♪ judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on "the newshour" tonight, after i do. americans living on the gulf coast suffer an arduous recovery process amid food shortages and power outages. then an uncertain future. thousands of afghans flee their home country amid widespread scarcity. the taliban look to form a new islamic government. and desperate journey. the surge of migrants in europe continues, straining the resources of small islands that are often the points of entry. >> these people are being taken out to a coast guard ship and

taken to the mainland straightaway because there simply is not enough room for them here on this island. judy: all that and more on tonight's pbs "newshour." ♪ >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- ♪ bnsf railway. consumer cellular. johnson & johnson. financial servic firm raymond james. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems. >> committed to improving lives through invention in the u.s.

and developing countries. supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more just world. and with the ongoing 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. judy: no electricity, no water, no air conditioning, and a shortage of gasoline. that is what hundreds of thousands of residents of southeast louisiana are still racing tonight, three days after hurricane ida leveled much of the area. and what president biden will see for himself when he visits

on friday. more than a million are without power, and there are at least seven storm-related deaths across three states. our "newshour" communities reporter, who is based in new orleans, begins our coverage. >> i have never seen this place like this. never. >> here lies the twisted pilot debris, the neighborhood he has lived on for 35 years is in shambles. >> i grew up through hurricane andrew is a little boy, and this right here was just, like, wow. >> he had planned on hunkering down in his trailer when hurricane ida made landfall sunday, but he had to take cover before his home collapsed around him. his town in lafourche parish taking a direct hit from the storm. amid sweltering summer heat where temperatures felt like 105

degrees in parts of thetate, davis is among the hundreds of thousands who remain without electricity, air conditioning, or tap water for a third straight day. the search for fuel to power generators is becoming more difficult the day. in davis' hometown, residents lined up at the distribution center today run by the national guard, but they only received limited supplies for a day. what did you come here looking for today? what did you get? >> i got a meal, you know, so i'm thankful for that. >> robert e. lee is the director of communications for the lafourche parish government. he said while some residents have begun returning to their homes, he is urging as many as possible to stay away because he expects power won't return for

months. >> one of the issues is getting residents to their homes. roads are very unsafe to travel right now. there's a large amount of power lines down. right now, we currently have no water at all, no running water for residents. >> in new orleans, a glimmer of hope emerged wednesday as power was restored to a section of the city. distribution sites were set up by officials and local charities where people could receive meals, water, and ice or simply sit and cool off for a few minutes. >> the primary objectives today are getting our people what they need. we know they need food, water, cool air, so we are moving forward with a full complement of additional resources today. >> residents in grand isle, louisiana, where ida took direct aim, the devastation has made

the island uninhabitable. right now, scooter says he and many of his family members and colleagues lost their homes. >> in my neighborhood, i lost my home. my grandson lost his home. i have a deputy that lost his home, a sergeant that lost his home. >> james got emotional as he surveyed the remains of what used to be his home. >> the washer is somewhere up in there. >> he has been in this area hi entire life and is ill ruggling to make sense of what has happened. his boat was destroyed as well. >> the wind goes up, the rain poured in, and it has made it safe. >> the remnants of hurricane ida are now causing what the national weather service has caused -- called significant and

potentially life-threatening flooding for parts of the northeast and mid-atlantic regions. flash flood warning's have been issued from rth carolina all the way to maine. while ida has moved on from louisiana, residents like dustin davis have no idea when life will ever return to normal, but he says many here are committed to staying and rebuilding. we tagged along as he checked on neighbors and his dad who lives just down the street. >> we are all going to stick together and do what we have to do to get this back on as a family. >> evacuees are eager to return. they want to get back here, survey the damage on their own homes, and they also want to come here and help their neighbors, but does -- it is a dire situation. there's no food, o water, no power, and no answer as to when it will be safe. judy: it is hard to imagine the amount of devastation, but we see it in your report.

