to learn more, visit safetyactioncenter.pge.com captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, ida's wrath-- deadly floods stun the northeast, as the path of destruction extends well beyond the gulf coast. how climate change has us living at the extremes. then, abortion battle-- the supreme court refuses to stay texas' restrictive new law. what it means for women's reproductive health. and, helping afghanistan-- the leaders of two united nations aid agencies discuss the many plights of the country's population. >> 39 million afghans are left in afghanistan and we estimate that at least half of them are in need of humanitarian assistance.

>> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> at fidelity, changing plans is always part of the plan. >> the kendeda fund. committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. more at kendedafund.org.

>> 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 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: cities on the east coast are grappling with the devastating impact of ida tonight.

the storm system inundated communities with historic flooding, tornadoes and shut down transportation. at least 40 more deaths have been linked to the storm system since it struck with new fury yesterday, a dozen of those in new york city. in louisiana, state officials say there were four more deaths of nursing home residents who were evacuated before hurricane ida first hit. state officials were turned away from inspecting the facility where they were evacuated to more than 800,000 remain without power four days after ida first landed as a hurricane. roby chavez, the newshour's communities correspondent in new orleans, has our report. >> oh my god, this is terrib. >> reporter: remnants from hurricane “ida” brought historic and catastrophic flooding across the northeast. the tional weather service office in new york issued its first ever set of flash flood emergencies in the region late yesterday.

inundated buses in new york city had passengers standing on their seats. rainfall poured into apartment complexes... others had floodwaters waiting to burst through their doors. people in brooklyn waded through knee-deep waters. and some were trapped by bursting floodwaters in the city's subway stations. all services were suspended due to flooding in the stations and tracks. the destruction became more apparent as daylight broke. cars were left stranded in streets now transformed into swollen rivers. >> you interfere with the rivers, this is what happens, all the time and they've spent millions to fix them and you can't. mother nature has its own way of handling it. >> reporter: new york governor kathy hochul spoke about the devastating rainfall, which surpassed records set during tropical storm henri just 11 days before.

>> because of climate change, unfortunately this is something we are going to have to deal with with great regularity. >> reporter: new york city mayor bill de blasio described it as a wake-up call. >> from now on what i think we do is tell new yorkers to expect the very, very worst. it may sound alarmist at times, but unfortunately it is being proven by nature. >> reporter: harsh winds and flash floods also pummeled new jersey late yesterday. newark airport was evacuated and all flights were canceled. the storm also triggered tornadoes in the mid-atlantic, destroying multiple homes. earlier today, new jersey governor phil murphy toured a neighborhood in mullica hill that was badly damaged. >> an extraordinary, sadly tragic historic 24 hours in new jersey, there's not other way to put it. >> reporter: the record breaking rainfall also severely hit western and central pennsylvania, including significant flooding in philadelphia, wilmington, delaware, and areas across maryland. in louisiana, some positive

news: power was restored in the french quarter today, as well as for some neighborhoods in eastern new orleans. >> when thpower went back on, it felt so good. the a.c., you know because we were suffering without no a.c. and we just enjoyed it. >> reporter: but more than 800,000 people in louisiana are still without power, making fuel a necessity for survival. new orleans mayor latoya cantrell: >> we just have not received adequate fueling services to the general public but we are continuing to push out that need and when we get more we will share more. >> reporter: long lines formed at gas stations. some waited over seven hours in their cars to get to the pump. >> the storm always going be tough, you know? but we strong black people. we survive, we survive stuff like this. katrina, it ain't stop us.

this one ain't gone stop us. >> reporter: at the white house, president biden said the strategic petroleum reserve will be used in order to reduce gas shortages. >> it is important to know that the region hit by ida is a key center of our nation's oil production and refining infrastructure. we are moving already quickly to increase the availability of gas and easing the pressure on gas prices around the country. >> reporter: the president will travel to louisiana tomorrow. meanwhile, high temperatures in the region are adding to an already tumultuous situation. >> it's just miserable and the older you get, the harder it gets to deal with the heat. >> reporter: buses are used as cooling centers. the food is passed out to those who've had to throw out food from their fridge. >> reporter: for hard hit communities in louisiana and mississippi, more work lies ahead. for the pbs newshour, i'm roby chavez. >> woodruff: as we just saw, flooding remains particularly

