captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for saturday, september 7: hurricane dorian's aftermath--do devastation and destruction in the bahamas; flooding and thousands without power along the carolina coast; and in our signature segment, rwanda-- a wdel of success, but at whatco st? ndnext on pbs newshour wee >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. sue and edgar waenheim iii. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the j.p.b. foundation. rosalind p. walter, in memoryof eorge o'neil. barbara hope zuckerberg.

corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing custized individual angroup retirement product that's why we're your retirement company. ditional support.as bee provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting. a private corporatiofunded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. from the tisch wnet studios at lincoln center in new york, hari sreenivasan. : >> sreenivasod evening, and thanks for jning us. hurricane dorian continued to travel north today, re- strengthening to a category two and threatening to bring storm surge impacts to nova scotia, southwestern newfoundland and prince edward island. tens of thousands of people lost power as dorian approached the region this afternoon. the hurricane's destructive path began in the bahamas, where it first made landfall as a category five hurricane, leaving some of the northern islands almost totally destroyed. hundreds of people waited for

ferrrs to evacuate them from abaco island to nassau. >> my immediate family began to mourn it, right? i haven't heard from them since the hurricane, and they haven't heard from me. so, i dot know how they'reth situated, an definitely don't know how i am situated. right now, they are not sure if >> sreenivasan: a ely- owned cruise ship that took aide workers to the bahamas on ursday returned today, bringing more than 1,500 evacuees to the port of palm beach. the u.s. coast guard sent crews to the bahamas to assist and, as of this morning, had rescued 290 people in the area. jenelle eli is with the hurricane dorian opetion for the american red cross. she joins us now from nassau bahamas. how significant is the devastation icat has happened there? >> the devastatie. here is mass and, honestly, it's heartbreaking. i was on the island of abaco, and there were so many housesd without roofs her houses that were just completely

demolished. even when landing, in the airport i landed, you could see trees uprooted and snapped in half. people are really telling some horrific stories about the damage. >> sreenivasan: and have most of the people managed to get off? are they on the other islands, like annan? >> so, t who have managed to get off. whether by boat or helicopter or plane.fi but there tely are more people still there and in need of assistance. >> sreenivasan: right, well, what are the most immediate they, besides shelter have places to go, and if thereo arrnment shelters?ea but, i water, electricity, i mean, it sounds like the--fr there is no tructure left. >> certainly on the islands, water, food, electricity, medical care, and emergency sh there are a lot of people still sleeping on the streets. there are people in need of clean war and sanitation. we've seen in disasters before that if clean water isret

addressed within, you know, the first days and weeks, it could cause secondary humatarian need. so that's absolutely a priority. he red cross, we're also focusing owesomething else which is helping reconnect families. even people who've lost their homes, lost their livelihoods, lost all their physical property, if they ven't been able to get in touch with their loved ones, their familyme ers, if they're not suresu whether they're safe and alive, they really don't have peace of so that is top of mind for lots of people affected by this disaster. and at the red cross is really hoping in the days and weeks ahead to focus on that. >> sreenivasan: so are you creating essentially the upuivale of a virtual pi board where people can say, "here i am. has anybody heard from so-and-so?" that's a great way to put it. we have a program called "restoring family links" and we open up cas of people who haven't heard from their loved onesnd family members during we're able to help trace whether those people are alive, safe, maybe where they were. >> sreenivasansiwhat's the t thing someone from mainland united states can do

right now? >> so, right now, to help people affected by hurrican dorian in both te u.s. and the becauses, towe're asking people to g redcross.org, and donate. but another thing people can do is take this moment and remember that disasters can happen any time. big disasters can affect anyone. and th is a good time to take stock of your own evacuation plan, your own emergency plan. how will yr family react? what will you bring with you? even first aid classes.la these are things wrecommend so that people are really ready for disasters when they strike. >> sreenivasan: you've seen a is it going to be possible for a place like abaco island to recover from this? >> the heartbreak families are facing, that's not something that people easily recover from. and that will ke a long time. but so will the physical needs. right now, we're really focused on urgent need, bucuin the future, people certainly will need to have their livelihoods stored. people lost theifishing boats, their bicycles, the stock in their stores.

