♪ amna: good evening. on the newshour, high alert. evacuations face new challenges ter the deadly attacks in kabul. fears of more violence as the u.s. completes its withdrawal. then an uncertain future. the supreme court blocks the latest eviction protections. we break down what that means for renters in need. and it's friday. david and jonathan on the fallout from u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan, and the latest of the january 6 commission. plus, family ties. we talked to sean penn and his daughter, dylan, on his new film, "flag day," and his

humanitarian work in haiti. >> i always think things should change. to say setbacks would be an understatement. we're going to have to fight with several steps forward. we're moving forward. amna: all that and more on tonight's "newshour." ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ bnsf railway. consumer sale johnson & johnson. financial services firm, raymondjames. >> fostering informed and

engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions. and friends of the newshour. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. amna: the death in yesterday's suicide bombing in kabul's airport is not drastically worse. at least 106 to nine afghan civilians were killed, along with 13 u.s. -- 169 afghan civilians were killed, along with 13 u.s. civilians. in the meantime, evacuations

continue. the u.s. and allies flew out 12,000, 500 people today, more than 105 thousand people have now been evacuated. again, with the support of the pulitzer center, jane ferguson reports from doha. jane: a day after a deadly atta, some afghans attempted to resume daily life and attended friday prayers. the message, one of anger at the u.s. >> you have seen the americans in the past 20 years, that they haven't done any fundamental thing for us to be self-sufficient while they leave the country. jane: others openly wept outside a hospital, with body bags from victims of the west. and some buried the dead. >> our hearts are on fire. how long should be lose our

lives and be humiliated? jane: badly injured survivors reflected on what they experienced in hospital bed. >> it was evening around 5:30 p.m. that it took place. i thought only i had remained alive. i saw all the other people that were killed. jane: meanwhile, evacuation flights continued out of couple. -- kabul. a line of people could be seeing on the tarmac. outside the airport, people gathered despite the risks. >> believe me. i think at explosion will happen in any second -- or minute. we have lots of challenges in our lives. that is why we take e risk to come here, and we overcome fear. jane: but many others are unable to get through roads blocked by the liban. >> our lives are in danger, and we are not in a good situation.

and the whole world should know about it. jane: today, in turkey's capital, soldiers disembarked from planes arriving from afghanistan. the taliban had asked turkey for technical support after august 31. but the turkish president said they would not help unless the taliban agree to a turkish security presence. >> because there is alwa a possibility of death in such things there, if we get sucked into this, we do not have a decision on thiset. jane: at the white house, during his meeting, president biden said the u.s. will complete the evacuation. >> the mission there being performed is dangerous, and is now come with significant loss of american personnel. but it's a worthy mission because they continue to evacuate folks out of that region.

jane: u.s. officials clarify there was only one suicide bombing. pentagon sports person john kirby -- spokesperson john kirby said they would evacuate americans after the deadline. >> the u.s. governmenwould pursue a variety of ways to help any americans who want to help after it's ended to help get out. jane: at a separate briefing, the spokesperson. >> the operation will come to an end august 31. what does not have an expiration date is our commitment to any american who decides not to take us up on the effort of repatriation now, but who may come to us in days, weeks, months, or years. i want assistance leaving. jane: still, thousands of

afghans who worked with the u.s. fear they would be left hind. one estimate notes at least 250 thousand afghans who may be eligible for visas, still remain in afghanistan. the newshour spoke to one man who worked as an interpreter. >> [indiscernible] jane: thousands more are not eligible for visas, but still at risk from the taliban. one man i spoke to work for foreign ngos. that makes him eligible for a special u.s. visa program called priority to, designated for

afghans at risk because of u.s. affiliation. to be honest -- >> to be honest, i feel like they have left us with the monsters alone and they are just watching what will happen to us. that's not only my feeling. this is the feeling of all the afghans. those people who are helping the united states government, they should have a feasible plan for them. jane: those who have been able to get out find a rare sense of relief. an afghan woman who left afghanistan 12 years ago and now lives in france, worked tirelessly to get her mother and siblings out. >> as soon as i saw my mother running to me, all this fear fell away. i took her in my arms and i could feel her warmth. i rediscovered the smell of her mother and it is something i had forgotten. my mother's tears reminded me of

the tears she shed when she left afghanistan. it was really moving. jane: a feeling thousands may not experience as the window to leave closes. amna: and jane joins me again from doha. we know you are now in qatar, but keeping in close contact all of your contacts on the ground there. what are you hearing from them? what options do afghans now have? jane: it's not believed anyone is realistically able to leave through the airport now. we know the taliban have been stopping people from going there. americans have been saying don't go. unless they are passport holders, it's not clear. so, we're -- that's simply not an options for afghans. it was becoming nearly possible -- impossible without a green card to get through.