bad in parts of the northeast and the mid-atlantic tonight, including in the philadelphia area. let's turn to the city's fire commissioner adam thiel. >> woodruff: commisoner thiel, thank you so much for talking with us. it sounds like you were not expecting anything like this that happened yesterday, last night? >> well, we had an inkling, we talked with the weather service yesterday, and certainly they talked about the forecast and the potential for major flooding. we didn't think we would become close to breaking a record that was set in 1869. and that's what happened. we almost hit that 17-foot record. the normal stage for the scoop of river is around 5..7 feet. so pretty significant flooding. >> woodruff: what exactly are you coping with? what have you had to deal with? >> we made a lot of water rescues overnight. our very dedicated firefighters, medics,

assisted by police officers and a lot of organizations pitching in. all toll, we rescued more than 100 people. we had national guard soldiers here today with high-water vehicles. people, pets -- that was really the overnight. a lot of folks who drove their vehicles into flooded roads. certainly something we don't recommend. we had some buildings we had to evacuate last night from the rising waters. and today we're actually still doing water rescues out there, despite the fact that it is sunny. but we're also evacuating buildings that have their infrastructure somewhat compromised by the floodwaters. >> woodruff: what do you mean by that, "comprise" >> well, we have buildings losing power. a lot of high-rise buildings have their generators and other things in the basement, all of their electrical switching gear. when the water gets in there, it tendso short those things out. we're starting to have to evacuate some pretty large buildings. we still have two reception centers open across the city, and we'll probably be turning one of those into an overnight shelter for folks who have

don't have anywhere else to go tonight. >> woodruff: is there more, do you think, in retrospect that could have been done to get philadelphia ready for this? >> i'm really thankful at we did lean forward. we put extra water rescue teams on standby. our urban search-and-rescue task force got back just in time from a federal deployment in alabama for ida, to be able to help us here and one of our neighboring counties. thankfully, we never ran out of resources. even during the peak last night, when we had rescues going on all around the city. had we not leaned forward in that way, however, we would have run out of resources. that said, we're really seeing this historic flooding. we've seen tornadoes in the city already this year. it seems apparent to us the weather is changing. we're having more and more severe weather, and i think that's something we all need to be thinking about as we resource going forward. >> woodruff: no terms about it. what about fracture. i was reading about aging

sewer systems in philadelphia, and we know that is the case in many cities around the country. what is that saying to you? >> if you put 17 feet of water into a system that is desi■gned forfi you're always going to have problems. really, seeing this amount of water in the skookal river, a lot of other places around the city flooded as well. it is just not something that is supposed to happen. seeing tornadoes in pennsylvania is not something that is supposed to happen. i think we need to be considering our infrastructure, considering our resources, because the weather patterns, whether it is wildfires in califora -- we see our colleagues out there doing that, and we're here doing floods. it is affecting all of us. >> woodruff: are there steps, finally, that you think you should be taking now to be prepared in case there is another storm like this in the coming weeks and months? >> we're very fortunate we're well-resourced, more than 3,000 very dedicated women and n. so we didn't run out of

resources. we had all of the people at work and all of the tools and equipment that we needed. that's not true for every fire department around the country. i think we need to be considering our response until the time we can get all of our infrastructure where it needs to be, and we're more prepared as a society for these severe weather events. >> woodruff: adam thiel, who is the commissioner for the fire department for the city of philadelphia, thank you very much. >> thank you so much, judy. >> woodruff: as we just heard, the loss of life and the enormous damage ida has left in its wake are renewing bigger conversations around climate change-- not only about how to slow it, but also about how to better prepare our communities for these consequences, making them more resilient. amna nawaz explores some of those questions tonight. >> nawaz: judy, the past few days alone have seen one biblical-like problem after another: flooding; a total loss of power and breakdown of the electrical grid; wind destruction; and fires out of control in the west. alice hill has long worked on these issues includi at the

national security council during the obama administration. she is the david m. rubenstein senior fellow for energy and the environment at the council on foreign relations, and author of the new book "the fight for climate after covid-19." alice, welcome to the newshour. thank you for making the time. i want to ask you about this word, "resiliency." billions of dollars went into fortifying new orleans after hurricane hurricae katrina, and yet we have seen the devastation from hurricane ida. so what should have been done that wasn't done? >> there is so much to be done to prepare. these impacts are coming in harder, faster, and causing more destruction. so we need to do more to get ready. >> nawaz: so let's talk about some of the specifics here. the power grid in particular in louisiana now, more than a million people left without power. it could be weeks before it is restored.