and so those are things that humanitarian agencies will also want to focus on as we move forward. >> sreenivasan: all right, jenelle eli, from thrrican dorian operation for the ferican red cross joining us via skypem the nassau, bahamas, today. thanks so much. >> thanks for having me. >> sreenivas: after hitting the bahas, hurricane dorian made landfall again on the coast of north carolina.st m surge and winds damaged homes and caused power outages on islands and along the coast, but the state directory f emergenagement told me this afternoon that the damage was less than first forecast. >> the storm just a few days ago looked like it was going to be ve bad, and it wasn't as b as we anticipated. but i will tell you that we did experience stornad activity, and we're currently executinsome relief and response on orkracoke island and the outerbanks and hyde county. >> sreenivasan: reuters reporter amanda becker is on the coast at nags head, north carolina, and shhas more on whatesidentsen

there faced during the storm. amanda, it looks like kind of a gorgeous day on the beach. >> people are returning to a beautiful day today. they started letting permanent residents and critical business owanrs and personnel back in at noon. and they are returning to actually what is a perfect beach day. strong waves, but other than that, it's gorgeous here. >> sreenivasan: yeah, you can see some of the-- how far and how high did the sea get during the storm? i'm assuming you couldn't ben'st ding where you are now. >> yes, actually, yesterday hours after the huanehere, a few cleared out, was all the way up to the dunes. there was really no beach yet. so they're starting-- and i'll a turnittle bit. you can start to see they are regaining their beach. it's kind of almost back towh e it was two days ago before the storm. >> sreenivasan: and what kind of damage did the people thereea in nag'sor along the outer banks experience? >> so i've only been able to get to the northern outer banks beeduse the road is still cl south of nag's head, past the national seashore. there's another bridge. any time there's a severe storm here, it gets really hard to geo ape hatteras or ocracoke

island, of course, which has been on the news-- frisco, areas like that. basically, sand-- it's a very narrow part of the outer banks, and on either side of route 12, you have the ocean on one se with a very small dune and a marsh on the other ndde, kind of on the sound side. so any time there's any sort of rainfall at all, that tends to wash out. it tends to wash a lot of sand over there. so it could be a couple more days before residents of the south outer nks are able to t in and out again. but in the areas of the northern outer banks, people are able to return starting today. >> sreenivasan: all right, so did-- these are peoplere familiar with living along the coast. did most of the people there evacuate when they were told to? >> no. so, it's very orderly procedure here. kind of most of the houses right along the beach are rentals. people own them and rent them v out toacationers. the vacationers were the first to go. for liability reasons, the rental companies don't allow they were gone.re. so when i was here, i guess it was thursday afternoon ahead of the storm,hursday during the day, you know, it seemed very quiet.

a lot of businesses were closed. grocery stores were closed, the local publix was being used kind of as a staging area to feed but all the permanent residents told me they were staying put.th -- a lot of them have houses that are not right on the beach, either as their primary residence or a secondaryre dence. so they were going to those houses, but they were not leaving the area. and one of the reaso is you can't get here, except for a refew bridges. c and once they'sed, you know, ey've complained that nsurancee delays in i estimates because they can't get back into their houses. >> sreenivasan: and what kind of sort of a government response do you see out there?th are any emergency vehicles? are there any kind of support services that have made their way out to the places th? you've been >> so the place i have been to ofstained virtually no damage. on the sound sidhe outer banks, kind of the facing

inland, there's actually been more damage because there's more trees over there. there are more things to fall down in the wind. so you see a lot of utility, trucks out tode north carolina department of transportation, clearing debristhings like, that looking at power lines, fixing utility poles, people cutting trees that have fallen. but even the houses right along the ocean, i've spent today andt actually, day right after the storm came through right along the beach road. anal you know, people put up their storm shutters and other lian, you know, some broken fences and thing, that the houses here are all okay. >> sreenivasan: amanda becker of reuters joining us from nag's head via facetime, thanks so much. >> thank you. on hurricane dorian's path and the damage left in its wake, visit www.pbs.org/newsur. >> sreenivasan: iran stepped up uranium enrichment today, activating a chain of advanced centrifuges in defiance of the 15 nuclear agreement. at a news conference, a spokesman for iran's atomicat energy organn said this could be reversed if european nations compensated tehran for all the money it's lost since presid the deal and reimposed sanctions

last year. the 20 agreement curbed iran's nuclear actities in exchange for economic sanctions relief. dueling marches collidedlin london's pent square today, one side in favor and the other side against the u.k. leaving the european union without a deal. members of the pro-brexit" democratic football lads alliance" clashed with thanti- brexit group, "march for change." european union flags waved. besides a flying beer can, police managed to keep the two granps apart. the u.k.'s departure from the e.u. under a no-deal brexit is still set for october 31, but debate continues in parliament. russia and ukraine freed prisoners today in an exchangen that ukraine's president calle"" the first step" to stop the fighting in eastern ukraine that has killed more than 13,000 people since 2014. planes took off from moscow and kyiv at almost the same time today, carrying 35 prisoners each. ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskiy welcomed home two