we know the traditional overland routes in the country are still being swarmed by people, many towards pakistan. these are the border posts whenever there are more peaceful times between the two countries. family ties between the two sides. however, right now, it's believed the taliban are trying to prevent people from leaving that way, as well, so that journey is perilous and it isn't putting off the tens of thousands of people trying to cross that order, often using smugglers or going across illegally at the moment and braving taliban attacks. and people are still determined to escape the violence here. it's also worth pointing out that the airport may reopen. there are huge challenges, but the option would be if the airpt would reopen to

commercial air travel. it's unclear that would happen. there have been conversations with trying to secure the airport, which airlines would fly in, would fly into an airport controlled by the taliban? could the taliban prove you could secure it with airlines? that's going to be something those who weren't able to make it out overland will have to sit tight and wait for. but if you were fleeing the taliban, you would have to take your chances by hoping that you could slip out of the airport without being caught by any and of taliban bureaucracy that is to come. amna: what about your sources in kabul? what are they tell you about the atmosphere in that city right now? jane: it's deeply fearful. the sheer numbers of dead and injured in this bombing is shocking even to people in the city where they have experienced such a tax before. especially from isis.

isis is basically a group that instills so much fear in afghans because in the last few years we have seen similar attacks. this attack has been particularly shocking at this specific moment in afghanistan's history. but the reality is that afghans have been living with intense violence from isis for several years now. isis have been attacking schools, wedding halls intent on killing civilians is the nature of their attacks. that's been something that people have been very fearful of. i think because isis have shown this show of strength, is increasing people's resolve and fear and result to get out of the country. i think that's not necessarily going to change despite the challenges people face in doing so. amna: before we let you go, anyone who had tried to get out before and couldn't, they are telling you they are still content -- determined to leave the country? jane: many are still contacting me and my colleagues, begging

for help to get out of the country. whether or not that is via flight, should we go to the airport? which gate? there has been no change, in fact, perhaps an uptick in panic now that people are fearful of some conflict between isis and the taliban, or at least the sense that any taliban hold on the city could begin to be fragile, and therefore more chaos and more of a vacuum could becoming. amna: jane ferguson reporting to us from doha. thank you, jane. jane: thanks, amna. amna: for more now, we turn to retired colonel market kantian. he had a 38 year career in the marine corps and was involved in the evacuation of saigon in the early 1970's. he is now a senior advisor at a washington think tank. welcome to the newshour and thank you for making the time.

a lot of comparisons being made between the way the u.s. left the vietnam war and the way they are leaving this one. as you watch the events unfold, do you see those same similarities? guest: absolutely. there are a lot of parallels and a few differences. the parallels are that you have rapid collapse of regimes. the united states had supported for many years, collapsed after the united states withdrew its support. you have these panicked people fleeing the capital. you have an evacuation that's allowed by the opposition. and then you have the staging in the third country transit points before they reach their final destination. amna: there is a more complex system. but it was a very different

time. we have so much more visibility, first-hand accounts and social media videos to what is unfolding on the ground. how does that change the evacuation? guest: one big difference is that they've been able to do screening on the ground at the airport that could be done in 1975 or on the ships where i was. we just had to research the refugees for weapons. we couldn't decide what the final disposition would be. technology allows us to do a lot of that on the ground and that speeds up the process. amna: and the technology gives us more insight, as well. you heard the president say they are committed to evacuations through the 31st. after the attacks yesterday, walk us through some of the nitty-gritty. how does that work on the ground, especially when it seems airport transit was the main challenge?