and the local utility there, entergy, is facing criticism for not being better prepared. part of this problem, when we talk about resiliency, that we don't address the problems until after they've failed in some way? >> well, that is pretty typical. i call it the "no more" moment, as when a community experiences a typical tragedy, they vow to rebuild better, and that happens. but what we need to do is change that paradigm and repair in -- before the event. otherwise we'll have the loss of life and damage we're seeing now. >> nawaz: and the bigger issue that we're seeing with the extreme weather events and their impacts, outdated infrastructure. those who lost power in the california wildfires, and the texans who last fire during the deep freeze. how are we going to address that? do you see money coming

from the federal government in the infrastructure bill? >> the fra infrastructure bill will help. but the problem is all of our infrastructure, it is not just our energy grid, although that the is critical to the united states, but it is communication system, it is a path, a safe guide for the future. climate change up ends that. we no longer have the climate of the para. past.we have a new climate change we're not really ready for yet. >> nawaz: if that is the case, all of this money seems to be going towards infrastructure, but is enough being done to address the root caught of climate change? >> well, we need to cut our emissions, and that's a very important task otherwise we'll encounter virtually unmanageable heating in the more distant future, but right now we are already experiencing healthing heating thatis extremelyamagingd we need to prepare for the

impacts that come with that heating. >> nawaz: what about this idea we've heard about, managed retreats? you look at the weather events and you've seen the consequences, and oftentimes those communities are supported, even encouraged, to go back and rebuild in the same vulnerable locations. should this idea of working to relocate people to less vulnerable areas, should that be a bigger part of the conversation? >> we need to have this very difficult conversation about whether these places are safe to live in. more americans have moved into areas at risk than areas that are not at risk. areas that could flood, be burned, and we need to have a dialogue about how that can continue and be able to keep people safe, as well as save the buildings. we're just at the beginning of that, and unfortunately, managed retreat has become a dirty word. we'll have to figure out new terminologto engage americans with that very

important discussion. >> nawaz: that term "resilience" is a very important word. i want to bring one of the criticisms of that: some people say it is used as a concept basically to avoid tough questions. saying if you focus on resilience, focusing on infrastructure and fixing the problem, you're not focusing on some vulnerable pop laightsz populationsthat will be disproportionately impacted, and i'm speaking largely about communities of color and poor americans. is there some merit to that? >> resilience is a mushy word, and that's why we see politicians hang on to it. but it means we need to look to the future and we need to think about the most vulnerable because the most vulnerable are hit the hardest, via drought, by wildfire, by flooding, and we need to help those people be able to endure these impacts, as well as all other americans. climate change is going to

affect every corner of not only the united states but the globe. and the time the act is now. >> nawaz: there has been, over times, some political divide over even the phrase climate change. i'm wondering as time goes by, and these extreme events are becoming more of the status quo, do you see that changing? >> i believe so because it is undeniable. we look out our windows and we see this. we know climate change is occurring. what we need is greater climate literacy to understand that this is unreversible in some instances. and we can take action now to have better outcomes tomorrow if we cut our emissions, but those conversations need to be very robust. >> nawaz: that is alice hill joining us. thank you so much for joining us tonight. >> thank you. >> woodruff: in the day's other

news, the u.s. supreme court let stand a texas law that bans abortions as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. in a 5-to-4 vote before midnight wednesday, the court denied an emergency appeal from abortion providers to block enforcement of the law. today in a statement, president biden called the decision an "unprecedented assault on a woman's constitutional rights." but the unsigned majority opinion did suggest other legal challenges could be brout. we'll have more on this after the news summary. calmer winds in northern california are giving firefighters the break they need to step up their efforts against the sprawling "caldor" fire. the flames are creeping closer lake tahoe and neighboring nevada, and are only 25% contained. but fire officials say they hope to gain more ground as weather conditions improve. >> getting into friday, the winds get even lighter. friday is a very, very light wind day across the entire fire.

so the issues and conditions that weather was causing, especially for the last couple of days, are going to be mitigated by much lighter winds across the fire. >> woodruff: the fire has destroyed more than 800 structures and threatens 33,000 more. late yesterday, president biden declared a state of emergency in california, and ordered federal assistance to help with the disaster relief efforts. the biden administration today pledged a $3 billion investment in the nation's covid-19 vaccine supply chain. it will focus on manufacturers of items like syringes, and companies that fill and package vaccine vials. white house covid adviser jeffrey zients said the funding will start to be disbursed in the coming weeks. >> this $3 billion investment in our vaccine supply chain will create thousands of good paying american jobs, help us deliver on the president's commitment to be the arsenal of vaccines for

