ptioning sponsored by wn >> sreenivasanon this edition for saturday, october 20: denials then reversals over the death of journalist jamal khashoggi; delays, chaos and killings mar afghanistan elections; and in our siature segment, ebola cases rise in the congo as violence d regional strife slow vaccination efforts. next on "pbs newshour weekend." ee >> pbs newshournd is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. sue and edgar wachenheim iii seton melvin. the cheryl and philip milstein family. ndr. p. roy vagelosiana t. vagelos. the j.p.b. foundation. rosalind p. walter. barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america--

designing customized indivouual and retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by co rstation from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios at lincoln center in new york, hari sreenivasan. >> sreenivasan: good evening, an the government of saudi arabia now admits journalist jamal khasggi died in their consulate in istanbul turkey in a complete reversal of their original staments. saudi arabia's public prosecutor said 18 saudi natials were arrested, including the men who were present when khashoi died. but the new version of events-- that the "washington post" columnist was killed as the result of a "brawl" ortly after he arrived at the consulate-- is being widely questioned. german chancellor angela merkel

said "still nothing has been clarifieut khashoggi's death, and "we demand to know what happened." members of congress from both parties also dismissed the saudi government's latest version of what happened. the ranking democrat on the u.s. house intelligence committee, adam schiff, tweeted that the claim was "not at all credible. if he was fighting with those sent to capture or kill him, it was for his life republican senator rand paul tweeted, "what they did was unacceptable, and i call on my colleagues in congress to join me in denouncing their behavior and changing how we treat them." a senior official of turkey's ling party said today that turkey would "never allow a cover-this crime." >> turkey will not let this >> ( translated ): turkey will not let this ugly, fring, inhumane case go, which was against humanity. >> sreenivasan: turkish officials have said that they have audio evidence that khashoggi was deliberately killed and disdambered. yest president trump was asked if he thought the saudi's new explanation was credible. >> i do, i do. i mean, it's-- again, it's

early. we haven't finished our review or investigation. but it's-- i think it's afiery important step, and it happened sooner than people thought it would happen. >> sreenivasan: the caravan of migrants heading north from central america has r tten smalleernight at the mexico- guatemala border. some of the thousands of mostly honduran migrants escaping violence and poverty have y.ossed into mexico, both legally and illega others retreated after a confrontation with mexican riot police. after meeting with mexican president enrique pena nieto yesterday, u.s. secretary of state mike pompeo sa that mexico has sent 500 federal agents to its southern border. president trump is threatening to cut off aid to central american countries if thst don't migrants from leaving, and says he's considering sending active-duty troops to the u.s.- mexico border. del troops are prohibited from deployment on u.s. soil to enforce domestic laws. tanens of tho of activists

gathered in central london today to demand a new nationwide rebrferendum oit. nearly 150 buses brought protesters to the capital from all over the country to take part in the demonstrations. britain is scheduled to leave the european union on march 29. heated government negotiations on tbrexit have being place ever since a 2016 referendum. conseative party prime minister theresa may has so far ruled out another public vote on brexit. violence, confusion and long lines forced officials in afghanistan to extend voting through tomorrow in that country's long-delayed parliamentary elections. at least 15 people were reportedly killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a pollingtation in kabul. the taliban threatened to disrupt the vote and claimed it staged more than 150 s today. and acocross thtry, there were long lines as voters tried tuse a new biometric identification system before casting their ballots. for more on the elections and the taliban threats, we're joined nowuy freelance rnalist jennifer glasse in kabul, afghanistan.

first, let me just start with the significance of this. enthis is not their presial election. put this in context for us. >> well, it's the parliamentary elections. afghans have been waiting for this fa three rs. it was first scheduled for 2013, delayed three times, they finally got to vote today. there are 2500 candidates vying for the 249 seats in the lower house of parliament here. it is seen as crucial. it's theain law-making body here in afghanistan, hari, and these areve very powerful people. and, really, to give you a sense of why this is such a bi this is the first generation of post-taliban people voting today. you had ng lot of youeople-- 18-year-olds, 19-year-olds, 20-year-olds -- vong in the election. and a lot of candidates themselves are very young. so it's really seen as an opportunity to kind of reset the whole political system, replace a parliament that many here believe is a symbol of the old

guard, part of the old partisanship, the old patronag t systt has been such a problem in afghanistan. and i think that's why people were soeddetermo vote today, despite the threats of violence by the taliban and islamic state. >> sreenivasan: let's talk a little bit about that climate of fear and violence that the taliban and islamic state have wanted. it did it work? did they keep people from t polls? >> in some areas they did. in some parts ofy,he coun the taliban blocked roads and highways so people couldn't get to the voting stations. in the north, they shell the polling stations. a couple of miles outside of the e ty they actually set fito one of the polling stations sending election workers and voters running. the interior minister saysre t were more than 190 incidents of violence around the country today. buainly here in kabul, and in most of the other city centers, you saw very determined voters. they were up very, very early. the polls were supposed to open at 7:00 this morning.