guest: well, isis does not have the ability to shut down the airport. the united states can continue flights. isis-k dsn't have the numbers or the heavy weaponry to shut down the airport. but there's tremendous risk along the perimeter wherehe afghans e congregating. there's a lot of talk about another possible attack. that's a tremendous risk. this is a very different situation from the taliban. that's why the united states is paying close attention to the taliban. amna: what did you make of the decision to try to evacuate more people, presumably the longer the u.s. stays, the more of a target they are in these last few days? did you agree with that decision? guest: i think we have to get people out to the maximum extent we can. looks like we will get almost

all of the americans out. same thing happened in south vietnam. we want to get as many people out to work with us as we could. we saw in south vietnam the terrible things that happened to those people who state. i think one of the things the united states learned in vietnam and iraq was the importance of getting started early on these special visas. i think they made some progress there. we made a commitment to these people and we need to stay as long as we can to get them out. amna: you say as long as you can, but a few days ago, there was a growing chorus of people saying you need to extend that deadline even for just a few days. there were a number of veterans groups saying even if we had four or five more days, we could get out tens of thousands more. do you think that there's any possibility that happens now? guest: i have tremendous sympathy for people who are waiting for these groups that

americans are working with. i don't see any way we can go past august 31 without the taliban agreeing to it. they seem pretty clear not to agree with it. they could stop us easily if they wanted to. there have been talk earlier in the program about perhaps some ways of moving people out after the united states leaves with its military presence, may be something working through the turks, maybe aircraft, that's possible, but there's no question we are going to see some of the terrible things we saw in south vietnam, refugees fleeing under terrible circumstances and vietnam. these were people you were going to see the same things with afghans. amna: we know the threat still exists on the ground, of course. as another potential attack change potential on the ground?

guest: i don't think so. general mckenzie has bn clear the evacuation is going to go on. isis doesn't have the ability to stop flights. i think another attack on the ground would be a terrible tragedy, but the necessity of getting people out is so great. amna: that is a retired marine lonel joining us. thank you for your time. guest: thanks for having me on the show. ♪ >> i'm stephanie sy at newshour west. we return after the latest headlines. the u.s. embassy in afghanistan issued the same warning to americans it did before the deadly bombing earlier this week. citing security threats, it warns u.s. citizens to avoid going to kabul airport early saturday. if they are at the airport

gates, they are urged to leave immediately. the biden administration says half of american adolescents ages 12-17 have now gotten at least one shot of a covid-19 vaccine. in florida, a judge ruled that school district in the state can impose masks mandates as the delta variant surges. the decision reverses an executive order from governor ron desantis banning such mandates. in late today, new york state announced a mask mandate for all public and private schools. meanwhile, president biden said federal health authorities are weighing whether to approve giving adults booster shots sooner than eight months after full vaccination as previously announced. the u.s. intelligence community remains divided on the origins of the covid-19 virus. they released a report today that disproved the theory that the virus was created as a biological weapon, and they concluded that china did not know about the virus before the onset of the pandemic.

but the report was inconclusive on whether the virus got in humans through a natural animal exposure or a lab leak. resident biden hosted new israeli prime minister naftali bennett at the white house today. in the oval office, the two talked about preventing iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. president biden said he wanted to restart talks but did not give specifics. >> we also discussed the threat from iran, and to ensure they never develop a nuclear weapon. and putting diplomacy first and seeing where that takes us. but if diplomacy fails, we're ready to turn to other options. amna: the leaders also discussed the iranian palestinian conflict. tropical storm ida rapidly strengthened into a hurricane today and is on a collision course with the u.s. gulf coast. the storm system moved over western cuba with maximum sustained winds of 80 miles an hour. it is forecast to become an extremely dangerous major

hurricane on its way to louisiana this weekend. the mayor of new orleans, late this afternoon, revised an earlier evacuation order, saying it's too early for that. >> hurricane ida represents a dramatic threat to the people of the city of new orleans. time is now on our side. shelter in place. hunker down. it is vitally important. amna: the storm is forecast to strike new orleans on the anniversary of hurricane katrina. in california, authorities ordered more evacuations for residents in the lake tahoe resort region as the caldor fire threatens shorts. firefighters fought back flames in the tahoe basin while thick layer's of hayes and smoke suffocated parts of northern california. the caldor fire is one of 90 for wildfires burning throughout the u.s.

