start to learn more, visit safetyactioncenter.pge.com captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, at the extreme-- the western u.s. battles both widespread wildfires and an escalating drought. we visit some of the nation's most fertile farmland where taps now run dry. they fill barrels and old ice tea bottles at their jobs or >> in a drought, like the one we're in right now, farmers have to dig hundreds of feet down into the ground to >> woodruff: then, the road ahead-- infrastructure negotiations reach a critical moment in congress. we speak to budget chair, senator bernie sanders about what happens next. and, the opposition-- a leading belarusian democracy advocate describes her people's ongoing struggle to have their voices heard. all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

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>> the john s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and individuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: new covid-19 infections in the u.s. are still building, up 200% in two weeks. and, federal health officials said today the delta variant

accounts for 83% of those cases. white house press secretary jen psaki confirmed a vaccinated staffer there is now infected, and that other vaccinated aides previously tested positive. >> we know that there will be breakthrough cases, but as this instance shows, cases in vaccinated individuals are typically mild, the white house is prepared for breakthrough cases with regular testing. this is another reminder of the efficacy of covid-19 vaccines against severe illness and hospitalization. >> woodruff: a vaccinated aide to nancy pelosi, speaker of the u.s. house of representatives, is also infected. the aide caught it from one of the texas democrats who are staying in washington to block state action on a voting bill. six of them have tested positive. kentucky republican senator rand paul and dr. anthony fauci have had another heated exchange over covid-19. at a hearing today, paul accused fauci of lying about u.s. funding for a lab in wuhan,

china. there've been questions about whether the virus might have escaped from that lab. >> we don't know that it came from the lab but all the evidence is pointing that it came from the lab and there will be responsibility for those who funded the lab including yourself. >> you are implying that what we did was responsible for the deaths of individuals. i totally resent that-- >> it could have been. it could have been. >> and if anybody is lying here, senator, it is you. >> woodruff: separately, senate republican leader mitch mcconnell appealed for americans to get vaccinated. he did not directly criticize republican vaccine opponents, but he urged people to ignore what he called "demonstrably bad advice." on wall street, investors put aside the pandemic worries that drove monday's losses. instead, the dow jones industrial average gained 550 points to close at 34,512. the nasdaq rose nearly 224 points. the s&p 500 added 64.

there's word that the true toll of covid-19 deaths in india could be as high as 4.7 million. a former indian government adviser and other researchers issued the new estimate today. it is more than 10 times the official count. india's parliament erupt over a cyber scandal today. a media consortium has reported spyware helped monitor government opponents in 50 countries, including india. today, opposition lawmakers shouted accusations and repeatedly disrupted the session. the indian government dismissed the allegations as "highly sensational." china has rejeed u.s. accusations that it was behind the hack of microsoft exchange e-mail system. in beijing today, the foreign ministry said the u.s. is the real cyber culprit. >> ( translated ): the u.s. ganged up with its allies and launched an unwarranted accusation against china on

cyber security. this is made out of thin air and confused the right and wrong. it is purely smear and suppression out of political motives. in fact, the u.s. itself is the largest source of cyber-attacks in the world. >> woodruff: beijing also demanded that the u.s. drop charges against four chinese nationals accused of stealing trade secrets. central china has been hit by heavy flooding after extreme rainfall. whole neighborhoods around the city of zhengzhou were inundated on tuesday. flooding filled subway cars, trapping passengers inside, and more than 10,000 people were moved to shelters. back in this country, amazon founder jeff bezos blasted into space on his blue origin company's first manned flight. the reusable rocket launched from west texas on a sub-orbital trip, then returned to land upright. the passenger capsule flew 66 miles high, and floated back down, after 11 minutes.

>> big things start small but you can tell, you can tell when you are on to something and this is important. we're going to build a road to space so that our kids and their kids can build the future. and we need to do that, we need to do that to solve the problems here on earth. >> woodruff: the four passengers also included aviation pioneer wally funk, who is 82 and now the oldest person ever in space. today's flight came nine days after, richard branson flew on his company's spaceplane, as he and bezos vie for space tourist dollars. the man who aired the 2017 trump inaugural committee, tom barrack, is accused of acting as unregistered foreign lobbyist. he was arrested today in southern california, on federal charges filed in new york. prosecutors say he acted as an unregistered agent for the united arab emirates, and tried to influence mr. trump's policy positions.

former movie producer harvey weinstein was extradited from new york to california today. he'll face trial on charges of sexually assaulting five women. weinstein is already serving a 23-year sentence for raping an actress in new york. and, the nation's three largest drug distributors will pay more than a billion dollars to new york state, over the opioids epidemic. the deal announced today involves amerisource-bergen, cardinal health and mckesson. lawyers say a national settlement totaling $26 billion is nearing completion. still to come on the newshour: senator bernie sanders discusses critical infrastructure negotiations in congress. the belarusian opposition leader describes her people's struggle for democracy. and two journalists break down their new book on the chaotic last year of the trump white house.