people inspectorine at 6:00 6:30. and many polling stations opened late, en youoned, a lot of technical difficulties. and yet the afghans persevered. and the suicide bombing happened an hour and a half after lle were scheduled to be closed. people were still waiting in line to vote and theote will continue tomorrow. the determination of the afghan people very offend in the process today. we're not exactly sure what happened in the rural areas, where,f course, the goverment has less control and where people are more easily tfluenced, and that's going be the real test. but election commission tellses you that two to 2.5illion people did vote today out of voter roll of 8.8 million, that's not bad. >> sreenivasan: that's very courageous, especially since ofd people the taliban and suicide bombers target. tell me about the history of fraud when what they're trying

to do to prent it this time ound. >> this is a whole new electoral system, and that's why the election had been postponed so many times. know itds strange for you role and me, but for the first time, afghans had to g and register at an actual polling station and then vote at that actual polling station. that is very new here in reghanistan. beou could just get a voter registration card and vote tywhere in the country which, of course, left whole system open to an awful lot of corruption. now, those new voter rolls caused a lot of cfusion tody. at one high school where we went one man had been there at the crack of dawn. three hours later he was still waiting. every man whose name ban with "a," they couldn't find the voter lists. we understand they did find them later purpose. there were some independentse ers, many really wamping other people to see what happened to make sure the vote a went aheit was supposed to.

and then the results will be publicly posted atach polling station, so to try to hold all of this-- ts new system tow make sure it is accountable so we don't have meas that we saw in the presidential elections of 2014, where every single vote had to be recount. >> woodruff: all r jennifer glasse, joining us via satellite from kabul, afghanistaks tonight. thoaf. >> good to talk to you, hari. >> sreenivasan: since august, another deadly outbreak of ebola has been ravaging the democratic republic of the congo, killing zens. health workers say new medicines and the development of a vaccine are making the job of treating ebola easier. however, this outbreak is in the le of a war zone where a decades-long battle continues. the wo says the risk that the disease hll spread even to neighboring countries is "veh." newshour weekend special correspondent benedict moran and video-journalist jorgen samso

have this report from the town of ben a warning: viewers might find some images disturbing. >> reporter: in this clinic in the city of beni, in democratic republic of the congo, doctors are treating a new patient. it's a 13-year-old girl who recently tested positive for ebola virus disease. ebola can cause headaches, fever and severe hemorrhaging. without treatment, it's nearly always fatal. so, time is of the essence. >> i'm in the process of helping >> ( translated ): i'm in the process of helping my colleague in the cube regulate the patient's i.v. drip. we areorking together. i can help from the outside. >> reporter: nearby are more patits. janine in the white shirt and her two sisters have been here for three weeks. seven memberof their family e already dead. >> ( translated ed when mother f ebola, we didn't know what it was. we thought she was poisoned. my uncle died, my cousin, my aunt, my mom, my own brother, and my own sister. they all died. r:>> reporte treating janine and other ebola patients is difficult. they need to be closely

monitored. doctors and nurses need to be able to help without putting themselves at risk. before this outbreak, most hospitals in this region didn't have facilities that were capable of treating ebola istients. ear, health workers have l troduced a new tool. they c "the cube." , ola is spread through contact with bodily fluid the cube allows additional health workers to treat patients from the outside without wearing cumbersome protectiv. >> ( translated ): before, it would take 15 minutes to be able to enter the room. now, in a couple minutes, we can be helpi a patient. >> reporter: there are medical personnel here from all over-- congolese physicians, rnational humanitarian organizations, the world health organization, and others. just a couple years ago, they could give no medicis for ebola. this year, they are using new experimental drugs. itw, patients can receive donated medicinen hours of being admitted. because of the crisis, a congolese and international panel of experts approve nthe use of t drugs before they ordinarily would. the w.h.o. call this a paradigm shift. >> on one hand, you are

incredibly nervous because not many people were given these drugs before, and not many people havbureceived them. on the other hand, there is a sense of excitement and a sense of hope because for the first time we have something ythat we can use to direc fight against the virus. >> reporter: there's also a new vai. a 2015 field trial in west africa found the vaccine to be "effective." so, though it, too, isn't yet fully approvedobal health authorities, more than 15,000 people in this region have been vaccinated on compassionate grounds. the goal is to forestall an epidemic, one that could sweep the region and beyond. when a patient tests positive for ebola, one of the first things health workers do is to track down everyone in their immediate environment. that includes family and friends, people who may have been in touch with the sick person and who may be infected themselves. they are brought here to the central hospital, given a consultion as well as a eaccination. >> reporter:h workers say it's crucial to make sure no one slips through the cracks. an ebola response team made up of local and international health worrs has put up