tell us -- what is the latest on getting people the help, the support they need? >> it is going to be very slow to come. right now, just the basics -- [indiscernible] today, we watched the national guard hand out meals ready to eat. the other big concern is medical care. a lot of the pharmacies here are closed. two of the major hospitals in this area are closed. there is only one emergency room to service all these people. it is going to be tough for them. today, we ran across a man who was sitting in his truck gasping for air. he had stage iv lung cancer and needed oxygen but did not have the electricity to run the machines to give him that oxygen, so we went ahead and called emergency services and got him the help he needed. judy: oh, my goodness. thankfully you were there for that one man. so much discussion before the hurricane about if the levees

would hold. what is the information that you have on that? have they been holding? >> in the area we were today, there are still some levees where there are areas of concern. in lafourche paris, they spent the day packing those levees with sand hoping to avoid another breach. if that water breaches, it will just make matters even worse. judy: you were talking about people without water, without running water. if they don't have it and don't expect to get it soon, how are they coping? >> again, officials have said don't come back because we don't have the infrastructure to help you out, and i talked with a few people down here who work emptying their pools to flush their toilet, using water in buckets to wash their hands. that is the kind of situation they are living in for now, and it could be as long as a month or even two. judy: thank you so much.

such important reporting. >> thank you, judy. judy: now we explore washington's response to the devastation caused by hurricane ida with an acting associate administrator for response and recovery, who is just back from the louisiana where he sought areas hit hardest by the storm. he joins us now from fema headquarters. how would you say this aftermath compares with what we have seen after other hurricanes? >> no question, the devastation is heartbreaking. i joined the fema administrator yesterday with the governor seeing the damage. some of the reporting from your correspondent was in those same places. they are going to need a lot of help and recovery is going to take a lot of time. judy: what is fema's principal role at this point?

we see there is in norma's effort at the local level, but what is it that the federal government can do? >> we have beennvolved since several days before landfall pre-sitioning meals, water, tarps, blankets, cots. specialized teams were able to support the search-and-rescue mission that has still been under way today, and some of the national guard points of distribution that you saw there in your reporting, we have established a flow of commodies to make sure that can continue in the days ahead. also importantly with the persistent power outages, we have provided hundreds of generators as well as folksrom the u.s. army corps of engineers to help install those at critical facilities like water treatment plants, sewage plants, as well as hospitals and other critical facilities. that is the important work that is under way right now. judy: what is your understanding of how long it will take the get the power back. we have seen estimates going into weeks and a month.

>> we know that with 150 mile an hour wind and the extent of the damage that it could be a while. entergy, the primary power provider, has more than 20,000 personnel that they are bringing into the state to expedite the return of power. importantly, the president the other day approved a major disaster declaration, which authorizes assistance for individuals and communities, so people who have been affected by ida can go on fema's website or disasterassistance.gov to take advantage of that assistance. we have already approved more than $25 million of assistance for affected louisiana and's in the past day. judy: you mentioned the very basic needs people have. we heard that from our own reporter -- food, water, power, shelter. it is fema and other agencies going to be able to get people the help they need?

>> providing that support in such a degraded environment is extremely challenging, and that is why we are seeing the parish presidents, the mayors, encouraging residents if they did evacuate to wait to return. it is really critical that louisiana and's -- louisianans who left town and responded to those evacuation orders, which probably saved lives, he'd those directions from local and state officials about when to return. we don't want to returning to a place where essential services have yet to be restored. judy: if people are watching this and want to help, what can people who do not live in the area due to be of help? >> there are two things i would suggest. first, find a charity that is active in disasters and donate to provide support. it is always better to donate money than it is to donate supplies and kind. the other thing that is important to notice that the remnants of ida are not done

with us. we have flash flood warning's, tornado warnings across the northeast tonight into tomorrow, so it is critical folks pay attention in the northeast because there is still a very life-threatening weather situation unfolding from the remnants of ida right now. judy: we have seen that reporting of flooding in pennsylvania and maryland and other states, but finally, back to louisiana, how concerned are you that we could be headed for a real humanitarian crisis with so many people now out of power and out of water and out of food and gasoline? >> being out of power presents challenges, no question. our focus is to get those generators attached to those critical facilities so we can have as many of those absolutely essential services available as possible. the city of new orleans open cooling centers today as well as points of distribution that are unfolding across the affected parishes, and oaks can find information about those -- folks