the texas house easily passed a new voting rights bill after months of protest by state democrats. the republican legislation would ban all night and drive through voting and further empower poll watchers, amg other things. it goes back to the state senate. the man who assassinated former senator robert f kennedy has been granted parole after 53 years in a california prison. two of kennedy's sons argued for the 77-year-old release, arguing they believed his remorse. he killed kennedy in 1968 after he won the democratic residential primary. it is up to the state's governor to approve his release. the federal reserve will begin to taper off som of its economic stimulus leader this year as the pandemic recession improves. chairman jerome powell made the announcement today, but said it would only do so as long as the hiring market continues to

strengthen. powell also said the spike in inflation will pass, but the fed will continue to monitor the delta variant's economic impact. >> with vaccinations rising, schools reopening, and enhanced unemployment benefits ending, some factors that may holding back jobseekers are likely fading. while the delta variant presents a near-term risk, the prospects are good for continued progress toward maximum employment. amna: the federal reserve plans to hold off on raising interest rates until after the economy reaches full employment. still to come on the newour, what the supreme court's latest decision means for those facing evictions. david brooks and jonathan k part on the fallout from the kabul attack. events and athletes to watch at the tokyo paralympics. plus, much more. ♪ >> this is the pbs newshour,

from w eta studios in washington, and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism. amna: the supreme court has ended the biden administration's ban on evictions, siding with landlords who said the eviction moratorium puts them at risk of irreparable harm. congress authorized $46 billion in rental assistance in separate release -- relief packages. but only a fraction has been riveted and now many renters may be in trouble. >> just about 11% of that federal aid actually has been distributed by state and local governments months after congress approved it. and people need that aid. as many as 1.2 million households say they are very likely to face eviction in the next two months. overall, more than 8 million people say they are behind on their rent. kristin randall has a first-hand view of all of this as a court

mandated officer tasked with enforcing evictions in tucson, arizona. thank you for joining the newshour. i understand that soon after the supreme court decision, you started getting calls immediately from landlords. tell us about that and how you responded. >> thank you for having me. i did immediately receive calls. we found out pretty late last night about the decision from the supreme court. and i received four phone calls and three text messages before 8:00 a.m. this morning from landlord who wanted to immediately enforce evictions against recently delayed families, who had been seeking rental assistance. >> we know that a lot of small landlords have been squeezed during the pandemic. but let's talk about the renter what's been your approach to evictions during the pandemic? >> during the pandemic, i've been very careful topproach families prior to the actual eviction so that i can find out

if they have a plan, what their needs might be, and to see if they did qualify for the cdc order. that proactivepproach did mean that we were able to work with families and with landlords to get rental assistance out, maybe a little bit sooner than some of the other counties. >> and yet there are still a lot of people, nationally, who report they have applied for rental assistance they're not getting it. now that the eviction moratorium has been lifted, what are those families to do? what are you advising? >> i'm advising families to immediately call the agency that has been handling their rental assistance application and to find out where that application is in the process, and get a timeline. this way, they can go and have a very open dialogue with their landlord about that rental assistance application and let them know, maybe you have 3, 4, 5 weeks to wait, but that money will come through and potentially get a voluntary delay by the landlords so they can stay housed. >> now, from wherever u sit,

do you have any leniency you can give once a court has said this tenant can be evicted? do you have any discretion on deciding whether to give somebody the 15 minutes to gather their things and leave their apartment, or to decide to give them more time? >> so in arizona, we have very little discretion, but we do have a little bit. this is why i like to go ahead of the eviction to make contact with families so that they have a little bit more time. once we get there, once we get that order in, we maybe have a few days. >> what are you expecting to happen now? we see a flood of eviction notices go out that you need to enforce? >> we are expecting a giant number of evictions to come in in t next few weeks and months. we have been preparing for that so we are hoping some of these plans will be ableo mitigate that. >> you have spent a lot of time with filies facing eviction in your job because, as you said, your approach is to warn them

before you enforce the eviction notices. when you think about them in light of this supreme court decision today, what is your biggest concern? and can you describe an example of a family that illustrates the challenge during the pandemic to stay in housing? >> i have a family right now where the mother is going through cancer treatments. she filed for eviction prevention assistance about four weeks ago. she's still waiting on her application to be completed. and her landlord is one of the landlords who called me this morning to see if we could go ahead with the eviction right away. i am concerned that she has nowhere to go since the shelters are largely full, and there are not a lot of resources out there for families right now. we're going to do the best we can, but i'm really concerned about where people are going to go. >> tucson is among one of the cities in the country that has a high rate of eviction. as part of the problem enough affordable housing? and do you have that concern