eckpoints on major roads entering beni. mperatures of all going in and out of the city. .hey also make sure everyone washes their han but this outbreak has othe challenges. this part of the congo is an active conflict zone. ver 100 armed groups are fighting for influence. violence has forced nearly a million people frotheir homes, and ebola has spread to neighborhoods like this one near beni, where armed groups regularly operate. less thalometer behind me, in that forest, armed groups are fighting against the central government. and during periods of intense fighting, this area can be a no- go zone for health workers. while we were reporting from beni, the perfect storm. this is the sound of anti- government fighters attacking beni on the night of september 21. they were stopped just a half a wn.e from the center of 21 people were killed, most of them civilians. as their bodies were brought to the morgue, civilian activists took their frustration to the etsts, calling for the government and the international itcommto do more to stop the

killings. >> ( translated ): we have inlled for a two-day strik beni, to demand that the central government does something about what's happening here. people are dying, and theyikeave us herewe're animals. just like the international community has deployed here to fight ebola, they need to also ght to stop the massacre >> rep unrest, vaccinations and the crucial tracking of suspected ebola casewere called off. streets usually crowded with white government and world health organization vehicles were empty. u.n. pea streets.patrolled the after last night's attack, international health workers and congolese doctors have bn told to stay inside. pitatients in this ho's ebola ward are still receiving treatment, but all activities outside have been put on hold. dr. n'djoloko tambwe is in charge of the congolese government ebola response. >> after a nht like last night, health workers are exhausted since three were shots all night. there are people who have never experienced that before, so you need to give them moral support so they can get back to work. >> reporter: he tells me that

after years of fighting and neglect, mistrust of local and international institutions and authority runs deep. >> ( translated ): the congolese government is criticized for not doing enough to make it safe. the u.n. is judged to be complicit in the massacres here and for not protecting the populationxcept for a few battalions. and n.g.o.s, people think they are here just to make money. >> reporter: then, there's politics. the congo is sen to hold presal elections in december. that adds yet another degree of unpredlity. since gaining independence from belgium in 1960, the country has never known a aceful transfer power, and some populist politicians have spread conspiracy theories about the ebola virus. this audio clip was broadcast over the radio.

>> reporter: in an atmosphere of violence, mistrust and misinformation, some ebola patits have refused treatmen red cross volunteers have even been attacked by community members. it all makes the already huge task of eliminating ebola even more difficult. still, health authorities persevere, promoting better communication and education. nurses from a local union are spreading a message: ebola kills. >> we want to tell people here that ebola exists so they can protect themselves. >> reporter: poste are plastered across the city, and inside classrooms children are given lessons on what's true and what's false. but they can't take the message everywhere they'd like to. withhting just outside beni, at times many areas are still too dang to access.alth workers so, part of the response means aining health workers from the dangerous areas so that even ifh 're on their own, they'll be ready. here, the international rescue committee is teaching one nurse

how to properly wear protective gear. ( translat): local health workers are the first line of defense. alhol of the sick people w arrive, they come here first. so, if these nurses don't know how to protect themselves, they'll be exposed to the disease. and once they are exposed, there's a strong chance of being infected and of dying of ebola. >> reporter: back at th treatment center in beni's central hospital, there's a moment of happiness. today, doctors have the results of janine's latest blood test. it shows there's no more ebola. after 22 days near death, she's cured. now, she can go home. >> ( translated ): i'moing t tell others how terrible this disease is and encourage them to come receive care and get cured. >> reporter: her two sisters will stay behind. janine says she plans on returning herevery day until they, too, are cured. >> sreenivasan: to learn more ab outbreak is disproportionately

impacting children, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. i >> thiss "pbs newshour weekend," saturday. >> sreenivasan: the ebola outbreak is the tenth in the democraticepublic of congo nce the disease was first reported there in 1976. te of the world's experts on this disease a development of vaccines to prevent it joins me now from washingtc. dr. anthony fauci is director of the national institute of selergy and infectious dis dr. fauci, how much harder is this to tree considering that it's happening in a war zone? >> well, it's certainly much more difficult because you don't have free access to the people who are known to be infected, and as importantly-- and perhaps theven more importantly- when you have to put the lid on an outbreak and identify people who mighbe exposed and you want to treat them as they get infected, thatou don't have cess to them because you don't know who they are or where they

