captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for saturday, august 22: rallying support for the postal servics it prepares for mail-in voting. deadly california wildfires merge, as temratures soar. and, thedanger of poisonous snake bites for millions of people around the world. next, on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by:r sue and edchenheim iii. the anderson family fund. bernard andhw denise tz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. barbara hope zuckerberg. charles rosenblum. we try live in the moment, to not miss what's right in

front of us. atutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investments. hadditional supporbeen provided by: consumer cellular. and by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. o and by contributionsur pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> sre and thank you for joining us. the house of representatives held a rare saturday session tidoday to co a bill that would allocate $25 billion in additional funding for the u.s. postal servicend prohibit any operational changes. house speaker nancy pelosi said the funds are needed to reduce sldowns of mail service. >> it is a service.al po service. sohen people say that it it's not a busin- it'sy,

a service. so even ough we want to subject scrutiny to every federal dollar spent, let us member it is a service. >> sreenivasan: "save the u.s.p.s." rallies in support of the postal service we held today across the cotry. the house bill would designate mail-in ballots as first class mail ahead of the november election. the democratic-controlled house voted to consider the bill along party lines. the republican-controlled senate is not expected to take up the legislation. house republicans called the bill a "contrived emergency on unfounded conspiracy theories." white house chief of staff mark meadows tweeted at the speaker that if she really wanted to help americans, the house should the billthings to relief for small businesses, and unemployment assistance. talks between speaker pelosi and the white house have stalled in recenteeks over a new coronaviruselief bill.

firefighters from around the country began arriving in california to help battle some of the largest wildfirthe state's history. there are more than 550 fires burning throughout the state, but three clusters of firesaln northernornia are causing thmost damage. together, these three blazes, which consist of dozens of fires each, have scorched more than 1,045 square miles, as of this morning. there are currently more than 12,000 people helng fight the fires. each of the three big blazes are 15% contained or less. so far, more than 500 structures have been destroyed, more than 100,00people are under evacuation orders, and at least six people have been killed the fires were sparked by lightning earlier this week. forecasters said there was a chance of more thunderstorms this weekend, which could bring wind and more lightning. the massive amounts of smoke and ash from the blazes were visible on satellite images, and is making the air unhethy to breathe around the san francisco bay area. for more, we caught up with bay area news group reporter julia sulek yesterday. she was in theown of bonny

doon, northwest of santa cruz, where the c.gh.u. ing complex fire had burned 57,000 acres, and wtaas only 2% ced at the time we spoke. you've gone from fire to fire in this region. why is this happening so frequently? california, everything is just so dry. and this has been a very unusual fire. there are so many that were sparked by lightning, and california is such a thrill for norther californians, because we never see it. and admiring the lightning on sunday night. and here they are. it's become so destructive, and all these tiny little fhees ever, it's essentially bringing silicon valley. >> sreenivasan: and what are the impacts to that local region? when we sasilicon valley, hat's a pretty large stretch. how many people are having to move? how many people are having problems breathing because of the ality? >> well, luckily, what we know

as silicon vall, you know, the g companies, everything on the valley floor, none of those are threatened. so we're in the hillsides around the valley and the mountains, the santa cruz mountains to the south. there's fire burning, as a matt of fact, right across the street from me. there's fireon the east side of silicon valley and way to the north up in vacaville. so it's very thick smoke when you're on the valley floor. there are so many fires, you don't know from where the fir and smoke are coming from. they're all mingling and raining ash everywhere. >> sreenivasan: and where are you standing? what are you standing in front of? >> i'm in bonny doon, which is a small mounta town just a few miles from thitpacific ocean. a little mountain community, winding ros. and people here are staying behind. many. i mean, the wholplace has been evacuated, but there's dozens of people still here trying to fight the fires themselves because there are so few fire- fighting resources available.