can find information about those in their neighborhoods. there's information going around about the availability of those services, and we are going to keep the flow going in the days ahead. judy: the acting association -- the acting associated minister of nema, thank you very much. we wish you and your colleagues the best with all that's going on. we will talk with the mayor of new orleans a little later in the program. ♪ vanessa: we will return to judy woodruff and the ful program after these headlines. ida has left wide swaths of severe flooding and damaging tornado activity across several mid-atlantic states.

pennsylvania and maryland are especially hard-hit with reports of tornadoes touching down in several areas. earlier today, crews in pennsylvania worked to rescue farm animals to safety. the taliban worked to restore stability across afghanistan as new concerns emerged about the plight of the afghan people who remain in the country. a senior united nations official warned that afghanistan's food supply could run out this month and estimated that 1/3 of the population is facing a hunger crisis. meanwhile, a technical team from qatar arrived in kabul to help the taliban reopen airports to a deliveries and other flights. we will have more on afghanistan later in the program. back in this country, firefighters in northern california have made more progress against the massive caldor fire raging near the lake tahoe resort area. the flames are now 20% contained after burning more than 200-4000

august. stephanie has the latest. -- more than 204,000 acres since august. stephanie: nearly 4000 firefighters battling the raging inferno made some progress today. the fire has already destroyed hundreds of structures. >> we have been resource starved here at times, but we are continuing to get people sent to us, but it is still not enough. it is a huge challenge for everyone involved. >> in these areas, everything is extremely ignitable, and vegetation is dense and an areas are sometimes inaccessible. >> thousands of members of california's national guard have also been deployed to assist with response and evacuations. for days, erratic winds and low humidity have spread spot fires with embers flying and spreading

the flames. >> those ember paths it throws out are going over a mile in distance, so that is what is propagating the spread of fire right now, that long-range downwind spotting event. >> the thick smoke has made it difficult for crews to navigate the rough terrain. on monday, some 50,000 people in a popular resort region were placed under evacuation orders, snarling traffic for hours. a tourist area that is usually filled with thousands of holiday visitors is now almost empty. military vehicles, fire crews, and an odd bear were seen in the city's smoke-filled streets. only a few residents remain. >> as long as the smoke is not so bad and the flames aren't real close, we are going to stick it out. but if not, we will hightail it out.

stephanie: evacuation orders have also expanded to communities in nevada along the california state line. meanwhile, the massive dixie fire is ao burning. it is the second largest wildfire in the state's history and has burned more than 44,000 acres since it began in early july. scientists say climate change has made worse the hot and dry weather, and it has also contributed to the warming of water, making hurricanes such as ida in the gulf coast more dangerous. catherine is a climate scientist and the chief scientist for the nature conservancy. >> climate change did not cause hurricane ida, but it definitely made it worse, and that is what climate change is -- a threat multiplier. it is taking events that occur naturally and making them bigger, stronger, more dangerous and more damaging. >> that includes wildfires. >> imagine you had a pile of

green, wet wood, and you accidentally dropped a match into it. what would happen? not much. then imagine you had a pile of dry kindling and you accidentally drop a match into it -- what would happen? a huge conflagration. that is the difference with climate change. stephanie: this year is on track to be california's worst fire season on record, and it is far from over. nessa: california governor gavin newsom has requested a presidential emergency declaration. meanwhile, a new report out today from the united nations weather agency has found that weather disasters are more frequent and more severe than 50 years ago due to climate change. events like fires and floods are happening more than four times more often and causing seven times more damage than in the 1970's, but they are causing fewer deaths due to earlier warnings. a texas ban on abortions after

six weeks of pregnancy went into effect today. the supreme court has yet to act to block the law, which is the most restrictive in the nation. the law also empowers private citizens to file lawsuits against anyone who helps a person get a prohibited abortion. we will return to this right after the new summary. three suburban denver police officers and two paramedics have been indicted on manslaughter and other charges in the 2019 death of elijah mcclain. officers stopped the 23-year-old lap man after a 911 caller reported he was acting suspiciously. they put him in a choke hold and injected him with a sedative before he died. president biden has had his first face-to-face meeting with ukraine's president since taking office. he was a key figure in former president trump's first impeachment after mr. trump pressured him to investigate then candidate biden and his son hunter. today, mr. biden pledged to give

