comfort zone. and you get to see another side, like, another culture, and another family, and another tradition. >> reporter: marisol is working, but is being an au pair actually a job? that question is at the heart of

a class action lawsuit that threatens to upend the way the entire au pair system operates. the u.s. department of state runs the au pair program, not as a labor program, but as a cultural exchange program. it contracts with 16 private sponsor agencies to recruit au pairs, match them with host families, and make sure everyone understands and follows the rules. do you think most people see this as a cultur program?nge or do most host families see this as a urce of childcare? >> i think the majority of host parents do see it as a cultural exchange. because i really don't think it works if you don't. otherwise, i think both sides will be unhappye because the not professionals. and i've been told by myu pairs that the sponsor agencies play up the fun aspect of it. >> i think ali was very honest.

and she was like, "look, working with kids, it's hard." like, it's not the same as babysitting two hours. the fact that you're with the for a whole day, it's really tough. >>eporter: one of the regulations requires employers to adhere to department of labor rules regarding au pair wages. the federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. however, sponsor agencies say families are allow to deduct 40% for the food and housing ey provide, meaning marisol's pay works out to $4.35 an hour, or $195.75 a week. that pay rate is at the center of the lawsuit, representing 90,000 current and former au pairs. the suit claims that rather than being cultural ambassadors, au pairs are cheap migrant labor, exploited by a system that grossly underpays them for what amount employment. domestic the defens in the suit are

15 of the 16 agencies charged with oversight of the program. the agencies deny that au pairs are exploited. >> we're talking aboua workforce that's working incredibly hard and still not able to make ends meet doing th work. >> reporter: ai-jen poo is director of the national domestic rkers alliance, which advocates on behalf of more than 20,000 members who work inside homes, including au pairs. >> they are here wking as caregivers in the homes of the milies who've hired them. these women who areere on j-1 visas have really been taken advantage of in many cases and treated as leer than real wo. >> reporter: massachusetts has re than 1500 au pairs. poo's organi report that surveyed former au pairs here at boston's matahari mens' workers center about their experiences with the progrofam. two he women now work as nannies, and asked us to conceal

their identities out of fear of retaliation and loss of their livelihoods. >> and it's just, like, using you. "you are here to serve me." that's how i felt most of the time. >> reporter: both these women say they went thousands of dollars into debt to pay foth interview fees and applications to get in the au pair program. they each claim that host families routinely asked them to work illegal overtime hours, and th aat the sponsncies, and the federal government, were not paying attention. this family make me work up to 65 houra week, promise me that they will pay me for the extra hours that i was wori'ng. rather to have more money to be able to save. and that's what i did. also, those extra time that i was working, i s doing housekeeping. it was nothing related of chicare.

>> reporter: she says her host family never paid her for those extra hours. among other things, the suit filed in 2014 alleges that: you can't legally deduct 40% from the minimum wage for room and board if the program requires au pairs to ith families, which it does. that agencies colluded to keep au pair wages low, an allegation they deny. and that at least four of the agencies violated federal labors rules th families must pay their state's minimum wage if it isthigher the federal minimum wage. a spokesperson for one of the agencies, cultural care au pair, disputes that contention. he sent pbs newshour weekend the most recent steepartment notice regarding stipends, which m 2007 he says the state department has never told the sponsor agenciese thloyers must meet state minimum wage requirements. the state department, however, told newshour weekend sponsors

must adhere to state and local laws. among other things, the plaintiffs'ttorneys are asking for what they say are unpaid wages and the return of illegal deductions. they estimate total damages at more than $2.5 billion. pbs newshour weekend reached out to all 15 of the 16 agencies named in the suit, but none were willing to speak to us in an interview. >> there is so much that's wrong about the allegationof the lawsuit that it's hard to know where to begin. >> reporter: c.v. harquail is the founder of au pair mom, a blog for host families. she says since au pairs are provided with housing, food, and many amenities, the weekly stipend usually just serves as pocket money. she also believes that ultimately, the lawsuit was spurred by what she considers be the state department's lack of clarity. >> it isn't the agencies who've set the minimum wage requirement.

i think that what would really change the program one way or another wouldmoe clearer and expansive regulation. or more deliberate and concerned oversight governmentally. >> reporter: the pastate dement does not spell out how federal wage regulations should specifically apply tou pairs. in a statement to newshour weekend, also declined to weigh in on that 40% deduction for room and board. they say simply that the sponsor agencies should make sure families understand their obligations. usually wages are the jurisdiction of the department of labor, but it doesn't oversee domesticam, one chan worker rights advocate ai-jen poo believes is necessary. >> it is just hugely challenging for most american families to afford childcare. so we need more care. but our licies and our ograms haven't caught up to that. i thi the answer is more of a systemic answer that allows for families to be able to afford