they've all gone to all these little fires that have turned into big fires all ov the region. we've called in mutual aid firefightersac fross the western states. but even here, like in this town of bonny doon, compared to a fire they had here five years ago, there's bary any fire trucks. so they're taking matters in their own s.ha >> sreenivasan: yeah, julia sulek reporter from the bay area news group joining us. thanks so much. >> you're welcome, h. >> sreenivasan: for the latest on the california wildfires, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: two trmsopical stre projected reach hurricane status and hit gulf states texas and louisiana early next week. tropical storm laura brought heavy rains to puerto rico today, and is expected to skirt across hispaniola and cuba before reaching the gulf coast of louisiana on wednesday. tropical storm marco, just east of the yucatan peninsula today, is expected to become a

hurricane later tonight, according to the national hurricane center. marco's current track shows it approaching louisiana on mondayn texas on tuesday. the governor of louisiana declared a state of emergency yesterday in anticipation of the two storms. the last time two tropical storms we in the gulf together was more than 60 years ago, in 1959, and researchers say there is no record of two hurricanes in the gulf of mexico at the same time. as schools reon around the u.s., students and staff in at least ten states have tested positive for the coronavirus. ( whistle ) in states like alhabama, h school football is underway. it will be a test for whether some rituals of returning to school can resume without worsening the pandemic. close or curtail iondiately instruction because of the virus, a new study of rhode island child care programs showt or younger children, the low if schools take measuresept including wearing masks, enhanced cleaning, and having fewer kids attend. the c.d.c. study released yesterday looked at 19,000

children ages one to 12, and found only 52 confirmed and probable ses among kids and staff. the confirmed death toll in the u.s. has now passed 175,000, globally. the total deaths reached 800,000 today, according to researchers er johns hopkins unty. russian dissident alexey navalny is now under the care of german doctors. navalny was medically evacuated from the siberian city of omsk and arrived at a berlin hospital earlier todayrs. supportef the comatose russian activist believe he was poisoned on thursday, after falling suddenly and violently ill during a flight from siberia to moscow. navalny had been in the region to meet with local opposition candidates. the 44-year-old, an outspoken critic of russian president vladimir pin, was transported after a stand-off between russian doctors and navalny's family, who wanted him treated in germany. navay's russian ctors initially said he was too ill to travel, before relenting later in the day. in a statement today, the hospital where navalny is beingr

ted said it would not comment on his condition or illness until extensive tests were completed. the embattled president of belarus, alexander lukashenko, factories where workers are participating in protests. thcentral europben country ha in turmoil for nearly two weeks fol presidential election. protesrs and oppositionid caes called the results fraudulent after authorities claimed lukashenko receive80% of the vote. despite threats and police violence, tens of thousands have taken tohe streets, in the biggest challenge to lukasheno's 26 years in power. from exile in neighboring lithuania, lukashenko's main opponent svetla tikhanovskaya has urged protestors to continue to demand new elections. >> sreenivasan: mail-in voting is not new in the united states. s the possibility

that most states will offer it in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. even with the postmaster general's testimony that the postal service will be able to properly handle all the ballots, the president's continued attacks, withoth evidence, on safety and security of voting this november is taking a toll. i spoke with audrey kline, national policy direonor at the na vote at home institute in denver, colorado, about the facts and the history of voting by mail. >> i think it's really important to start with understanding that the printing, after a request responsibility of an election official. and then, the delivery of the ballot is the responsibility of the u.s.p.s. but to uerstand the edale of the untates postal service,nd you have tostand that they're moving 450 million pieces of mail every day. so, 150 million mail ballots-- like, in theory, everyone

were to vote a mail ballot on the same y, it's still just not enough to overwhelm the system. we have other, sort of structur problems that organizations such as my own ar work help work through. so that could be the process from when our voter reques the ballot-- how do you process that in the sort of internal systems more efficiently? and then, how do y get that ballot out to the voter more efficiently? but most imporntly, how does a ter get it back to the elections official efficiently? if you are requesting too close tto election day, your b you might be looking for some.s. possibly being able to take it to a vote center or a polling place. >> sreenivasani think it's important to point out that this is not the first election with mail-in voting. i mean, we've had some experience with this. some states more than others. we estimate, and it's kind of

lird to track, but we estimate that over 250 m mail ballots have already been voted in this country over the past decade, maybe two. 24% oedf people v mail ballot in 2018. this is not new. d if you start looking sort of towards the west coast-- if you take colorado, my home state, and you look west of it-- in 2018, 69% of people voted by mail. when you're oking across the country, you see a patchwork of election laws and the sort of-- the people who implement those lad it can be a vastly different experience if you live in new york versus california. n: any concerns what congress is trying to do in order to safeguard the u.s.p.s.? what are you lookin >> i thinkhat my organization is primarily looking for funding and stability, and helping election officials plan forward, for what election day is going

to loowek like. e coming very close to the place where some states are going to start sending ballots in september. ng able to accuratel talk to voters about what to do one, having some sabilityto get around how that works, is really important. >> sreenivasan: what is the distinction between an absentee ballot and a mail-in ballot? >> functionally, not very much. it just depends on where you live. some states call it absentee. some states call it mail-in. and me states actually have both, in an effort to sort of, to work around some technicalities and maeir constitution. but functionally, these ballots arvee all processed th same way. they have much of the same security and request sort of frastructure. >> sreenivasan: and what sort of challengane does themic present in all of this? >> it depends on where you'reo tryingte from, honestly. like i said, i'm based here in denver, colorado, and we've been voting by mail for a very long time.