the world, and strengthen our long-term capabilities to respond to future threats. >> woodruff: also today, infectious disease expert dr. anthony fauci acknowledged tt it's possible americans who received the pfizer or moderna vaccines will need a third shot to be considered fully vaccinated. but he said a final decision would have to be made by the food and drug administration and c.d.c. first-time claims for unemployment benefits have fallen to a new low during the pandemic. the labor departmenteported 340,000 americans filed jobless claims last week. that's down 14,000 from the previous week. this comes as millions of out-of-work americans will lose their federal unemployment aid when it expires on monday. in afghanistan, the taliban said they intend to re-open kabul's civilian airport within days, with help from turkey and tar. armed taliban fighters are now

guarding the gates at hamid karzai international airport, conducting vehicle checks, and patrolling the area. the qatari foreign minister said they're preparing to resume flights soon. >> there is no clear indication when it is going to be fully operational yet but we are working very hard and also engaging with taliban to identify what are the gaps and the risks for having the airport back up and running. >> woodruff: that comes as the united nations says its humanitarian air service has resumed operations in afghanistan. three flights have already landed at the aiort in the northern city of mazar-i-sharif, allowing 160 aid organizations to continue working in the country. back in this country, virginia's supreme court unanimously ruled today that the state can take down a towering statue of confederate general robert e.

lee in its capital, richmond. two lawsuits had been filed by virginia residents trying to block its removal. governor ralph northam annoued his intent to remove the statue last year. that was days after the police killing of george floyd triggered protests against racial injustice both in richmond and across the country. prosecutors in minnesota have filed a re serious charge of first-degree manslaughter against a white former suburban minneapolis police officer who fatally shot daunte wright, a black man, during a traffic stop in april. she had already been charged with second-degree manslaughter. and in georgia, a grand jury indicted a former prosecutor in the ahmaud arbery case for misconduct. she's accused of preventing the men who killed arbery from being charged with crimes right after his shooting. and, today's better-than- expected unemployment report pushed stocks higher on wall

street. the dow jones industrial average gained 131 points to close at 35,444. the nasdaq rose 22 points, to set a new record high. and the s&p 500 added 13, for another record. still to come on the newshour: the leaders of two u.n. aid agencies discuss the plight of many afghans. a football kickoff where college players can now get more than a degree. plus, art on wheels-- why the car inspires design and innovation. >> woodruff: in texas, abortions have all but ended aft a late- night decision from the u.s. supreme court that kept in

effect a new state law banning the procedure as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. john yang has more on how advocates on both sides are responding in the lone star state. >> yang: judy, many of texas' 24 abortion providers say they are obeying the new law while abortion rights advocates try to figure out their next legal step. at the whole woman's health clinic in fort worth, the last procedure ended at 11:56 tuesday night, with more than two dozen women in the waiting room. meanwhile, anti-abortion activists are preparing for their role as enforcers of the new law. ashley lopez is a reporter covering health care and politics at npr station kut in austin. >> ashley, thanks for being with us. what are you hearing from the anti-abortion activists in texas? they have succeed in essentially stopping abortion in their state. what are they saying? >> reporter: well,

they're obviously celebrating. this is a big deal for them, a big victory. they were hoping -- the long-term plan was to get a law into effect. so many times when a state puts an artion ban into place, it is blocked by the courts. in this case they were pretty much able to avoid and evade one of the court blocks. so f them, this is a pretty monumental achievement. our lieutenant-governor, dan patrick, sent out a statement that this could be a framework for other states to copy if they want to have a restrictive abortion ban in place and in full effect. >> and, of course, the reason why they were able to avoid the court blocking the law, it put the case in the hands of private citizens. it officially bans officials from getting involved. how are they preparing to play that role of the en enforcers, the

anti-abortion activists? >> i'm seeing texas right to life, they already have the manpower, even before this law went inteffect. they didn't have to staff up. they put up a website weeks ago, kind of like a tip line for people to send in tips when they think someone violated the ban. they think they have a vast network in the state, as well as volunteers and professionals, people and lawyers, people ready to jump in and take on these cases. they say they're ready if they hear that someone has broken the law, that they're ready to step in and they have the resources to do it, and have had the resources to do it. because, you know, for a long time, anti-abortion activists in the state have kind of viewed themselves as an entity to hold abortion clinics accountable in the state. so they see this as just an extension of their work, just codified in law. >> i know that today you went around to some abortion providers. what did you see? what did you hear? >> reporter: i mean,