>> woodruff: the wildfire season in the u.s. west and british columbia is worsening, making it ever more difficult for over 20,000 firefighters battling the blazes. windy weather, lightning strikes and triple digit temperatures in states like montana are fueling the fires even further. human-caused climate change and a longstanding drought create an earlier and more intense season. william brangham has the latest. >> brangham: judy, more than 80 large fires are burning in 13 states currently, impacting nearly 1.3 million acres. one of the worst remains a megafire in southern oregon. the bootleg fire, which has now been burning for two weeks, is one of the largest in the state's history and is growing by several miles each day.

it has already scorched an area that's a third of the size of rhode island. carrie bilbao is with the national interagency wildfire center, which tracks all of this. she joins me from boise, idaho. >> brangham: thank you very much fobeing here. i know you're very, very busy. this may seem evident to you, but can you explain how the heat and the drought makes it harder for you to do your job, both for the firefighters themselv? >> sure. this year we experienced his ongoing drought, as you mentioned, and the extensive heat conditions, which dries the fuels, and we're seeing extreme higher behavior at the higher elevations a lot sooner than we would normally see it. and so we're looking at being about a month ahead of where we would normally be. if you look at last year,

we were at preparedness level 5 in august, when the whole northwest went off, historical fires there. we're seeing it again now, but we're just a month earlier with the large fire activity. and so that makes it extremely difficult, just with the firefighters as well, making sure they're not getting, you know, too overextended with heat, making sure they have the needs -- or what they need to keep them going. >> brangham: you mentioned extreme fire behavior happening earlier. for a lay person, what is extreme fire behavior? >> our predicted services, and meteorologists this morning had mentioned on the bootleg fire and the dixie fire, they were seeing cumulus clouds actually making their own weather with lightning. >> brangham: the fire is burning so hot that it creates its own weather pattern directly above the fire itself is? >> it is not just the heat, but just all of the

vegetation that is nsuming, so it is drawing that moisture out, creating those large clouds and lightning. we saw, i guess pyrotornadoes, that they were talking about last year, like fires that just create these intense conditions and winds. and with thunderstorms, genelly we see erratic winds that can push the fire in all directions. >> brangham: you touched on the bootleg fire. we have seen that this fire has been growing by miles each day. do you have any sense as to whether or not that could be conta contained and when that might happen? >> at this point we don't. we look at the weather, that determines how fire season is going, and it also determines when fire season is going to end. and everything we're seeing in the outlook doesn't look good for the next couple of months. it looks like we're in

this for the long haul. >> brangham: you mentioned the importance of weather, obviously. rain would be ideal, but understand the western forecast is for dry lightning, which has got to make everyone in the center incredibly nervous, given the conditions out there? >> yes. and we're looking at when those types of things happen, we're kind of more on high alert with fire management, and looking at where we can pre-position resources, have them ready. there may be extended hours for initial attack. when those fires occur, we want to get them out quickly, which we are doing with these other large fires. >> brangham: i know there is often international support from bordering countries. are you getting that this year as well? >> we have looked into it. and the one concern is with canada, they are at preparedness level five as well. you have probably heard reports of fires there

starting early as well. so we do have partners in mexico, australia, and new zealand generally help us out, but it doesn't look like they'll be able to supply resources this year. so then we look at potentially turning to the military. >> brangham: wow. carrie bilbao of the national interagency fire center, thank you for being here. and good luck out there. >> thank you. and stay safe. >> brangham: >> brangham: the severe drought across the western united states is already causing many long term problems, and a warming atmosphere driven by climate change exacerbates the crisis. as william brangham reports, in california's san joaquin valley, the drought, and the demand for water, has threatened the drinking supply for hundreds of thousands of rural residents, as well as the farmers who grow a significant part of the country's food supply. >> brangham: on a dusty road in madera, california, where the temperature will climb over 100 degrees today, jaime rivera's well has run dry. >> ( translated ): hasn't worked for three weeks, but we've had problems for the last two years.