dozen ukrainian sailors russia captured last year, alonriwith 11 otherners.ss the freed n prisoners included a journalist accused of treason and a suspect in the downing of a malaysia airlines flight over eastern ukraine inll 2014 that 298 people. india's space agency announced today that it lost conith its "vikram" lunar lander, and the fate of the lander is prently unknown. the craft was making its final approach to the moon's surface to deploa rover at the unexplored lunar south pole. india's space agency said that the lander's operationatwere normal until it was just over one mile above the surface. the landing would onve made indi the fourth country to successfully land on the moon. hundreds gathered last night to mourn the 34 victims of monday' divi boat fire off the coast of southern california. 34 scuba tanks lined the stage and those attending placed white carnations in baskets. the diving boat "conception" sank off the coast of santa cruz island in 65 feet of water

before dawn on monday. investigators say flames may have prevented some of the victims trapped in a bunk room aplow deck from reaching a stairway and esce hatch. >> sreenivasan: robert mugabe of zimbabwe died this week. he ruled that country for almost he helped the nation gain independence but was later reviled for his brutalns crackdn opponents and a , iling economy. for soe story is a similar one to that of rwanda, where, a quarter century ago, more than 800,000 tutsi and moderate hutus were killed in a genocide that lasted 100 days. current president paul kagame, leader of the rwandan patriotic front, has been celebrated by many as an ingenious leader. but tois opponents and even some of his formerly close rule is setting a ousritarian precedent.

special correspondts benedict moran and jorgen samso report. >> reporter: jean bosco ngaramwa lefta seven years ago, but the memories of his torture there are still fresh. >> ( translated ): i was broht into a small room, which i consider like a slaughterhouse. i saw machetes, i saw axes, i saw electric cables. it was a room where they torture people. >> reporter: ngarama says his problems began in 2010, when heb lived in the capital, kigali. he worked for a human rights organization, and was openly crt.ical of rwanda's governm in march of that year, unknown assailants launched grenade attacks on the cit soon after, arama was arrested and imprisoned. >> ( translated ): they asked me it that i know the peopl who threw the grenades. "you he no information?" i said "no." they said, "if you don't do it't willingly, you'll do it by force." they slapped me.

then they brought batons and they hit me with electric stbles. i wading up. when i screamed, they took plastic bottles, and shoved it in my mouth. blood was pourg out of my mouth. >> reporter: he says a soldier then electrocuted him, and he passed out. hshe was held for eight mo before being charged with conspiracy. months later, he was tried, but was in fact acquitte ngarama now lives in philadelphia and is determined to speak out. >> ( translated they knew i was innocent. but sometimes, the military soldiers said, "an bosco, even if you don't do anything, we want to brainwash you." that's the term they used, to wash your brain. >> reporter: allegations like odarama's tell a tale about rwanda a with the international reputation it has worked hard to achieve. the east african country is known for making a remarkable turnaround since the 1994 genocide. fastest-growing economies africa.

ere's universal healthcare. the streets are clean. these results have earned the country and president paul kagame praise in the united states. a it's an honor to have you as iend. >> paul kagame is ason rwanda is leading the way. rwanda is a clear example of what a strong strategic partner should look like to the united states. >> reporter: last year, president kagame was named african of the year at the allus africaess leaders awards, for his role in the transformation of his country. this is the kigali convention center, built for an estimated $200 million to $300 million. this week they are hosting the african c.e.o. fored. it's label africa's biggest annual business summit. it's an example of how the countrhas branded itself a hub of business and tourism, through companies like rwandair, the national alines. >> rwandair today covers about 26 destinations, and we are looking to on more new routes very soon. >> reporter: the goal is to seek investment and prosperity by portraying what is safe an business-friendly about the country.

european union ambassador to rwandanicola bellomo. >> rwanda is now on the map. rwanda is on the radar screen everywhere. president kagame is becoming mo and more the voice of africa. some consider his development model, younow, something to be followed.or espiterais the united states, the 2018 u.s. state department's own human rights report kagame's rwanda cites instances of unlawful or arbitrary killings, forced disappearances, torture, and arbitrary detention of rwandan civilians by state security forces. journalists have been threatened by police or killed under mysterious circumstances. most at risk are those whoct direly oppose the government. in 2010, oppositn leader victoire ingabire was running for president when she was charged with "minimizing the genocide" and so-called," "divisionihich is a crime in rwanda. she was convicted and sentenced to 15 years in pison.

she's now out of prisoer kagame approved her early release in september of last year. >> it is not easy to be in opposition in rwanda. >>opeporter: in her office hang the pictures of nine party members who are in jail, plus one who myeriously disappeared while in prison last october. >> the government has the e-aracteriic of a de facto rty system. we have so many political parties in the country, but they work together as one party. >> reporter: even some of's kagalosest advisors haveha fallen out with him. david himbara worked for president kagame as an economic advisor, and then as his private secretary. >> he's a one-man government. he's in charge of the executive, the judiciary, and the legislative branch. >> reporter: himabara says many of the original men and women who came to power with paul hakagame after the genocid fled, or worse.