there is a lot of frustration and sadness among people who work in abortion clinics. you know, they see it -- their job is to help people in need of an abortion. this is what they do. so they feel like they can't help the people they want to help. and already, i visited one clinic and as of that morning, i was there around 11:00 a.m., they had seen 11 people and were only able tochedule three people for an actual procedure. so the other eight had to be turned away. they tell me those conversations are tough. a lot of people don't really pay attention to the news as closely as probably you and i do, and so they probably woke up wednesday morning not knowing they had fewer abortion rights than they did the day before. so coming into a clinic was probably a big surprise for them in finding out they were out of time. and an abortion provider told me he was stunned at how few people knew this was coming down the pike. so, you know, it is a lot

of frustration and sadness. and, you know, even despite all of this, i have heard staff members say they plan to wait this all out as long as they can. they are committed to this work. so there is a bit of resolve there, too. >> are there efforts to get people -- to get women who are seeking abortions, to get them out of state, to get procedures done elsewhere? >> reporter: yeah, that is something that has been widely reported. which is that there are abortion clinics in new mexico, for example, ready and willing to take these patients. i think what is important to remember is that that also could be a very small amount of women, small number of women, who are able to drive out of state to get those services. texas is bordered by largely conservative states with the exception of new mexico. louisiana is not place where it isasy to get an abortion. depending where you drive, it could be nine hours for some people. texas is a big state. depending where you live,

it could be almost an insurmountable barrier. that could be one of the options women can find themselves in. >> ashley lopez from n.p.r. station k.u.t. in texas. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: even before the u.s. finally left afghanistan, many of the 38 million people who live there were in dire need. sanitation, clean water, food: all in short or quickly disappearing supply. now, with the talin in charge, the job of aid groups is that much harder. add to that tens of thousands who have fled the country in the last few weeks: who will house and care for them? i spoke earlier today with the leaders of two vital united nations agencies. filipo grandi is the u.n. high commissioner for human rights. and henrietta fore iexecutive director of unicef, the u.n.'s children's agency

thank you both so much for joining us today. mr. grandi, you've said that the crisis may be over at the kabul airport and you're thankful for everybody who was able to get out. but yosaid the humanitarian crisis is just beginning for those afghans who are left in the country. what did you mean by that? >> i mean, that 39 million afghans are left in afghanistan and we estimate that at least half of them are in need of humanitarian assistance, more than four million are displaced by recent and less recent conflict and the already started collapse of services and the economy is exposing many more to terrible hdship. so that's the humanitarian crisis that is beginning just now. >> woodruff: and henrietta fore, your focus that unicef is on children, it's on women specifically.

at do you see that they have lying ahead for them in afghanistan? >> well, judy, there's an enormous amount of concern, a worry anxiety, because they really don't know what lies ahead. but women are coming back to work and they are determined to continue to help their country. so with the indira gandhi children's hospital, for instance, the women, doctors and nurses and health care workers are back at work to look after the children and the young mothers who are giving birth and needing hospital care. so it's a time of anxiety for girls and women. >> woodruff: i was reading, mr. grandi, you were describing three different levels of concern that you have for people who want to leave the country, people who are displaced internally and those who were staying. what is the difference in the in the and what they face trying to survive at this time?

>> i think everybody inside afghanistan faces today very steep humanitarian challenges. of course, those displaced are also away from their homes. they have shelter protection needs that are specific. so we need to pay attention. i think the inside afghanistan focus is very important. now, the u.n. will issue in a few days a funding appeal, and they really hope that it will be strongly supported by donors. then, of course, there are people that may try to leave the country. they won't have planes anymore waiting for them or taking them out from kabul airport. so they'll try to go to borders and they hope that neighboring countries will keep borders open. but in that case, it will be so important to support those neighboring countries and to give them financial and other assistance in order for them to host in a dignified way, refugees. >> woodruff: and henrietta fore, is it your understanding that people who want to leave, that

they are still able to leave? we hear such mixed stories, some are able to get out. some are not. what is your understanding? >> it is uneven, and for many it has been a real trial in the last few days and weeks. but there are many children who have made it out and many families that have made it out at a number of unaccompanied minors who were at the kabul airport. and we managed to get all of them out. 167 of them. but there were 17 that stayed behind and we've reunited them with their families in kabul. >> woodruff: and it, mr. grandi, that we're hearing the taliban say they want to work with humanitarian agencies. are they doing that? i mean, what are you how difficult is it for your agency, for u.n.h.c.r. to do the work that it wants to do? >> you know, the united naons in recent years is using a slogan to describe its

humanitarian work, we say we stay and we deliver. but in order to stay and deliver, we need to engage with the taliban because they are in control of the of the country, in control of security, which is so important for us in control of access to the affected population. so we need to engage the messages. we've heard that it's still a very fluid situation at the moment, a relatively benign, a relatively positive. we will have to judge, of course, the taliban, all of us, on their action more than on their words. and we hope that the promises that we get now that women will be able to continue to work, that girls will continue to go to school, that those promises will be maintained. it's very, very important for everybody. >> woodruff: and henrietta, for what are you hearing at unicef about that? is the taliban letting women go about their work? to what degree are they sticking with some of the promises that they've made?