>> brangham: across this parched state, many people living in rural areas can't connect to local, municipal water systems. they're too far away, or can't afford it, so they rely on their own, private wells for water. but now, in the home rivera and his wife have lived in for twenty years, one they share with their daughter and grandkids. nothing comes out of the taps. >> ( translated ): yes, of course. although the house is fine, the thing that you need most is water, it's indispensable for everything. >> brangham: getng water is now a daily chore. they fill barrels and old ice tea bottles at their jobs or friends places. all the things most americans take for granted: flushing the toilet, drinking, showering, doing the dishes, requires a new routine. >> ( translated ): we do all

this so we don't use too much water. this is the way we're living. >> brangham: in the depth of this historic drought,he rivera's have turned to a local nonprofit for help. >> they're panicking. they have kids. they need to provide water to their family. >> brangham: marliez diaz works for self-help enterprises, which set up a hotline for residents whose wells have run dry, and their phone has been ringing off the hook. >> imagine a day waking up and you go to brush your teeth and there's no water. what do you do? i don't know. maybe you have a gallon of water at your sink. and so y just have to conserve your water and brush your teeth with a cup. it's like camping in your own home, you know? >> brangham: but this drought isn't just drying up small, private wells. this area, the san joaquin valley, is one of the most important agricultural regions in america. farmers here produce a bounty of food: there are miles and miles of nut and fruit trees across the valley, and millions of beef and dairy cows. agriculture is a roughly $50 billion industry in california,

and it's a thirsty one: using roughly 80% of the state's total water supply. >> and so all of that is affected by drought. >> brangham: ellen hanak heads the water policy center at the public policy institute of california. >> this is a region that has evolved with water scarcity. so growers have moved more and more into crops that generate more dollars per gallon of water used, and that means in that region, more tree crops like almonds especially, but also vines and fruits. but it puts them in between a rock and a hard place when you get into a really bad drought. >> brangham: in a good year, all the snow that falls in the sierra nevadas, and the rains in this area would end up in canals like this. there are thousands of these all over the valley, and farmers use that water to irrigate their crops. but in a drought like the one we're in right now, farmers have to dig hundreds of feet down into the ground to find other

water. as more wells tap down into those underground aquifers, and pull more and more water out of the ground, this resource is threatened. for most of the state's history, wells could draw an unlimited supply. but in 2014, the state passed a law to manage and, in some cases, restrict groundwater use. it hasn't gone fully into effect, but farmers in the region are worried: some estimates say the law could put a million acres of farmland out of production. john guthrie's family has been farming and ranching in this area for 150 years. he has never seen rainfall levels this low. given the drought and looming water restrictions, he says some farmers are getting out. >> it's sure sad. they just basically don't think they have enough water to farm what they have right now. so that's their call on at least and it's just a real tumulous time right now. >> brangham: has that feeling ever crossed your mind? >> i can't say it hasn't crossed my mind, i don't think i would ever act on it.

mother nature's our partne so adversity is just kind of part of your deal. and, you know, we've been through a lot of previous challenges and stuff, and it just feels like another one of those. >> brangham: so you're going to weather this one? >> yeah, we will. absolutely. >> brangham: guthrie, like a lot of farmers here, thinks the solution lies in doing a better job of capturing excess water in wet years. >> the way we get out of this and the way that our forefathers intended it to be was surface water storage, dams. >> brangham: more dams along the rivers from north to south. >> and raise dams, build new dams, fix the infrastructure, the existing canals. the people of the state-- or i should say the politicians need to decide. where do they want their food to come from? >> brangham: but for now, ellen hanak says farmers and residents alike are still pulling om those same, underground sources,

and that competition leaves some people without water dry. >> in places that have a lot of agriculture and that also have a lot of small rural communities, you get this situation where the groundwater is really being taxed, groundwater levels are falling, and the first wells to go dry are the shallow drinking water wells. >> brangham: cristobal chavez's house in porterville, california is surrounded by agriculture. his well went dry for six months in 2014. he paid $20,000 to dig it deeper, but then discovered another problem that's prevalent here: contamination. tests revealed his well water had four times the safe limit of nitrates, a potentially harmful chemical found in fertilizers and manure. but you've been drinking that water for years. >> yeah, that's the problem, because nobody tells you. i think that the state or county we've been drinking the water for eleven years without knowing that the water is contaminated. >> brangham: so you find out

that your water is not safe to drink. what do you do the very next day? >> we stop drinking and we start buying it from the store. >> brangham: from that day forward, no more drinking. >> no, no. >> brangham: yeah, but that's expensive. >> yeah, it is expensive but it's more expensive if you get sick. it's hard but we don't got another place to go. >> brangham: some studies have linked nitrates in drinking water to an increased risk of cancer. and last year, cristobal's wife was diagnosed with stomach cancer. what caused it is unclear. and there's no fix for your, for that water in the well like that. the aquifer that your well goes down to, that's full of nitrates. and there's nothing they can do about that? >> no, nothing. >> brangham: back in madera, jaime rivera does have a solution, albeit a temporary one. self-help enterprises delivered a 2500-gallon tank. for the next year, it'll be filled weekly with fresh water.