$60 million in new military aid to ukraine to counter russian hostility. in nigeria, gunmen abducted 73 young students in a new school attack today. the assailants descended on the secondary school in a remote village in the northwestern part of the country. their kidnapping comes just days after three other groups of hostages were freed reportedly after ransom payments were made. overall, more than 1000 students have been kidnapping in northern nigeria since december. the pan-american health organization is out today with some concerning new covid-19 data. as infections surge in north america, hospitalization rates among young people and adults under the age of 50 are higher today than at any point in the pandemic, and three quarters of the people in latin america and the caribbean have not been fully vaccinated against covid.

rescue crews are searching for five people still missing off the coast of southern california a day after a u.s. navy helicopter crashed. officials said the aircraft went down tuesday afternoon during a routine flight 70 miles off the coast of san diego. one sailor was rescued. there was no immediate word on what caused the crash. a federal judge in new york today approved the bankruptcy reorganization plan for oxycontin maker purdue pharma. the plan will help settle thousands of lawsuits amid the company's role in the deadly opioid pandemic the sackler family will give up ownership and must pay 4.5 million dollars, but they will be shielded from neutral lawsuits. still to come, what texas' new abortion law means for women's reproductive health. thousands flee afghanistan as the taliban moved to form an

islamic government. the surge of migrants into europe strains the resources at points of entry, and much more. >> this is the "pbs newshour" from w eta studios in washington and in the west from walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: a new restrictive abortion law in texas went into effect today after the u.s. supreme court failed to respond to an emergency plea to intervene before midnight. last night. john yang has more. john: the new law bans abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which is usually about the sixth week of pregnant see, before many women are even aware they are pregnant. it also puts enforcement of the law into the hands of private citizens, not officials like county or district attorneys. in a statement, president biden

called that provision outrageous and said the law will significantly impair women's access to the health care they need, particularly for communities of color and individuals with l incomes. a florida state university law professor and author of "abortion and the law in america : roe v. wade to the present" joins us. thanks for being with us. that pvision that says the law is enforced by private citizens filing civil lawsuits specifically bans government officials from getting involved in those lawsuits. why is that significant? >> this is texas' attempt to make it impose to sue anyone to challenge the constitutionality of the suit. the state is trying to shield itself including a provision that allows people to sue only if they target an official that enforces the law, but obviously, texas is saying there's no such

official to sue, so there's no way to bring this constitutional challenge to a court. this is texas' bid not only to ban abortion in the state but to enforce. >> the briefs never mention roe v. wade. is this an attempt to get around roe v. wade rather than confront it head on? >> absolutely. this is sort of an alternative to what we see unfolding in mississippi. texas has opted to ban abortions while doing as much as possible to avoid row -- to void roe. >> how does it fit in with antiabortion forces at the state level. does it make it an outlier? >> it has been so far. states intent on -- they relish

opportunities because they want to change the interpretation of the constitution. texas has been alone so far focusing on actual lack of access to abortion on the ground, but if texas' law works as it proposes to, other states could follow suit. >> as we sit here, the supreme court. the last briefs in this case. what do you make of the silence and the fact they have not said anything about this emergency appeal? >> on some level, we cannot make too much of it. we can imagine either blocking enforcement of the law or conversely, the court is going to write an order allowing the