that some people will end up homeless after you enforce those evictions? >> so, tucson especially has a real issue with available housing right now. there is waiting lists for units overseeing. so when a family isvicted, finding housing for them to go to is especially difficult. and now that they have any eviction on the record, it will be even more challenging. i'm very concerned that a lot of families will be going to the streets, homeless. >> kristin randall, an elected constable in tucson, arizona, thank you so much for joining the newshour with your perspective. >> thank you so much. ♪ amna: and now to the analysis of brooks and capehart, david brooks and jonathan capehart, columnist for the washington post. good to see you in real life.

david, what a week. what a week. we sell all the highs, heroic efforts, over 100,000 people evacuated, the deadly attacks punctuated in kabul. the president had to deliver in park city. what do you make of how he's handling this moment in his presidency? >> i think very poorly. i thought the decision toeave was a mistake. i thought we achieved some level of stability and we could manage the problem. and i think we invited the downfall. the sad thing, one of the good things that happened in the middle east the last several years his people have taken a look at the taliban, and they hate it. a survey of 11 countries, muslim countries, only 13% have positive things about the taliban. in country after country, people are sick it of religious iraq receipt. -- religious bureaucracy. when it is getting some momentum, and theocracy is

taking his blows, we now have a period where we seem to be brutally abandoning muslims, not living up to our allies, betraying our -- the people who helped us, and in the most shambolic way. so people take a look at this week and certainly, a lot of the people have been reading, thinking this is what an actual cline looks like. amna: when you look at where the american public is on this, going into the announcement that the u.s. would be withdrawing back in april, if you look at poll numbers, there was high support of withdrawal. 69% of americans said we support troops leaving. if you look at a recent update to that, august 21-24, that had fallen to 47%. what did that say to you? >> if you look at that morning consul poll, yes, the numbers are way down from april. but over the last nine days, that numbers has -- number has ticked up.

it was at 38% when they started calling people right when the withdrawal was happening, and ticked up 38% to 45%, and now this new poll has it at 47%. generally speaking, when they ask the folks surveyed, do you support withdrawal, generally speaking, it's 50%. 47%, is do you support withdrawal if it still means the taliban takes over? that being said, as i said last week, president biden is where the american people are. the american people, for a very long time, have wanted to get out of afghanistan. they wanted to be done with the war. and a people that was released last week, 62% of the american people surveyed didn't think the war in afghanistan was "worth fighting." so, the withdrawal hasn't gone very well. but withdrawing from a war that

you weren't winning, that you lost, to expect it to go well is to be overly idealistic. that's not to denigrate anything that has happened in kabul, both to the 13 service members who lost their lives, the afghans who were caught in the blast, but the american people wanted out of this. and the president is listening to them. amna: let me get your reaction to that. given that everyone has said yes, starting wars is easy. ending them is difficult. it would have been difficult regardless. you still think the u.s. should be leaving? >> now it's too late, but yes, i thought that's what we talked about weeks ago. over the last year, we had 2500 people there. they were not in combat roles. we had not had a combat fatality in a year or more. we and our allies were providing stability.

there are some problems you don't solve. you just try to live another day so that the afghans can decide their own future. we've learned we can't decide anybody's future for them. we can't invade and say here's the kind of government you're going to have. but the afghans can create their own future if they have a ground of stability. th have some of theorst regimes on earth thaare going to murder a lot of people and take a lot of girls out of school. i thought this was an eventuality that was to be avoided. amna: the way that this has unfolded has opened the president to criticism from veterans groups, others trying to get refugees out, and two people from across the aisle. you had a number of republican speaking critically about the president's leadership, or lack thereof, but it runs the spectrum of republicans. you have senator ben sasse, senator ted cruz, congresswoman liz cheney, marjorie taylor greene, and former president trump. is this criticism fair? is this just politics?