for nearly four hours, crews worked to unload the tank, connect its pipes to the house, and fill it with a couple thousand gallons of water. finally, after a long dry spell... >> ( translated ): now, yes... the water is here! >> brangham: first step for rivera: call his wife. >> ( translated ): we have water now! fresh water came out of the faucet. >> ( translated ): wow, amazing. tell them i say thank you! now you can wash the dishes. >> ( translated ): ohhhh, we'll see if you cook tomorrow. >> brangham: rivera hopes one day to eventually dig his well deeper, but as this drought continues to worsen, it's not clear even that solution will be enough. for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham in california's san joaquin valley.

>> woodruff: this week on capitol hill could make or break the bipartisan infrastructure plan president biden celebrated one month ago. the fate of the 600 billion dollar investment in roads, bridges, clean water and more - is still uncertain, as is the much larger $3.5 trillion broader spending package for jobs, families and climate change. lisa desjardins joins me now to bring us up to speed. >> woodruff: so, hello, lisa. you've been reporting on this fortun for days. does it look like there is going to be a deal on infrastructure tonight? >> lisa: in a word, judy, no. we do not expect an infrastructure deal even though we're on the eve of some important deadlines. white house officials have come to work with that group of bipartisan senators to try to forge a final framework.

wait a second, i thought they already agreed on this deal? well, they agreed on a rough framework. they didn't agree on how they would pay for it, that is a sticking point. and there are questions about public transit. but until that is wrtten down in legislative text, it is almost as if there was a proposal for marriage that was accepted, but there is no ring. there is not a ring yet. we need that legislative text, and until there is one, this infrastructure deal doesn't really quite yet exist. >> woodruff: a good way to describe it. lisa, we now that the senate majority leader, chuck schumer, has set for tomorrow, or set in motion, the wheels to begin to look for this bill. but explain what is going on. >> lisa: right. tomorrow, the majority leader, chuck schumer, has said the senate will vote to begin debate on the infrastructure deal. that is one of those senate votes that needs 60 votes. now, this is plan "a" for

the democrats. the hope is that they want is they'll get those 60 votes and they'll have a bipartisan infrastructure dealy thursday. but for right now, those 60 votes are now there. let's talk about what plan "b" is if this vote fails tomorrow. the vote fails, and leader schumer can move that deadline. some republicans tonight are asking him to move it to monday, saying they would vote no tomorrow, but perhaps they would be ready by monday. what if then the infrastructure deal doesn't come together? that's a possibility. we're talking about a plan "c." there would be no bipartisan deal, and many democrats now, including the budget chairman, senator bernie sanders of vermont, says the infrastructure deal could go into -- the infrastructure deal could go into a large reconciliation bill. that's what i'm reporting tonight, that democrats expect that would be the fallback plan if all of this infrastructure talk -- if it all falls apart. but the timing is very

important here. >> woodruff: so tell us why? tell us why that matters? >> lisa: it is july, but the truth is that the senate operateon a very tight timeline this time of year. right now the senate is scheduled to recess in just three weeks, and we expect that the infrastructure deal alone would take two weeks of floor time, and then democrats really want to get to that budget resolution that would open up that $3.5 trillion deal. those two are connected. right now the big budget reconciliation deal can't move forward until it is clear what is happening with infrastructure. >> woodruff: so that's a lot to follow, but we know, lisa, there is additional news on capitol hill today, and that is new cases of the coronavirus are being reported. bring us up to speed on that. >> lisa: i will say things have changed quickly on the hill, even just today, since i walked in. we have confirmation from the attending physician of the u.s. capitol that there have been cases of the coronavirus, the delta

variant here in the capitol that have been detected, and detected among previously vaccinated staffers, and vern buchanan of florida, a republican. these are breakthrough cases we're experiencing at the capitol. we're in an era where most everyone in the capitol has not been wearing masks because the vaccination rates here are generally high. but we know among house republicans, it is expected they were lower than average. there is no masking here. there has been relatively little testing, and here comes this news we have a variant spreading around. we know some texas democrats, state lawmakers who came here last week, tested positive, and they associated with some staffers here at the capitol. we don't know if that is the reason for all of this breakthrough. i want to show you the line for testing today at the capitol. it was the longest i have ever seen during this entire pandemic. so what you see at the capitol now is something you're seeing across the nation. of course, this is the crossroads of the nation,