logical into effect, which might upset some liberal members, but either way you look at it, it is still extraordinary because we have seen in other scenarios that the court can act quickly when it wants to, so the fact that they refuse to do so here makes it seem as if the court does not view a ban on abortion in texas as an emergency, and that tells you something about where we stand when it comes to abortion rights this term. >> as you say, the court is going to hear a case from mississippi challenging a 15-week ban. what does that tell us? >> it tells us the court does not view it as particularly urgent to deal with the application heard today, for instance. the court feels it can take it's time to render a decision here, and it is hard to imagine doing that if we were talking about the free exercise of religion or

the right to bear arms or some other issue the court takes more seriously. of course, texas' law, as you mentioned, is different. it does not require the court to reverse long-standing precedent, especially in an election year, but it still tells us the court is not, i think, treating abortion rights as seriously as the court has treated other issues. >> mary zigler of florida state university, thank you very much. >> thanks, john. ♪ judy: two days after the united states withdrew its last troops from afghanistan, the new taliban rulers are struggling to t the country fully funcioning again. shuttered banks, lack of enough food, and continued instability plagued the nation. meantime, u.s. secretary lloyd austin said the state department

would take the lead in securing the exit of the americans who are left there as well as thousands of afghan allies. >> on the streets of kabul, countless vendors are out to sell, but no one is buying. in afghanistan's first days without foreign forces, the cost of basic goods is soaring, the national currency is plummeting, and the economy is at a standstill. his is now the taliban's job to fix it. elsewhere in thcapital, bank lines stretched on the block. >> we cannot buy anything, and people have a big economic problem because the banks are closed, and market conditions are not good. there are no job opportunities, and no one can afford to buy anything. >> a reporter with trt world, turkey's national broadcaster, is in kabul. >> there seems to be and a lot of frustration on the streets.

long lines outside banks. taliban are moving around and have set up checkpoints. it is almost as if they are holding back, waiting on the streets. >> he said that already, women are anticipating fewer freedoms, even if the taliban says it will be more lenient. >> there are women on the streets. not as much as there were before, but it is quite muted. they are not in restaurants, for example. they are usually accompanied by men, but that is not to say the taliban, at least in kabul, have taken a harsher tone towards women. they are quite tolerant of them. in fact, if you speak to leaders, especially young leaders, who are more educated, they do believe in rights for women, but as with anything, there is not just one taliban. there are many talibans.

>> for those tha backed the taliban, there is joy. last night in kandahar, self own footage showed fireworks celebrating the takeover. today, taliban fighters drove u.s. army vehicles through the city streets. in the southeastern afghan city, residents held a mock funeral procession with coffins draped from flags of u.s. powers. in the only remaining province challenging the takeover, a senior taliban leader said today th had surrounded afghan fighters, but the taliban now have a country to run. this week, a spokesperson said they are working to restore normalcy and to establish a new government. >> firstly, one of the most portant services is security, that people are provided with good security, and the rule of law is established. initial works have also begun in the banking sector and have started their servis. in the media sector, we have

also ensed that the system is running. we hope that the government is announced soon and everything gets back to normal. >> back in washington, the secretary of defense told reporters the government is transitioning from a military mission to a diplomatic one. >> the war is over and we are entering a new chapter, one where our diplomats and interagenc partners take the lead. we are part of an urgent team effort to move afghan evacuees out of temporary housing and intermediate staging bases in the gulf and in europe and on to begin new lives. >> on capitol hill today, alabama representative mike rogers said america is less safe because of president biden's decisions. >> we must find out what advice president biden was given or ignored in making these decisions. we must find out how many americans president biden behind. weust find out how much

military equipment president bideneft to the taliban. >> at kabul's international airport, taliban troops replaced americans on the runway. today, the biden administration said 100 to 200 americans remain in the country. those able to escape fear for family members left behind. an afghan journalist lost his fingers 14 years ago to a taliban roadside bomb. he fled last month, but his wife and five children remained in kabul. his family said the taliban is looking for him. >> i would like to have my family with me in qatar, but unfortunately, there is no time. i don't know what is going to happen with my family because physically, i am here, but mentally, i am in afghanistan, worried about my family. >> as afghans on t rest of the world wait see if the taliban make good on theirromises, we turn to one of afghanistan's most prominent oystersn human