so my voting experience in both the super tuesday primand then also we had a state primary in june-- were, they didn't look any different than regular elections.acss the country to places like new york, kentucky, geora, they're places where people are rightfully concerned about their safety in goingmio a place that t be crowded. so everyonelo iing for these options that other states have been proactily giving to their voters, and they want it. so it seems voters understand that they could have a ballotju mailed to them and they could just mail it back or turn it in themselves. you're seeing people think of elections a little bit differently. and it's kind of the way that the people on the west coast have been lking at it for a long time. >> sreenivasan: all right. icaudrey kline, tional p director for the national vote at home institute. thnks for joining us. >> thank you very much. really appreciate it.

>> sreenivasan: with ongoing concerns over the covid-19 pandemic, it's hard for other public health problems to gain but a recent study found that in india, more than one million people have died from snakebites in the last two decades. many happen this time of year, which is monsoon season. globally, someone dies from a poisonous snakebite every five minutes, and another fo people will suffer a permanent disability. finding new ways to produce anti-venom to help treat poisonous snakebites,n some parts of the world, mainly in asia and africa, snakebites remain a daily and ddly risk. special correspondent benedict moran and video journalist jorgen samso reported this story last year before the coronavirus outbreak. a warning-- some of the images may be disturbing.

>> reporter: in this hospital in eastern nigeria, doctors are receiving the first patie of the day. 19-yeaold pwagrida samson was bitten in the foot by a carpet viper.'s it small, aggressive and highly venomous snake that is common in this partf the count. >> ( translated ): i was in the field athnd walng to go t toilet and i stepped on a snake and was bitten. now i'm having a lot of pain where the bite is. >> reporter: this hospital isn't an ordinary one. it deals exclusively with victims of snakebite and samson is a typical patient in typical danger. venom from a carpet viper prevents coagulation, and without treatment, he could bleed to dea. samson first treated his injury at home in his village, using traditionaremedies, but after two days, the bleeding continued, so he traveled more roads to come here.

now, his foot is severely swollen. >> there is swelling already, so the tissue is compromised. so if the's an infection, the infection can set in rapidly, much more than in a normal tissue. >> reporter: this is the only hospital of its kind in sub-saharan africa. demand for itservices is rong. we've only been here at the kaltungo snakebite hospital for about 30 minute and within that time, three patients have been admitted here. a year die from venomous according to the world health organization. to put tat in perspective-- in 2018, more people died of snakebites than were killed in war. india and neighboring countries in asia have the highest number of fatalities. in africa, the highest caseload isgeria. at least 10,000 people a year here are bitten. one in five of them die. many more deaths and injuries go unreported. so says dr. abdulrazaq habib of the research coalition known as the global snakebite initiative.

>> only about 8% of victims of snakebites go to a formal hospal, meaning over 90% are faceless. no one knows them. no one has seen the if we are not aware of them, w can we speaemk for >> reporter: habib says snake venoms can contain numerous proteins, enzymes, and toxins that not only prevent blood from coagulating, destroy cells, or cause blood pressure to plummet. they also can disruptignals in the nervous system, causing muscle paralysis. the w.h.o. rectly moved snakebite poisoning to the "a"-list of neglected tropical diseases irgeted for elnation. >> in contrast to the rest of the neglected tropical d snakebite is the greatest many of them, they maim. they may leave you disabled, you may be disased, yomay be ill, but really, they don't kill. you know, the snakebite is the one that really kills, and it kills within a very short period of time. >> reporter: here in nigeria,

farming is e main source of income. snakes are often fou in fields just like this one, places where milies are also cultivating. thas why snakes are so dangerous, especially for childn. in the fields just behind the hospital, marlon dela shows us where thbue smaldangerous >> (etranslatedv): the smaller ones are more dangerous than the big ones, and have more venom in them. to make anti-venom, we use a lot of the small ones. >> reporter: anti-venom is the only effective therapy against a venomous snakite, and it's important to use it quickly. delay can be ddly. the nigerian goverent usually supplies anti-venom to kaltungo hospital for free, but doctors here say they are overwhelmed by patients, and the hospital's supply hasrun out. a representative from the state minist of health told us that its budget for anti-venom ist big enough to meet demand. that means the patients have to buy it themselves, at a private pharmacy nearby.