members are from all over the country here. people are remasking here at the capitol. senator mcconnell said today people need to get vaccinated or they are risking another shdown. >> woodruff: that has to be adding to the tension that is already there. lisa desjardins, we appreciate it. thank you. >> lisa: you're welcome. >> woodruff: and now i'm joined by the person >> woodruff: and now i'm joined by the person tasked with overseeing the multi-trillion- dollar budget proposal, bernie sanders; independent senator from vermont and chairman of the senate budget committee. chairman sanders, welcome back to the "newshour." where do things stand tomorrow on the infrastructure piece, this so-called bipartisan plan there had been agreement on. is there an agreement now? what do you think? >> judy, i have not been involved in the bipartisan plan. i've been involved very much in the partisan plan, which is something that the american people desperately want. and the truth of the matter is, there are a lot of people in our country,

working class people, who are losing faith in the ability of governmento address their needs. and what we are doing is just that. we a going to take on income wealth inequality, we're going to ask the largest corporations to start paying their fair share of taxes. wee going to take on the pharmaceutical industry and have medicare negotiate prices. and we're going to deal with child care and pre-"k." can you imagine free pre-"k" for every working family in the america. we're going to end the disgrace of america not having medical paid leave. we're going to cover dental, hearing aids, and eye glasses. what we're talking, in my viewview, the most consequential piece of legislation in my era. >> woodruff: my qustion is how this may be tied or not with what is going on with regard to

infrtructure. because we heard lisa desjardins say we don't know what is going to happen with that vote. if that vote goes down, will there be an attempt to fold those infrastructure elements into this bigger bill? >> yeah. well, of course. if you're dealing with an infrastructure bill, it might be a good idea to have infrastructure in it. that is the traditional infrastructure of roads and bridges and water and waste water and brdband. and, by the way, i should point out, we're going to deal in a very big wy with climate, including the creation of a civilian climate core, putting hundreds of thousands of young people to work transforming our energy system. so to answer your question, if for whatever reason the bipartisan bill does not succeed, i would expect that we would incorporate all of the traditional infrastructure proposals into the larger reconciliation bill. >> woodruff: senator, i hear you saying this is a, quote, "partisan bill." you're not counting on republican votes.

>> right. >> woodruff: you would like to get it passed with all 50 democrats and the vice president breaking the tie, but you do have republicans still calling this tax and spend. they're using words like reckless. we had a senator saying this seems to be, quote, "bernie's effort for socialism." what do you say to them? >> i say virtually every single proposal has widespread support from the american people. let mr. mr. barrasso go to the folks and see if they need to be paying a third of their income for child care. ask elderly people if they need to get dentures and if they should get it through medicare. ask the scieists if we need to deal with climate change. and if we should take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry who charges us the highest

prices for prescription drugs. what makes the republicans very nervous is they know this is an extremely popular set of proposals long overdue. in fact, by demanding that the wealthy and large corporations start paying their fair share of taxes, we're going to pay for it in a progressive way. >> woodruff: you do need the 50 democrats, as we discussed a moment ago. there are democrats, including senator manchin, joe manchin, of west virginia, who are concerned about some of the efforts to move towards renewal energy. are you confident you have all 50 democrats on board and do you think you have the votes to get this passed? >> short answer: yes. look, there are 50 democrats. each and every one, including myself, thnks that we should do something a little bit differently. buwhen you look at the reality that the very richest people in this country are becoming phenominally richer, in fact, one of them is in

outerspace, while ordinary americans are struggling to put food on the table and send their kids to college. and every member of the democratic caucus understands now is the time to adess the needs of the working families, to address the great climate crisis that is besetting our country and the world. i'm not going to tell you there are not differences of opinions. they will be worked out and we're going to pass this thing. >> woodruff: senator, another issue we're hearing, there may be efforts to include immigration reform. if you're doing that, first of all are you doing it, and second of all, what would it look like? what are you trying to cover there? >> we're trying to cover ople who have been in the forefront, among other things, protecting our economy, critical-care workers, our dreamers, and others. i have believed for a long time, as ihink all of the members of the democratic caucus, and some republicans, that the time is long overdue to pass compressive

immigration reform and a path towards citizenship. so we can't do it completely, the way i would like to do it, in a reconciliation bill -- there are real constraints in terms of policy, what you can do, but we're going to do the best we can. >> woodruff: but eight tat thispoint, that is in the bill? >> yes. >> woodrf: and finally, we hear there are new cases of the covid-19, including the delta variant. are you, and other members of your staff, other senators, going to be taking new steps now to be safe? to stay safe? how is this going to change things for you? >> one very clear way -- we were just talking about it a few minutes ago in my staff meeting, we had hoped to open our doors on capitol hill to visitors. every day we have folks coming in, and we're going to have to delay that precisely because of the growing threat of the variant. i suspect you'll see more