rights. he was chairperson of afghanistan's independent human rights commission. she and her family were recently evacuated from kabul. she joins me now from ianbul. welcome to "the newshour," and thank you for making the time. i wonder if you would not tell us first off, why did you make the decision for you and your family to leave? >> thank you for having me on the program. i actually bought a ticket for commerci flight, thinking we would be back in a week, but the day i left was sunday morning, and i think ours was one of the last commercial flights. in any case, i don't see returning to afghanistan in the near future as an option. like many human rights activists. there's no sense of safety despite assurances by taliban. there's concern they would harass people like me and our

families. there'sreally for women -- no public space for women to have an impact or role in society. x the taliban have been saying they promised to build an inclusive government. it has been reported today that one of the taliban leaders has said women will have no place in the formation of a new government. what is your reaction to that? >> it is not entirely surprising. we afghans have been monitoring the situation in areas under taliban control. it is not something new that there is very little space for women in public areas they controlled before. they have in the past made promises about women's rights, but they always have been very vague -- very vague and not gone to specifics. now we can see that they have made an announcement that in their cabinet, there will be no minister-level woman because they don't think that women are qualified to govern, women are qualified to lead.

they do not believe in that. >> what does that say to you about what kind of future women will have in afghanistan? >> am extremely concerned for women in afghanistan. i think this is the beginning of another dark. i really hope this does not last long, but everything we worked so hard for -- women had to fight their families, their communities to get here. can you imagine a policewoman -- many women i knew that now have masters degrees -- they came from families where their mothers were uneducated, and it is all back to zero. my heart goes out to every single afghan woman because i know that right now the future seems bleak. >> the taliban leadership also pledging they would not seek vengeance on people that have

fought against them in the ground. what are you seeing on the ground? >> it does seem there are a lot of house to house searches. there are reports of former members of security forces being executed. it does not seem like there is complete coherence in what is being said and what is being done on the ground. this may be due to lack of control power because taliban are saying something and acting in a different way. but the situation is concerning. i am concerned for my own colleagues and women in afghanistan. even yesterday, there was a sense that the world is watching, but as that fades, will we see the taliban hold up their promises that some of them, they have already broken. >> we heard from u.s. leaders that they believe they have significant leverage to continue

to pressure the taliban government. do you believe they have that leverage? >> i honestly hope so. i dearly hope so, but i don't. i have personally persuaded governments to use their leverage to oppose this process. that has not happened. everything we have asked for to ensure a dignified future for our people, so far it has not been delivered, so i don't know. is yet to be seen. i really hope that is true. i dearly hope these conditionality's they have in mind do not end up causing problems for ordinary afghans. >> we have had trouble getting people on the ground to share their stories or speak freely because many are uncertain and worried about what will happen next. you have left, but you are still

speaking freely. why is that? are you worried about repercussions for family and friends you left behind? >> i do. i have used my weedy a presence, especially when some of my colleagues were still in afghanistan, my family was in afghanistan, i w not speaking to media because i was worried, and i am still worried, but i also feel like i have a duty as someone who is in a safe place to raise my voice for people who really have a lot to say but do not have the fortune to because they are so anxious about their own safety and that of their families. >> former chair of afghanistan's independent human rights commission. thank you so much for making the time to speak with us. >> thank you. ♪

judy: europe's human rights commissioner has called on the continent to welcome afghan refugees with open arms, but this latest chapter in the refugee and migrant crisis will add to the thousands of people, mainly from africa, already making the desperate journey. your special correspondent has just returned from the italian island of lent producer off the coast of tunisia and sent us this report. >> a speck of italian soil less than 100 miles on the tunisian coast. lynn producer -- lampedusa is closer to africa than it is to mainland europe. the island experienced a new surge of migrants reaching its shores. the coast guard rescued 800 people from un-seaworthy craft this summer.