childcare much more universally, rather than take advantagof these caregivers who are here for learning and education and cultural ehange, and end up getting exploitewawith poverty s. >> reporter: host mom ali petschek says there is no question the au pair program has been an immersive culturalex perience for her family. on this day, she, marisol and the boys were welcoming back a former au pair who is visiting from germany. tly, she's like a member of our family. i'm still in touch with all my au pairs, even the o ws who didn'tk out. they've become like my reporter: a trial by jury for. the class action lawsuit is set for next february. petschek says she is watching developments closely. >> i'm conflicte i can see absolutely why they would think they're not getting paid very much. but on the otherand, if they

win their lawsuit and the agency passes that uincrease on i e n see a lot of families dropping out of pair program and not being able to continue. and i think that would be a shame. >> sreenivasan: in afghanistan, government security forces are battling the taliban for the third day in the city of ghazni, a key point on the highway connheectingapital kabul and the country's second-largest city, kandahar. fighting and bombings have increased recently as the taliban try to take conol of more territories in advance of next year's presidential election. joining us now fm kabul via skype is the "new york times" afghanistan bureau chief rod nordland. thanks for being with us. why is it kis so rawtion.

>> it has always been a really important straj i believ kind of marks the border between tae tajiq and azar and north and the caand the posthusne landin the east, taking it would cut off the taliban heartland and the rest of country and give them maybe a kind of quawsi state. >> sreenivasan: just the other day the afghan government was saying that they had control of this city but you your reporting showed otherwise. >> they are stiyill g today we have control but our reporter is worng around the streets and the 0e7b8 thing he saw was taliban. the government still holds thce postation, the prison, a couple of other places, the army base, and there is a big base right outside of town that is il ifing up with reinforcements but so far the government has not mounted any kind of con sorted counterattack to chase the taliban out. they say because they are worried about hurting civilians in the process. >> there are also multiple

forces in here. yonhave been reporting retly about the islamic state. and what their roll is. are they prisoners in some cases, are they honored guests in others. >> well, in the case of one large isis group in the north of afghanistan, they surrendered to the government rather than be defeated by the taliban. they were about to be overrun n cause they are enemies of the tali well. and the government rather than treat them as prisoners treated them as guests which caused quite a scandal, angered american leaders as well. >> because there are still citizens who have had to deal with the atrocities that the islamic state inflicted upon them, right? >> that's for sure, yeah. and you know, they, thleeir ers said if anyone has any charges against them they should come forward. d by that morning 50 people had come forwardom toain about beheadings and random arbitrary murder >> let's talk a little about how this political landscapends p

shaping out before the upcoming elections. u have these different factions, the taliban is taking military action but they are aso trying to win hearts and minds. a lot of people see the gansi offensive and three over major o fircheses going on by the taliban that have killed about as many people as have been killed in ghanzi in the last couple of days but anyway a lot of pele see all that as the taliban trying to drk dsh ga er credit, lie down a marker before any kind of peace talks start. there is a lot of hope here that in a couple of weeks, less than a couple of weeks, for the eid holiday there will be another seas fire, there was one in je that was very successful. people are hopeful that that will happen and some analys see this, these series ofat attacks as ampt for the taliban to strengthen their position before atanylks. >> sreenivasan: afghanistan bureau chief for "the new york times" rod nordland.th

anks so much. >> sure thing.>> this is pbs newshour weekend, sunday. >at> sreenivasan: protests began over dangerous roads in bangladesh grew into massive demonstrations against ten government ry. the arrest of a prominent photographer is causing more rest. fatima manji of channel 4 news reports another day, another protest in the bangladeshi capital. calling to te he releasof one of the country's most famous photographers and soci activists. the 63 year old was arrested last week end charged with spreading false informationt aboucent student protests. those protests paralyzed dhaka for nine days, they were set off by the death two students killed by speeding buses at the end of july.te ns of thousands took to the streets pressing the government to make the country's chaotic lethal roads safer. the protests then spiraled into

general frustration at the government. scores of peopley mostludents and journalists including this photographer for the associated press were beaten and injured ojournalists blamed suppters to the targeted attacks which the government denies. the ruling party blamed the main oinpposition and its ally for manipulati student anger to make trouble. prot tests however have been a major embarrassment for the government. their height, this interview to al jazeera international.be >>ry at all levels trk is a nevera ending list t hs been huge. >> hours later he was arrested by polee. photographer claims he was then tortured. human rightwch and am amnesty international are demanding his immediate release and ask vi say his detention is a clear indication of an increasingly nervous and authoritarian

government which faces an election later this year. >> sreenasan: tomorrow on the pbs newshour, former "apprentice" star omarosa opens up about working for president trump. that's all for this edition of pbs newshour weekend. i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshournd is made possible by:

.bernard and irene schwar d edgar wachenheim iii. the cheryl and philip milstein family. dr. p. roy vagelos and diana t. vagelos. the j.p.b. foundation. rosalind p. walter. barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's whrewe're your rement company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your frs statio viewers like you. thank you.

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