mask-wearing. all of us, we're see excited not to be having to wear masks all of the time. i think in closed rooms, you will probably see more masks being worn. >> woodruff: in other words, going back to where we were? >> well, i don't know how far back we're going to have to go. that depends on what happens. one of the things that is so disconcerting is that we have too many republican leaders, if i may say so, and too many americans who are not listening to science. and that is the understanding that right now the overwhelming -- i think it is 99.5% of the people in hospitals who are dying from the variant are people who have not been vaccinated. and we've got to do -- and i know the president is trying as hard as he can to see as many people as possible are vacationed, and that's what we have got to do. >> woodruff: bernie sanders, chair of the senate budget committee. thank you so much. >> thank you, judy.

>> woodruff: it's been nearly a year since the man known as europe's last dictator, belarus president alexander lukashenko, was declared the victor in an election widely-denounced as a fraud. the woman leing the opposition to him is in washington this week, meeting with top officials. in a moment, we'll have part of an interview amna nawaz did this morning with svetlana tsikhanouskaya. but first, here's amna with some background. >> nawaz: in august of last year, anti-government protests erupted across belarus following what many belarusians, and the international community, call a stolen election. president alexander lukashenko's government quickly cracked down on protesters, journalists, and anyone else who spoke out against his reme. that included belarusian opposition leader and presidential candidate sviatlana tsikhanouskaya, who was forced to flee to lithuania

shortly after the election. >> ( translated ): i thought this whole campaign toughened me a lot and gave me so much strength that i can endure anything. >> nawaz: tsikhanouskaya, who had previously been a teacher, then a full-time parent, with no political experience, picked up the mantle left behind by her husband, an opposition blogger. he was arrested in may of last year, a few months before the election, and remains in prison to this day. widespread protests slowed last winter but lukashenko's crackdown remains in full effect. nearly two months ago, the belarusian government forced the landing of a commercial plane in the capital of minsk, to arrest 26-year-old belarusian activist roman protasevich. protasevich, who had openly criticized the government, was filmed shortly after his arrest, recanting his comments. >> ( translated ): hello, my name is roman protasevich. police officers treat me properly and according to the law. also, i now continue to cooperate with the investigation and give a confession on the fact of organizing mass protests

in minsk. >> nawaz: it's widely believed he made the remarks under duress; reports of torture of political prisoners by belarusian authorities are widespread. last week in saint petersburg, lukashenko criticized his opposition while meeting with a key ally, russian president vladimir putin. >> ( translated ): they turned to individual terror against those people who spoke frankly and who stood for the state. they try to push and to threaten. i think it's a question of time and we will identify them all, will find them all and will take them to justice. >> nawaz: at least 32 belarusian journalists remain in custody, according to the belarusian journalists association. over the weekend, tsikhanouskaya arrived in washington, where she was greeted by sporters as she de-planed. she later addressed a crowd not far from the u.s. capitol. >> it is a great achievement to be here and to receive support from the united states, but i ask you to remember that our path towards freedom is long and

challenging. >> nawaz: tsikhanouskaya has met with several top officials, including secretary of state antony blinken and national security adviser jake sullivan, all in an effort to ramp up pressure against lukashenko's regime. this morning i sat down with tsikhanouskaya at the atlantic council, a washington think tank. i began by asking her, if she ever thought a year ago she'd be where she is today. >> of course not. i have never been involved in politics the same as the majority of the belarusians. you almost never believe that something could be done. but last year, step by step, many actions preceded this uprooting of the belarusian people. new faces started to appear. like my husband, he started to go around the

country asking ordinary people, what it would be like to change. and then covid came, and people understood that they c can't do without the government. at a time when our doctors needed help from government, it didn't help them, and people united to supply our doctors with facial masks, with special equipment for breathing, and you know people understood this. we can survive without the dictator. there is an alternative. i showed my documents to the election commission only to support my husband. i was sure that the election commission would deny to accept my documents because i understood that i'm the wife. but they wanted to make laugh at me and just look who you votfor a woman, a housewife, but they lost

the connection with the people in belarus. people spoke up that they don't want to live under a dictatorship anymore. >> nawaz: where is the movement today, on the ground? we remember last year hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets, and the brutal state crackdown and response. is the enthusiasm gone? has lukashenko won? >> no. people appeared, not protest. with the help of violence and guns, the regime succeeded to suppress people on the streets. of course people went to fight on the underground level. people continue to fight, though we can't go out. so basically it happens after the elections. so they're trying to do very small steps but it is already steps.