>> i'm very happy to be here. >> within the space of 24 hours, this influx from south saharan africa and muslim countries increased the island's 6000-strong population by almost 15%. many of the africans are economic migrants rather than refugees from conflict or political persecution. among them is a 32-year-old liberian who described himself as a businessman. why did you leave for europe? >> a lot of reasons. right now, we are having economic problems. >> this has been one of the busiest days in lampedusa for quite some time, and for this island, it is something of an emergency. >> i criticize what has been done both in italy and in europe. what i mean is that the phenomenon of immigration has not been controlled by anyone.

>> the left-wing mayor of lampedusa is the son of an official, and because of his family ties, he has a deep understanding of how historically the mediterranean has facilitated the movement of people, but the current wave has left him at the end of his rope. >> europe is exclusively focusing only on refugees. in lampedusa, most of the arrivals are economic migrants, and fundamentally, nobody cares about economic migrants. >> hidden from the tourist beaches is what the european union calls a hotspot, a detention facility with a maximum capacity of 250 people, where migrants are held while their identities are checked and asylum claims process. it was already full to bursting, so this weekend's arrivals had nowhere to go. suited up to protect himself against covid, the coast guard cap migrants the shade as they parted the nearest bloom.

>> africa is arriving in italy. look at today. illegal immigrants arriving here with no doments. i'm very angry when it comes to this perception of migrants. >> fee -- the lampedusa representative of a powerful anti-immigration right wing party. >> the left does not want to stop these landings, smugglers, or the nonprofits. they are criminal accomplices. we are talking about trafficking human flesh. >> lampedusa's main harbor is littered with hooks of the navy. this art installation is an important symbol for the representative of big protestant church pro-migrant nonprofit. she has no time for the rhetoric of the right. >> in summer months, there are

lots of arrivals, but we cannot really talk about emergency. the emergency is in libya and the mediterranean where people died. >> another nonprofit, doctors without borders, reported many of the new arrivals have sustained violent injuries in libya, where many sub-saharan africans transit on their way to europe. authorities also believe people traffickers were hiding among the migrants and have launched an investigation. what is happening right now is that these people along with about 0 others are being taken to a coast guard ship and taken to the mainland straightaway because there simply is not enough room for them here on this island. >> the journey of the liberian busissman is proceeding as planned. >> 22% on a boat. >> what you think of the way the

italians are treating you? >> oh, they are very nice. very nice indeed. everything is ok here. >> where do you think you are going now? >> italy now. thank you. >> when it comes to migration, europe and italy's current priority is the fallout from afghanistan. this was one of the last italian flights late last week. the planes extracted italian diplomats, military officials, and afghan citizens. in all, italy airlifted to safety 4800 afghans, including 1500 children. there is recognition that the plight of afghans fleeing the taliban now takes priority over the island's needs on the front line of european immigration. >> we are always being forced to

deal with emergencies, be it ria, afghanistan, the arab spring, d so on. crises will continue to erupt, and practically, we have no alternative to confront them. >> right wing party takes a less charitableiew. >> we have been abandoned by europe. of course they will forget about us because the focus is on kabul. whatever happens here, they just don't care about. >> as he spoke, a flimsy wooden boat carrying more than a dozen africans made it to the harbor. it's outboard motor survived the long crossing. the door of europe as wide-open as ever. ♪ judy: new technology is changing the way we think about the human brain. miles o'brien gives us a personal look at how rewiring the mind with the aid of

machines is transforming the lives of those with amputated limbs. it is the second part of this story in our breakthrough series on innovation and invention. >> hey, hi, guys. 52 years after a landmine took his leg on patrol in vietnam, dan warner is on point once again. his mission -- help make his fellow leg amputees more surefooted. >> oh, man, this is pretty wild. >> he is testing a limb that lets him feel what his prosthetic foot is touching. you feel your foot, essentially? >> yes. it is great. i know the first time i could actually feel my foot on the ground, it was like a mind blowing experience. >> he is a participant in a study at the cleveland ba medical center and at directly connecting prosthetics to the