>> so it's very uneven, judy, and it's an area of great concern, but our people are working hard on the ground. so unicef has been in these districts for 65 years and each district and each village in each area has their own leadership. and we are we are working with them to try to encourage that all girls and boys go to school right now. some of the schools are open, judy, and in some of the areas, girls and boys are heading to primary school. we are very much talking about secondary school and the ability for girls to return to secondary school. we're concerned about it. we're talking to everyone locally as well as nationally. but without teachers, the schools really cannot operate. so your earlier point about women going back to work are important in the schools. they're important in the hospitals. men are a real backbone of the

services for communities within afghanistan. >> woodruff: and back to you, mr. grandi. it's not just the taliban, of course. it's these terrorist groups, isis, al qaeda and so many others, we are told, are still active across the country. how safe do your people feel and the people you're trying to help, how safe dthey feel right now? >> you know, afghanistan has been in recent years a pretty unsafe place to work in, and there were attacks including by the taliban and by others. and so our people, unfortunately, are accustomed to living in precarious situation. the great uncertainty now is that the only entity to go to for protection in terms of security is the taliban, is this very fragmented leadership that henrietta has spoken about. but we must engage, you know, in

>> woodruff: and ms. fore, just picking up on that. what about your staff? do they are most of them staying there or are they continuing to do the work? do they feel they can continue? >> it is the most important part for us, both for our staff and the n.g.o. partners who work with us. 85% of our staff has stayed on the ground. they very much want to stay, judy. they believe in this. they know the history of being there for 65 years and they don't want to leave their programs or the people they've been working with behind. so it is both international as well as national staff that have stayed in and that want to they're very committed. >> woodruff: and just as we as we think about this larger refugee picture, mr. grandi, the world has been hearing about refugees for years. some would say there's a weariness. but not only that, here in the united states, we have politicians, some prominent republicans, former president trump saying the u.s. shouldn't

be taking in refugees, that there's a danger there. >> i don't know about politicians, i am that's their opinion, but. i think the whole world has watched scenes of people trying to get on those planes at the kabul airport in recent days. and those were people that were afraid and out of fear were so desperate, we're ready for anything, mothers were ready to give the children to be put in safety. now, i think that when we think of refugees, we have to think of that situation, of that frame of mind. >> woodruff: and finally, henrietta fore, if people are thinking or watching this, reading this and they want to help, what's the best way they can help? how do you how do you encourage people to want to give when the needs, as you know very well, are so enormous in so many parts of the world?

>> there are times judy when a certain country of certain people really need our help and our attention, and this is that time for afghanistan. so if you do want to help giving to a nonprofit organization or u.n. agency that is working in afghanistan now, that will make a difference. if there is funding, it means that many of these programs can exist. we have 10 million children who are in desperate need of help. we have more than one million that are subject to severe malnourishment and could die this year in 2021 and more than half of the children under the age of five have a malnourished situation. there's a real socioeconomic collapse of afghanistan. so the people that are there, the value of their money is not going to buy much. so they're in much greater need

than many of us in the developed world realize. and it is a time for afghanistan. >> woodruff: well, i'm sure a lot of people are listening to this hope. they are listening and hearing, hearing the need that the two of you are describing so eloquently, henrietta fore, the executive director of unicef and mr. grandi, filippo grandi, the u.n. high commissioner for refugees. thank you very much. >> woodruff: the college football season gets into full swing this weekend. players are returning tohe field for what they hope will be a more normal year, after a covid-plagued 2020 season. but there's another difference for student athletes this year. as john yang reports, it has to do with their financial opportunities off the field.