but this is already (indiscernable). don't think that if you don't see those huge demonstrations, people lost intention for changes. of course not. process es ises are going on. >> nawaz: yesterday you met with secretary of state secretary blinken, and you said you understood that there would be taken strong actions very soon. did you expect sanctions? >> of course we are talking about sanctions. because we understand that only sanctions inside the country and sanctions outside the country could influence the behavior of this regime and make them to stop oppression, release the prisoners. and we talked about sanctions because they are the most powerful, they would heap on the

enterprises. >> nawaz: i have to ask you about the strength of this regime right now. because it is fair to say he still has the support of the security services, the military and the intelligence. if it is just a few months ago, that he forced down a commercial plane to take off a blogger he didn't like and he detained them, and he has cracked down brutally on independent media and journalists, like you mentioned earlier. doesn't that say to you that he actually still enjoys a lot of support on the ground? >> he doesn't have a lot of support. he can't influence the people through fear and blackmailing people. i think that the majority of people in the regime are hooked by him, and a lot of people in the regime, especially there, their hands are in blood already. and, you know -- the

people want a system. but usual workers in this regime, in the ministries, they all want changes. you know how many times those people told us, when they were jailed by a policeman, and they had papers, and the policeman says, i'm supporting you, i believe you, but i have to do my job. and people in the regime, people who are inside the regime, sometimes they are even more slaves of this regime than usual people ar and they're more scared. >> nawaz: svetlana tsikhanouskaya, thank you very much for being here. >> thank you for the invitation. >> woodruff: president trump's last year in office was book- ended by impeachment trials and, in between, marked by other historic events; a deadly pandemic, the economic collapse,

racial unrest across the country and a violent insurrection at the u.s. capitol. and in their new book, "i alone can fix it: donald j. trump's catastrophic final year," "washington post" reporters carol leonnig and phillip rucker reveal new details about the chaos inside the trump white house and the alarm that rippled across the government during that time. carol and phil's book is out today and they join me now. >> woodruff: car and phil's book is out today, and theyoin me now. it is very good to have both of you with us. congratulations on the book that is getting a lot of attention. you already do this remarkable reporting in your day job, and that comes through in this book. carol, let me start by asking you: what was president trump's bottom line in this final year in office? what mattered more to him than anything? >> you know, his public image and getting re-elected, maintaining his grip on power, judy, was numero uno in

everything he did. one of the take-aways -- phil and i reported this in realtime, but when we did that deeper excavation, the big take-away was how disturbed and unsettled insiders in the trump administration were about to the degree in which the president was willing to put american lives in democracy in danger, again for his primary goal, staying president. >> woodruff: and these were people, phil, who were close to the president, working for the president, still having these concerns. but one of the early examples that struck me, it was at the very beginning of the covid crisis, when they were discussing whether to bring americans home from china, and the president said no. why not? >> these, by the way, were not only americans, but they were government workers. american public servants who were doing their jobs overseas in china. the president did not want them brought home because they would be infected, and it would increase the

numbers of infections in the united states. he told his advisors that it was his number, my number would go up. and he said no, we can't bring them back here. he thought about quarantining that somewhere off-site. and it took discussions by senior officials in the government to make that happen. >> woodruff: it was that kind of thinking that you document persisted throughout the covid period last year? >> that is exactly right. it was for trump all about his numbers, his political fortunes, and his chances for re-election on november 3rd. that was paramount for him even as the u.s. faced this deadly pandemic and a genuine crisis. >> woodruff:o many things to ask you both about, i wish we had long. carol, one of the most striking things is the reporting arounlast summer and fall, you had three senior figures in the trump administration, the attorney general, the secretary of defense, and then the chairman of the

joint chiefs of staff spending a lot of energy, and i'm quoting you "keeping trump from deploying active duty troops on the streets of american cities in reaction to the protests around race, in reaction to the death of george floyd, and how he could use troops to perpetuate his power by somehow intervening in the election?" >> that's right. from our reporting, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, that the this was a ripe moment, and compared the president's move to hitler's efforts to consolidate power, believed he was trying to create chaos and disturbance and fear basically to hold on to power and was worried about this coup. the three people you mentioned were banded together to stop that. and banded together to keep a waco from happening in an american city. they did not want u.s. troops deployed on people