are because the chain of contacts gets broken when you can't geographically or fitsically get into a place where you know the contacts aree use it's blocked off because of the hostilities that are going on. >> sreenivasan: even if you get into those areas, isn't there a th aeatave spread of virus from a deceased person thatight have been killed i the war? >> well, certainly, if the person was killed in the war and had ebola, they can be infected perly take careo of the body with the personnel protective equipment used to protect the people. both the physicians, the health workers, and even the people are the undertakers who take care of the dead bodies. >> sreenivasan: what about the fact this is the tenth outbreak in this area? why is it so hard hi stop this inregion? estion, but it's something you ally cannot do very much about because this is a virus that

doesn't stay among the human populations chronically forever. it goes up and down. but there's reservoir in animals-- bats, clearly, can get infected. we don't know whether they're the primary reservoir. non-human primates and forest animals can get infected. so if this were virus that only infected humans, one you got to all e humans, either treated them or vaccinated them, you would be done. but the reason you get these continual blips is that this virus is there perlypetun the environment in animal reservoirs. >> sreenivasan: let'ittalk a littlebout the vaccine. how did we come to this? how does it work? the bottom line is the vaccine works by inducing in the person who gets vaccinated a respon that is able to contain, stop, and kill the virus. if i got vaccinated aga this particular ebola strain with this vaccine that we refer to add v.s.v., that vaccine will

induce in me a protective response so that when i ged expo ebola, my imnological, or my otective response is going to prevent that ebola virus from infecting me. it really is the way most vaccines work. when you get vaccinated against polio, the polio vaccine indiewss a response i you that protects you against polio. when you get vaccinated against measles, the same thing-- you get vaccinated, you make a response, and you get protected. the vaccine against ebola workst in e the same way. it induces in the body a response that protectsou from exposure to the virus itself. >> sreenivasan: i realize there are different strains of ebola. how far away are we have to almost the equivalent of a cure, something that can resy pond rapi an outbreak? >> well, there are two things that we're working with right now. one of them is a vaccine-- more

than one-- a couple of vaccine candidates which really look quite promising in the field. that's one approach. the other approach is t treatment of a person who has been infected with ebola. and several of those candidates are noweing treated-- being used in the d.r.c., and will ultimately be used in a clinical trial to see which one is the best. so aend of all of this, it will take some time, we will pefully have one or more therapies to treat a pson who is infected with ebola and a good vaccine which has been proven to protect people from getting infected with ola. so even though these outbrea and keep coming, and even though they're obviously concerning in the countries where the outbreak is going on, the science and the development of what we call nnterventions or counter-measures ihe form of either vaccines or treatments is moving alonglly ratherring with the.: >> sreenivasanl right, dr. anthony fauci, director of national institute of allergy and infectioan diseases. you for joining us today. >> good to be with you.

>> this is pbs newshour ekend," saturday. >> sreenivasan: and now to "viewers like you," your chance to comment on stories you've seen here on pbs newshour weekend. last saturday, newshour weekend correspondent ivette feliciano reported on a florida ballot measure that, if passed in november, will restore voting rights to many convicted felons after they complete their sentence our signature story began with the tale of one florida man who was convicted of holding up a fast food restaurant at gunpoint when he was seventeen. now 41, jifunza has turned his life around. he's married with three ch paralegal.works as a he's also a pastor at his local but he still faces difficulties because of his 1996 conviction. a recent job offer he received was put on hold because of it. he can't legally serve on a jury or hold public office. and there is one other right denied to him: voting. >> when i walk through that front door and i look at my

three kids, i can't fight for them using my voice. i can't cast a vote on anything. the school boardion where my children go. you know, i can't decide who's going to be on the school board. >> sreenivasan: on facebook, valerie oglented "voting is our most basic right! it should not be limited, ever." ie lynne agreed, writing "good. they did their time. no need for a lifelong punishment." and glen john bomiley said: "let but we also heard from opponents. @caitlynhudson tweeted this to us: "determining who may or may not vote based on the type of felony offense is immaterial,ar presumptive antrary. when you choose to commit a felony offense, you choose to give up your right to vote. no one 'strips' you of your ability to vote." also on twitter, @pinkoption9 said: "if you are willing to brk our laws, then you lose your right to vote. very simple-- crime, as elections, have consequences." as always we welcome your omments on all of our reporting. visit us at www.pbs.org/newshour, on our facebook page, or tweet us @newshour.

>> sreenivasan: join us tomorrow fmuor a visit to utah's moac festival where performances happen on a very unique stage. that all for this edition of ♪ ♪ 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 roaptioned by media access at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. sue and edgar wachenheim iii.

seton melvin. the cheryl and philip milstein family. dr. p. roy vagelos and diana t. vagelos. lthe j.p.b. foundation. rosalind p. . barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided bdesigning customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional 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. be more. pbs. be more.

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