>> is both. i think the criticism of policy and withdrawal or complete the fair. republicans have still managed to screw this up. donald trump and kevin mccarthy have said we shouldn't take a lot of refugees. and ben sasse has said we need to take these people. so these are people who are working closely with americans in afghanistan. you have to get vetted. they had an opportunity. and then if we let them in, there's another vetting process. these are people who we owe, who made a moral commitment to us, we are in danger of betraying, and republicans are playing an immigration issue. it's the way trump he and politics has taken over. i'm glad to say most republicans and 7 of republican voters want to take these people in. but there's that trumpian wing that there are a bunch of criminals and terrorists.

amna: what about that messaging? there is this divide in the republican party on how to treat the influx of people we know are coming from afghanistan, seeking refuge. what does that mean? >> it means there's a sliver of the republican party that is dealing in xenophobia and racism. let's just be plain about it. and to david's point, you have folks coming to this country who have helped us in the most incredible way, who sought to work with american service members in the service of democracy. and so this party that used to be all about american strength and american exceptionalism now wants to shut the door on people who have shown themselves to be exceptional in standing up for democracy in their own country, working with us. it's racist. it's xenophobic. sadly, it's not surprising. amna: another big story in

washington we didn't pay enough attention to because of these extraordinary events overseas, but the bipartisan committee looking into the january 6 assault on the capital made a big step. they made a sweeping request for all kinds of expansive records. seven different agencies, including communications within and amonghe white house and executive branch agencies leading up to and on that day. what does this tell us, all the many months later after the assault, about where they're going? >>hat this is a serious investigation. that they're lookinground ever corner, around every stone to find that. how it was possible that an american democracy was brought to a brink, how close it came to being completely destroyed, how close we came to having a coup. and we need to know how involved was the former president? how involved was the house minority leader? how involved was the congressman from ohio?

yes, get the records. yes, get all the puzzle pieces. and yes, put the puzzle pieces together so we can see what the story is so that we can know how to prevent this, or at least try to prevent what happened on generate sixth from happening again. amna: david, the big lie that the election was stolen is still very much in play. take a look at the map. there are currently five states, nearly 10 months after the election, they still have ongoing or trying to begin audits of the election results there. that's arizona, michigan, pennsylvania, wisconsin, and georgia. what does that tell you about the potential impact on whatever this commission is doing? >> first, on these investigations, the way you prove you're a republican pull kit, you say the georgia vote was fake. you don't need any facts or anything. it's like wearing a product back. -- prada bag. are prada bags cool?

i'm still in 1992. [laughter] now, the entryway into serious republicanism. as for the investigation, i'm a little dubious. a, because the trump administration leaks so that. -- so bad, we would already know. or they say the quiet part out loud. but i was speaking to a very senior military guy recently. he said when you look at how all the different people came in at the same time on january 6, he said to me, that seemed coordinated. and i would love to know if that's true. and so this investigation seems serious enough that if it's true, maybe we'll find out. amna: before we go, i had to ask you about voting rights. there was some movement on capitol hill. the house did pass the voting rights bill. compare that and its chances in the senate, which you can probably say are slim, to what you're seeing at the state level, still a number of efforts

to restrict voting. >> at the state level, particularly texas, they're moving full steam ahead trying to restrict the rights of voters in texas. the john lewis voting rights advancement act, terrific. it passed in the house. fine. nancy pelosi has a slim majority, but was able to get it through. it's fate is the same as for the people act. unless the senate decides to inform the filibuster rules for voting rights legislation, john lewis voting rights advancement act isn't going anywhere. the before the people act isn't going anywhere. if we're talking about saving our democracy, i think it is absolutely imperative that democrats figure out a way to get those two pieces of legislation. because if they don't, more states are going to restrict the right to vote and then the democracy as we know it, and the participation of every american who wants to participate, who

wants to vote, will be suppressed. and we won't have a real american democracy. amna: a story we probably need to pay much more attention to than we do. jonathan, david, good to see you both. ♪ the tokyo paralympic games kicked off this week with a prime time slot on american television. as william brangham reports, it's part of the increasing growth in interest in these games. william: that's right. in addition to tv coverage, these games have the largest number of athletes competing, including record numbers of women and lgbtq athletes. at the opening ceremony, the refugee team lead the parade of

over 4400 athletes. like the let the games earlier this month, because of the pandemic, there were no spectators allowed in the stands. this is the new york times bureau chief and joins me now. great to have you on the newshour. tokyo just shifted from hosting the olympic games to now the paralympic games. and as i was describing, there does seem to be these growing interest in these games. what do you attribute that to? >> i think it's a lot of things. certainly here in japan, it's the second paralympics back in 1964, when tokyo hosted the olympics. that was only the second time there was a paralympics that was in tokyo, so there's a long history here. i think there's been a very concerted effort, organizers kept saying if the paralympics are not successful, we cannot say the overall olympics have been successful. so there have been a lot of advertisements.