>> yang: on the football field, d'eriq king has a high profile and a big name. >> it's a big responsibility being e starting quarterback at the university of miami, right? so just me trying to do everything right. >> yang: but until this year, king, a potential heisman trophy candidate, couldn't earn a penny from his fame. >> we couldn't make money off anything. i couldn't go to a local restaurant and get a free meal, but you know a regular student, which is a student at a university, they can go you know make a tiktok and get famous off of it and make a lot of money. we couldn't do that. >> yang: that all changed this summer, when the n.c.a.a., under pressure from new laws and court rulings, rewrote i policies to allow college athletes to sign paid endorsement deals. now, king is a leader in the new field of college athletes profiting from their names, images and likenesses, what's called “n-i-l.” >> i think it was a long time coming. honestly, when i first got in college, i never thought i would see this day. i know people talked about it a lot and this and that, but i never thought i'd actually come to come true. >> yang: the day the new rule

went into effect, king signed a $20,000 deal with a moving company and a car dealership. he's partnered with a sports memorabilia company, and became the first college athlete to sign a sponsorship deal with a pro sports team, the n.h.l.'s florida panthers. he'll appear at games and have a concession stand meal named for him. king also co-founded“ dreamfield,” to help athletes connect with nil opportunities and navigate this new landscape. >> college football is-- college athletics in general, it's a billion dollar industry. it's so much money going through it. and i know people want to say, like, you guys get free education and you get full ride scholarship. ad we understand that we don't take you know, we don't take but for us to make money, i think just makes sense. it's no other industry in the world where you don't make money for what you do. >> yang: being an athlete in a major sport at a major university is more than just a few months of competition. it's a full-time, year-round job: training, conditioning, practicing. all on top of being a full time college student. the pressure on the n.c.a.a. has

been building for years. in 2014, a federal judge ruled that n.c.a.a. policies against“ name, image and likeness” violated antitrust laws. in 2019, california enacted the first legislation giving athletes “nil” rights. n.c.a.a. president mark emmert called it an “existential threat” to the collegiate model. but more than 20 states followed california's lead, forcing the n.c.a.a.'s hand. the rule change took effect july 1st. >> this year, money spent on nil deals could be above a billion dollars. >> yang: dan matheson directs the university of iowa's sports and recreation management program. he's a former n.c.a.a. associate director of enforcement. >> so many of these student athletes are not going to go on to lucrative professional playing careers.

they're at the height of their fame right now. their market value right now, while they are student athletes, is high and capitalizing on their nil rights gives them a chance to pay for current expenses, but also potentially build themselves a nest egg for when they get out of school and are starting out as young professionals. >> yang: and more than just big- name football and basketball players are poised to benefit. >> any student athlete who is able to develop a following, a brand on social media has the potential to generate revenue for themselves. >> lexi sun with the spike! >> yang: university of nebraska volleyball player lexi sun's more than 75,000 instagram followers put her in a good position to take advantage of“ nil.” she partnered with a volleyball apparel company to launch a clothing brand her “sunny crew” sweatshirt sold out in days. sun, who also signed a deal with a nebraska-based jewelry company, is in a master's program for advertising.

she says “nil” is about more than just money. >> i'm just able to have these hands on and real life experiences and conversations with companies about negotiating deals and just having these business opportunities and getting this experience, because as athletes, we're super busy and don't always get the opportunity to have job before we end our sport. and so i thi just being able to get this experience is going to be something that i'm going to take away from it and continue to learn from. >> yang: the limits of the new rules are already being tested. a utah-based protein bar maker offered deals to all 123 brigham young university football players. for those not on scholarship, the payment would be the equivalent of a year's tuition. the n.c.a.a. says it's up to congress to sort it alout. >> however well-intentioned the

this is why we are urging congress to pass legislation creating a single national nil standard. importantly, the proposal includes guardrails that would ensure that nil payments are not a proxy for y for play, that a national recruiting environment for college sports is maintained, and that students are not employees of the universities or their colleges. >> the n.c.a.a. is at a crossroads right now. >> yang: dan matheson of the university of iowa points to other challenges ahead for college sports. >> there are questions about what is the n.c.a.a. needed for? and how does it need to look different for the next generation? the amateurism issues that are the center of discussion now have opened up a much broader evaluation of exactly what shape is the n.c.a.a. going to take going forward. >> yang: lexi sun and d'eriq king say they're used to balancing busy schedules, so the new opportunities of n-i-l won't distract them from either the

classroom or competition. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang in miami. >> woodruff: finally tonight, get your motor running. 70 years of automotive design and innovation are on display in the city that made them: detroit. jeffrey brown reports for our arts and culture series, canvas. >> brown: from wispy swirls of pencil, a hint of what might one day hit the road, to more detailed, vibrant drawings-- this is the "art of the car," and the people behind them. for detroit institute of arts curator ben colman, it offered a unique challenge. >> the biggest artworks i've ever worked with and moving them around the museum was no small task. >> brown: all right. now, you just called them artworks. >> there's quite a bit of artistry in car design. >> brown: these are not the family minivan.