exercising their first amendment rights to protest the death of george floyd, to protest systemic racism. and they would meet privately before going into the oval to basically compare notes and figure out a plan to stop donald trump in his tracks. >> woodruff: none of this was public. there were rumors, but no none of it was clearly public. phil, you have, fast forward to the days after the election in november, the president seriously thinking at that point about firing his secretary of defense. he was also thinking about firing the chair of the joint chiefs, general milley, but you write in the book about how the military leadership, the joint chiefs, came up with a plan to make sure, frankly, that the country held together. talk about what they did. >> chairman milley, and not just him, the other joint chiefs, the heads of the army, the navy, the air force, all of the branches of our military, were across the river at the pentagon in fear of

what this president might do in those harrowing few months between the election and joe biden's inauguration. they talked in public about him claiming was stolen even though there was no evidence to support that. there was talk about him maybe launching a war in iran. and they were worried about a coup attempt. and they thought, if the president were to give us an order as command in chief to do something they thought was unconstitutional or illegal or unethical, they would resign one by one to try to delay taking that action. and basically form a guardrail against the president's dangerous impulses. >> woodruff: how eager were they to talk about this, carol? >> you know, we are pretty rigorous reporters, and we interviewed more than 140 people that were insiders, frontline. there were many people in realtime, when we were reporting for the public, for the "washington post," who would not talk to us.

they were afraid of donald trump. and some of them were afraid of coming forward for fear that they would be replaced by even a worse yes ma'am or yes woman. we found, phil and i, when we went back to interview people, they were more willing basically to educate the public, and their fear had fallen off. they were also worried these aren't just history in the rear view. this is current events. this is a donald trump who is intimating that he will run in 2024. we'll see if that's true. but people wanted it to be known what he actually did behind the scenes. >> woodruff: i think it is important, phil, to illuminate oremind people what the president was doing on january 6th, when this mob was overrunning the capitol. he wasn't going to the situation room in the white house. what was he doing, and how hard were people trying to reach him, who he said he didn't want to talk to. >> judy, it is chilling. the u.s. capitol was under

siege, and they were calling for the vice president's head, chasing after lawmakers, and the president, president trump, according to our oval dining room watching television. he was not communicating to leaders at the pentagon. he was not involved in orchestrating any sort of law enforcement or military response to protect the catol. he was watching it on television. advisors outside were trying to call him to get through to him. chris christie was one of them, to try to tell him to tell his supporters to stand down, go home, to stay peaceful. we heard in our reporting that ivanka trump had to come into that dining room multiple times, one time after another, to try to get her father to finally put out a statement to his supporters, which he did in that video, but it took two hours and lives were lost. >> woodruff: and he resisted? >> he did. >> absolutely. multiple times.

for hours they were working on this without success. >> woodruff: you think about this, and people think, yes, all this happened, and yet there are still 74million who voted for him and are still supporting him. carol, you covered this city for a long time, phil, you have, how do you explain after all of the things that have been reported about donald trump did, many politicians would hide under a rock and never want to be seen in public again. >> donald trump struck a chord. in our first book, "a very stable genius," we talked about the one thing that donald trump was truly a genius at was his master mastery at the mega phone. people who feel disenfranchised, who feel like the economic winds are blowing against them, that they are looked down upon, this group, including some white supremacists and

nationalists, they really love donald trump. and now you have a band of republicans who want that donald trump voter desperately so they can stay in office. so they continue to repeat the lies that donald trump promulgated. >> woodruff: and just quickly, phil, you had people who wanted to talk to you, wanted to get the story out, but there are many others who are sticking with him. >> there are many others who are sticking with him. donald trump also wanted to get his story out. we satown him for two hours at mar-a-lago. tens of millions of americans support him to this day and believe the lies he says about the election. which is one of the reasons why the threat to democracy is not yet extinguished. it is very real and continuing. >> woodruff: phil and carol, we thank you both. it is quite a book. it is i alone can fix it:

donald trump's catastrophic final year. thank you both. tonight on the "newshour" and tonight on the pbs newshour online, how one california town dealt with losing well water for five weeks, as the state experiences extreme heat and drought. our community reporter crescencio rodriguez delgado reports from the san joaquin valley about why residents are worried and how officials are responding. read more on our website, that's pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by:

>> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.org. >> and with the onging support of these institutions >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

♪ hello, everyone. welcome to amanpour & company. here's what's coming up. >> -- really if i'm honest. i am a bit nervous. >> england marks freedom day with covid cases rising and a prime minister in isolation. i talked to the london mayor sadiq khan about the wisdom of lifting all restrictions now and what comes next. then. >> if i was --. it is evolving. it is nature. >> israeli doctors on the front lines of the ballot between vaccinations and variants. health minister joins me with lessons from his highly vaccinated country. also ahead. >> they can get your location, get your e-mails. all your social media. all your pictures. they can get all of your video.