>> they're either dead or in exile. nobody, no original personthey are nowhere to be seen. the otrs, they are underground. they, "shhhh." they are keeping quiet.ee kagame is, i think, a person whose life is consumed by militarism and violence. iv>> reporter: himbara now in toronto, canada, and advocates for rwandan opposition groups. even those rwandans who have left the country aren't guaranteed safety. in 2008,ormer rwandan spy chief patrick karageya fled to south africa and set opposition party in exile. he was found strangled to death in a johannesburg hotel in 2014. this may, a south african police officeinvestigating the crimeg testified that the murder was directly linked to the involvement of the rndan government.

kagame denied any involvement in therattack, but, two weeks a karageya was assassinated, he issued this warning. >> ( translated ): betrayal has consequences. anyone who betrays our cause or wishes to harm our people will fall a victim. what remains to be seen is how you fall victim. there are many ways. >> reporter: meanwhile, the man who represented rwanda at the united nations as recently as asylum in the united states.ught hi ambassador gasana fell out with kagame and fled to the u.s. for reasons that "relate to his personal safety." t in a country recently ripped kagame's supportery hisns, strong-arm approach is necessary to cree national unity and so avoid another bloody conflict. jean-paul kimoado is a policy sor to president kagame. >> now we are trying to get back to a strong state of a strong nation.

without cial cohesion and national national unity, there's not much youan do.s and certainly not-- you cannot mobilize the population to go aheaand transform things and be efficient. >> reporter: rwanda projects continued economic growth, which it hopes will brg it into the ranks of high-income countries by 2050. kimonyo says these lofty aspirations requira strong leader at t e helm. w want is profound change. it's not the time e takes time. journalist, it's not the time of researcher or observers. it's our-- our time. and our time is to change things profoundly. >> reporter: it is difficult to judge how much support there is inside the country for kagame's brand of profound change. ange to the naonaloters approved

constitution, allowing kagam to run for a third term and possibly stay in office until. 20 and, he was re-elected in 2017er with a stag 98.8% of the vote. e vocates like human rights watch said the vok place in a context of "limited free paspeech or open political and thu.s. state department said it was marked by irrelarities. at the african c.e.ogathering, kagame addressed his critics overseas, saying he works at the lebehest of thrwandan pe >> we have openly stated that it doesn't matter, anybody from outside, whether y like me or you don't like m president kagame is here as president of rwanda, as a business of rwandans. it's their business. if they want kagame, they'll have him. if they don't want kagame, they'll remove him. it doesn't matter.

( applause ) >> this is pbs newshour weekend, saturday. >> sreenivasan: this weekend, a remarkable art project opens in austria not in a museum but in a soccer stadium. in this "temporary artpo forest: the unending attraction of nature," spectators will see trees in a setting designed to generations about the value of nature. newshour weekend's christopher booker has the story. >> in 1970 had the vision iat one da could happen that we look at nature and designated areas only. what we have been doing for decades as zoowith endangered animals, could happen with nature. spectators will observe rethe fo as it stands silently on

the field while the local team plays at another stadium in the area for a few weeks. litman says his living arton installas designed to challenge viewers to consider the consequences of climate change. >> ( translated ): for some, this will be a highly symbolic character, like the "tree ofical life" or "the place of longing." others wh an affinity for artt mitually see a sculpture or an installation. and for many, because of the current situation, this represents a memorial as part of the climate change discussion. >> reporter: the 300 trees will be rnted nearby after the temporary exhibit oses in late october, preserving the stadium forest as a forest sculpture. >> ( translated ): if people ask me, "when is this projectsu essful?" i always give the same response: it's successful if this picture goes around theo d, and more importantly, if it stays in people's minds.

n> sreenivasan: finally, tonight ag the many things damaged or destroyed by hurrican as th northampus of the university of bahamas. but college student there may have a new oportunity to continue their education. hampton university in virginia says it will provide free room and board and did youition forrr the nt semester for students from that school. so far 22 have expressed interest in thes offer. and this isn't the first time hampton university has helped displaced student. it did foe samr college students after hurricaneica traena. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz.

sue and edgar wachenheim iii. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the j.p.b. foundation. rosalind p. walter, in memory of george o'neil. barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individuau and retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company.up additionalrt has been provided by: and by the corpobltion for broadcasting. a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like yo thank you. be more. pbs.

narrator: on this episode of "earth focus," the most basic humaneed is also its most precious commodity. in california's central vley, home to 19% of the food production in the world, many live without clean drinking water whi the edge of morocco's sahara region, harvesting water frohas the potential to deeply impact a culture. [camera focus ring cg] [shutt clicking]