awareness has grown. there's more coverage. there's been prime time coverage of the event. it's definitely t there in the ether in a way it might not have been before. william: are there particular athletes or events that you've been paying attention to? >> i've spent a lot of time at the pool watching one of the flag bearers for the paralympic refugee team, who was born without arms, and as it happens, he is the only afghan athlete here because the athletes from afghanistan could not safely leave kabul to fly to tokyo. we've been told they been evacuated, but we don't know exactly where they are. we don't even know whether they're going to make it to the games. there's still a possibility one or both of them could make it to compete. but at the moment, they're not here, so they're the only one. and the butterfly, he did really well, set a personal best. in the final, he came in eighth.

william: he still has another shot next week? >> he does. he is going to be swimming the backstroke that day. william: you wrote a beautiful profile of his journey. i'm just curious, how does someone living in four different refugeeamps trained for this kind o petition? >> he has more determination in someone than i've ever met or talked to. he's very, very focused on swimming, so as soon as he got to the refugee camps, he had already won a refugee camp in afghanistan. as soon as he got to turkey, he started talking to people, and i guess the folks at refugee camps connected him with a coach and he was willing to ride a bus one hour each way. he did that during covid and oregon, as well, drove the coach for an hour and a half just to get 45 minutes in. william: so what other events are you paying particular attention to? >> this is my first paralympics,

so i'm interested in everything. but i went to the wheelchair olympics the other day because the japan team is very good. i watched them play the danis team and they were, in fact, remarkable. learning the rules of wheelchair rugby has some resemblance to rugby, but also has elements from other games, and it's also about a point system depending on the disability of the players. so it was really fascinating to watch and i'm hoping to see more matches. william: how did the japanese team do? >> they won, quite handedly. william: covid-19 hung over the olympic teams, and now it's not like the pandemic is disappeared in tokyo or japan more broadly. is it still casting maybe a shadow over these games? >> i would say a pretty huge shadow, actually. just today, for the first time, japan hit a record high of 2000

cases of people who are severe enough to warrant being admitted to nicu. so that's a very worrying number. that's been going up the whole time the games have been in town, including the olympics. and tokyo's hospitals are overburdened. it's not getting to the point where they're saying if you try to get into an ambulance, even for a non-covid bill liss, they might -- illness, they might not find you a hospital bed. just this morning, they opened the mass site for young people to get vaccinated. people were lining up at 1:00 a.m. and they couldn't get in. they were out of vaccines by 7:30 in the morning, so they were trying to set up a lottery. so it's been very difficult. william: the tokyo bureau chief for the new rk times, thank you for your time. >> thank you for having me. ♪

amna: finally tonight, jeffrey brown talks to sean penn and his daughter dylan about real-life family ties and those on screen in tir new film, "flag day." they also discussed sean penn's relief work. it's part of our arts and culture series, campus. -- canvas. >> you know what i do for a living. i'm an entrepreneur. reporter: it's a story of a woman growing up with a con man for a father. it's about loving, leaving, and coming to terms with her criminal dad, john vogel. >> the suspect has been identified as john vogel, the second-largest counterfeiter in u.s. history. reporter: when sean penn first read the script years ago, he immediately saw his choice to play jennifer, his own daughter, dylan, then just 15. >> i think it was the truth

machine aspect of dylan's nature . she's not someone who tells you what she's thinking. she just thinks that thought, which translates very well to an actress, to what acting is and what makes us love to watch and consider what's going on inside. reporter: the problem, dylan, whose mother is another well-known actor, robin wright, had other ideas. >> i think i partly rejected the idea of acting for so long because i didn't want to follow in their footsteps. i wanted to be in film, but i always wanted to be behind the camera. reporter: years later, now 30, she felt ready to take on the role of jennifer, with her father as both director and costar. >> i ft similarly to her in her pursuit of finding her own identity away from her past, separate from her fath, her mother. and then also coming to this reconciliation, ceptance of the fact that your parents, your past is a part of your identity.