each vial costs around $100 u.s. dollars, and the standd dosage for successful treatment is two vials. that's huge expense, when half of the country's populationon survivess than $2 a day. there's also a worldwide the w.h.o. says only half of the anti-venom needed globally is currently being produced. adding to this problem, several pharmautical companies have recently stopped the production of anti-venoms specifically intended to treat some kinds of snakebit found in africa. the reason? snakebite victims are most which means there's not ar, lucrative market for those prucing an antidote.ma mwelcela is the w.h.o.'s director of its department of control of neglecsed tropical dies. >> there were groups that were producing anti-venom in the past, but then the motivation produce it, given the market base, made it impossible for

them to continue doing so. >> reporter: across africa, faced with a lack of affordable, accessible anti-venom, victims often try home remedies. south sudan, n-year-old awien maguor is having surgery at a hospital run bt doctors withrders. she was bitten by a puff adder, another adly snake, while sleeping. her uncle says they tried a wide assortment of traditional treatments. >> ( translated ): they told us to give the child a raw egg. then they cut half a frog and the venom spreading in thestop blood. we also gave the child a poon made of ground seeds and leaves. we tried all these things, but there was no improvement. >> reporter: nearby is nyandeng goch; the 60-year-old was bitten while farming. she too first relied on traditional medicine. ( translated ): the wound was bleeding and i called my relativ tcome and help me. they came, and they dug a hole

and i put my foot inside the hole for two hours and they buried my foot with soil. >> reporter: dr. habib says these remedies don't work againsitvenomous snak. delay is a major predictor of dying. if you delay either through seeing a traditional herbalist or through some other means, or you are using some local remedy, that delay could be adverse. you know, in the sense that c ld lead to more complications, or even death. have no choice.often, people nigeria doesn't produce anti-venom. the country lacks the ise, production facilities, and funds. instead,t buys it from companies in the united kingdom and costa rica, which create it through a process that includes injehcting sheep and horses w venom and harvesting the antibodies thenimals create. back at nigeria's kaltungo hospital, head nurse abba abese isonitoring patients closely.e

>> we telling them the position they will maintain for treating the patient. they should not lie on the affected leg because it adds pressure and it's always painful and elthe ng will increase. >> reporter: one of her patients is 12-year-old abubakar dahiru, who was bitten while tending cows. he's been in the hospital for seven days.nt his paare worried, after nurses administered an unusual amount of anti-venom. heas needed more than the usual two vials. >> on arrival, he had this anno-snake given to him. the following day it was repeated; the followawing day it repeated again. this is the fourth one. >> reporter: dahiru's bite won't stop bleeding, so he also had several blood transfusions. >> because of the open wound, the bleedings everywhere. the anti-snake venom willorot be enoughim too, it's over- diluted and is oozhaing out. so hlittle in his body and cannot contain it, so another one has to be added again. so like that, like that, because of the continuous bleeding. there is a sign of improvement

now, compared to when i came early in the morning. >> reporter: the world health organization recently l aeled snakebitepidemic, and made helping snakebite victims a high priority. it has launched a roadmap to cut in half death and disability by snakebites by 2030. it includes a push for more research on snakebite treatments and funding to help countries stockpile anti-venom. >> sreenivasan: finally tonight, the birth of a baby giant panda at the washington d.c. smithsonian national zoo is captivating millions of online viewers in search of some happy ws this weekend. mei xiang the zoo's 22-year-old panda ve birth just after 6:30 yesterday evening. the tiny, pink, almost hairless baby can be heard and glimpsed on the zoo's live-streamed panda cam. zoo staff say all is going well

for both mheand baby. that's all for this edition of pbs newshour weekend. for the latest news updates, visit www.pbs.org/neshour. i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. stay healthy, and have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet emedia access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. the anderson family fund. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. barbara hope zuckerberg. charles rosenblum. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we

believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services a investments. >> for 25 years, consumer cellul's asgoaleen to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no-contract plans, and our s.-based customer service team can help find one that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. you're watching pbs.

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