nerves that once transmitted commands to muscles and receive sensations of touch. in other words, wired into the brain like the real thing. >> i think we are getting very close to the point where people can forget about it. >> professor of biomedical engineering at case western reserve university and his team have been working with amputees for 15 years. dan warner can feel thanks to a pressure center attached to the bottom of his prosthetic foot and some rewiring of the nerves. surgeons identify the ones that control the muscle and provided sensory perception from his

missing leg and then attached wires on the with tiny cuff electrodes. the wires transmit current to the nerves when a sensor is depressed. how similar is it to the real thing? >> pretty down close. i mean, it is not 100% like i can do a lot of things with this foot, with ankle movements, but as far as feeling, when you are standing on it or walking, that is the big thing. >> i feel you, dan, but forearm

amputees like me, it is an even bigger deal. after all, a sense of touch is one of the primary missions of our hands and fingers, and my body powered prosthetic is little more than a pair of pliers at the end of a stick. there is really no way for me to feel. >> basically, we are trying to get the deep nerves to surface nerves. >> our sense of touch is crucial because it is actually faster than our sense of vision by several milliseconds, and every millisecond counts. dustin tyler and his team gave me a demonstration of that. with a virtual reality headset on, i played a game of popping bubbles with just the right amount of force. simple, right? yet, with the sensory perception turned off, i consistently overdid it. but once they energized the sensors attached to my hand, i could precisely feel the outer edge of the bubbles. oh, yeah, i'm feeling something.

oh, wow. wow. that is so amazing. >> tyler says this technology might enable another big leap. a future where humans are no longer limited by their skin. brandon prestwood lost his arm in a workplace accident in 2012 and is also a participant in tyler's study. he, too, had surgery connecting his nerves to sensors in the fingertips of a sophisticated prosthetic limb. >> this electrical signal to the missed contact, that makes me feel a pinprick in my index finger. >> but he does not even have to wear it to get that feeling. >> the fact it is attached to his arm is kind of arbitrary. we could put the prosthesis anywhere in the world and it would still feel like his hand. >> he is trying out the idea with his prosthetic arm mounted across the lab. >> we can extend his capability and essentially amplify the person by taking that sense of coection, sense of touch, and putting it on any machine in any part of the world and bring it back to your nervous system, and then i c connect it to devices that can do far more than my week, biologic system. >> talk like that is generating commercial interest. >> what we are recognizing is that the human body is incredibly important to tap into as a dater social -- as a data source to make people's lives easier. >> dexter yang is a cofounder of

a small startup developing a wrist-warm sensor that detects faint signals controlling simple hand gestures. >> we are going toctually take a selfie together. >> simply lifting a finger creates a distinct signal. >> i can navigate around. >> the device is connected to a smartphone, allowing control of it or other devices. conveyor belts in factories, drums, en pinball machines, to name a few. his inspiration came from his late mother, who contracted als in 2015. and m.i.t.-trained engineer, he wanted to make her life easier. >> when we started doing testing on people affected by als and others, we saw this larger idea that was completely uncovered in the market, which is -- how do we apply neural interfaces at the wrist in the simplest manner

possible? that's where we saw the best pathway to have the accessibility to reach hundreds of millions of users long-term. >> this will likely be good news for people with disabilities who stand to benefit from all the added investment. dustin welcomes the new progress. >> i think spinal cord injury will move farther ahead if we can find larger markets to develop this and we can use that technology. >> if he is right, maybe it won't be too long before i can give this old-fashioned, out of touch arm a hook. judy: so exciting. we certainly hope that is the case. that is "the newshour" for tonight, and we hope to talk with the mayor of newlands, but at the last minute, she was not able to join us. i'm judy woodruff. find us online and again here

tomorrow. from all of us, thank you, please stay safe. >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular provides wireless that helps people connect. we offer a variety of plans including one that fits you. >> johnson & johnson. bnsf railway. financial services firm raymond james. the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions.

♪ this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. and q. -- thank you. this is "pbs newshour west" from weta studios washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪

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