reporter: you had to do some emotiolly difficult scenes, right? was that easy or hard or having family right there? >> i think it definitely made it easier. i did not expect that. it was definitely cathartic to say the least. reporter: a family tradition continues. sean penn's father, leo, who died in 1998, was a director. his mother, eileen ryan, was an actress. >> is that my daughter in their? reporter: he is a two-time oscar-winner as best actor, for "mystic river" in 2003 -- >> my name is harvey milk and i'm here to recruit you. reporter: and "milk" in 2008. districting credits include "into the wild." >> the truth is, i've been gone for a while. >> how long? >> a year in a bit.

reporter: it's a tightly wound human drama, increasingly rare inig-screen theaters. you continue to make these smaller, character driven films. is there still a place for the films you want to make? >> right now, you caught me in a moment where i'm grateful to have this one get aife in the theater before it goes into the box. certainly has become, we all know, much more difficult for films that have -- if they break the three thought rule -- if there's more than three thoughts, meaning you're going to have a tough time getting it distributed in the movie theater. reporter: that's not too many thoughts for a two hour film. >> most things on the big screen these days, you'll see what i'm talking about. reporter: our people ready to go to the movies? penn says he doesn't know. he asks only those vaccinated attend. but he does believe something important is being lost in the move to streaming at home on the small screen.

>> it's not just about the big screen, right? it's about making the effort to go that mas it special. it's very difficult now because, for me to get a sense of that which is special because, you know, it's as though the town square is open for everyone to speak, but therefore everyone is there and it's too loud to hear anything. and they're all speaking and nobody is being heard. it's just very different from that which i felt in love with in the movie theaters of my youth. reporter: dylan, what do you think of that? you are in a younger generation that might determine when tngs go. >> when he talks about it like this, i feel the romance of what going to a movie theater is, and i really miss that experience. so, being in a theater, now vaccinated, and like he said, sharing the experience th

strangers i think is the power of film making. reporter: soon after our talk, sean penn left for haiti, where the disaster relief group e founded has worked since the 2010 earthquake. in the wake of a devastating new quake, they are working with the ministry of public works to clear roads anget supplies and medical teams to hardest hit areas.. ask penn about the prospects of a country facing political upheaval, as well. >> i'll always think that things can change. certainly, to say setbacks would be an understatement. we're going to have to fight several steps forward that we take with our earners -- partners. we're moving forward moments we've had in the past, and where it's slipped away again, either by living or spiritual devils. by that, i mean devils that

create these man-made problems, and spiritual ones that create natural disasters. reporter: it is now set up for earthquake relief in four locations in haiti's south. while operating 23 covid vaccination sites across the country. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown. amna: and we have some breaking news to report now, the u.s. military has conducted a drone airstrike in eastern afghanistan targeting an isis-k planner. the statement to the newshour said initial indications are the target was killed and there are no known civilian casualties. isis-k was behind the suicide bombings that killed 13 u.s. servicemembers and scores of afghans yesterday. on the newshour online right now, hospitals in the louisiana or in a state of crisis amid staff shortages and rising covid cases. in a state where only 40% residents are fully vaccinated, health-care workers are stretched thin.

see how hospital workers are faring at pbs.org/newshour. and stay with pbs. we explore the fallout of the chaotic exit from afghanistan. newshour correspondent jane ferguson joins the panel tonight on washington week. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm stephanie sy. thanks for watching. take care. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ consumer cellular. johnson and johnson. bnsf railway. financial services firm raymond james. the william and flora hewlett foundation for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and so boarding institutions to promote a better world at hewlett.org. >> supporting social

entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems. skullfoundation.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] and friends of the newshour. ♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

terror and bloodshed in afghanistan. this week on "firing line." more than a dozen u.s. service members were among the many who died in a suicide attack by the kabul airport. with isis-k claiming responsibility and thehreat of more violence looming, president biden has vow to retaliate. >> we will not forgive. we will not forget. we will hunt you down to make you pay. >> and he said the mission to evacuation every american by august 31st will not be deterred by terrorists. but how? what will it mean for our afghan allies? and our future security? i spoke to three star general hr mcmaster who serves in a top post