the exhibition, “detroit style: car design in the motor city, 1950 to 2020” features 12 american designed autos, some that became icons of an era and sold in the many millions. others, so-called ¡concept cars', one-off ideas with plenty of ¡wow' factor, like this 1958 firebird iii from general motors. i mean, this one, of course, certainly looks like a jet or a rocket. >> so the prompt to the design studio for this car was to design the car an astronaut would drive to the launch pad before flying to the moon, and you absolutely get that sensibility from this, it looks like if you really gave it some gas, it would just take off. >> brown: that was really the idea that would drive it to his rocket. >> there isn't a steering wheel and there's no brake pedal. there's no gas pedal. this is a car that you navigated entirely with a joystick. so it truly was what they called at the time, a laboratory on wheels. they were testing out really radical ideas to see what

sticks, what was possible, what was feasible. >> this then is firebird iii, as expressed by the men who designed this car of tomorrow. >> brown: the design and testing of these cars was and still is a careful and coordinated dance. >> these three legs of the stool, the engineer, the sculptor and the designer. >> brown: designer ed welburn's passion began early, as a small child. >> one day there was no paper around and i went to my mother's bookshelves. i went through all her books with purple crayon and dw cars on every one. >> brown: welburn studied art in college before entering the auto industry and rising through the ranks at general motors to become head of global design, the highest ranking african- american in the history of the auto industry. >> the digners are doing sketches, sculptors are actually

shaping the car in clay, the actual size of the car is a large piece of sculpture, and there are other digital sculptors who are developing the design in the computer. i mean, they are shaping they're developing this piece of sculpture that meetsll the engineering criteria and. that's where i mean, it's a challenge, but it's so much fun. i st absolutely love it. >> brown: welburn served on an advisory board for the d-i-a exhibition, pulled together by curator colman. >> this is a mix of working and retired car designers and design educators and historians. knowing that we're here in detroit, we're at the epicenter for all things automotive. and there's such incredible knowledge and in every corner of >> okay, this waunusual because back then. >> brown: that local knowledge was on display around every corner in the exhibition when we visited.

many fondly remembered the barracuda. >> why marvin? why? why couldn't you get a big car like youbrother the doctor? or even a funny little car like your sister the soldier? no, you had to get a bananacuda? >> a barracuda, mom. barracuda. >> this is a very quick, informal sketch made by a chrysler designer named milton antonik as the the final form for what becomes the 1970 plymouth barracuda. this is 1967, the designers are sketching in the studio, you can see when you then come over to look at that part of the car you can see the geometry, that angle the crease on the rear end, are so closely related to that really informal sketch on paper. then we see it as sheet metal on the road. >> brown: a very famous piece of sheet metal with ¡cuda. the ¡cuda sits alongside its major competitor of the day, the 1968 ford mustang g-t, a

juxtapositioby design. another juxtaposition: examples of a more literal ¡art' of the car and car culture: jean-michel basquiat's paintin“" rusting red car”...“ the unfair advantage” about motor racing by kristin baker. and ed ruscha's “standard station, amarillo, texas”... next to 1959 corvette stingray racer. it might have pulled up to this station. >> that's the idea. yeah, that the energy, the attitude of freedom on the open road that this design conjures, it's just the kind of exrience that ruscha took as this point of inspiration for this painting that grew out of a road trip across the american west. >> brown: the exhibition flicks at some of the impact, good and bad, cars have had on american life. but the focus here remains on the artistry. >> to see automobiles displayed the same way that other art treasures are displayed really felt good.

>> brown: so auto's as works of art in this case? >> well, i think they are. i think they are the they're t rolling sculptures. they are rolling pieces of artwork that people connect with on a very emotional level. >> brown: these ¡rolling sculptures' are on display through january 2022. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown at the detroit institute of arts. >> woodruff: for some paralympians, the journey to this year's games was more taxing than most. in addition to rigorous training, the athletes have also had to navigate the global pandemic and other barriers to the support they need. read more on our website, 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.

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hello, everyone, and welcome to "amanpour and company." here's what's coming up. >> this decision about afghanistan is not just about afghanistan. it's about ending an era of major military operations to remake other countries. >> the clearest sign yet that america may not be back but pulling back. former u.s. military adviser and afghanistan expert sarah shay discusses what's at stake. and the view from pakistan, the taliban's strongest ally with former ambassador in islamabad. then, the w.h.o. identifies a new covid variant of interest as