judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight, taliban takeover. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken faces congressional scrutiny over the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan as the militant group exerts its control. judy: then, kids and covid. a sharp rise in hospitalizations promptthe american academy of pediatrics to advocate for emergency authorization of vaccinations for children. and later -- 20 years later, 9/11 first responders still suffering from exposure to toxins often struggle to receive adequate healtcare. >> all of us just knew that we weren't safe but, you know, we did our job.

judy: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding has been provided by. >> before we talk about your investments, what is new? >> audrey is expecting. >> twins. >> grandparents. >> we want to put money aside for them. >> let's see what we can adjust. ♪ >> mom, are you painting again? >> let me guess, change in plans? >> at fidelity, a change in plans is always part of the plan. >> consumer cellular, johnson & johnson, bnsf railway, financial

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this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> i'm vanessa ruiz in for stephanie sy, we'll return to the full program after the latest headlines. the nation's largest public school district has opened for in-person classes. about one million students in new york city returned to school today. there's no option for remote learning, and nearly all staff must be vaccinated or tested weekly. mayor bill de blasio greeted students and parents in the bronx this morning, and he insisted ty'll be safe. >> kids coming to school today all across this city are going to experience a gold standard of health and safety measures, and as everyone knows, the coming days, every single adult in our schools is going to be vaccinated.

>> meanwhile, florida governor ron desantis threatened to fine local governments that force employees to get vaccinated. plus, a federal judge in iowa blocked a state law that bars schools from mandating masks for students and staff. and, in washington, hospital officials say they are facing the worst wave since the pandemic began, without the hospital capacity to help nearby idaho, where cases have surged. secretary of statentony blinken today defended the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. at a congressional hearing, he called it, quote, an extraordinary effort. at the same time, u.n. human rights officials cited credible reports of the taliban hunting down and killing former afghan security forces. we'll look at all othis, after the news summary. tropical storm nicholas is headed for landfall in texas tonight, with up to 16 inches of rain. it could become a minimal hurricane, and then, move slowly across texas and southwestern louisiana through midweek. that's likely to trigger flash flooding in a region west of

where hurricane ida struck two weeks ago. president biden got a first-hand look today at the afrmath of western wildfires. he traveled to idaho and northern california. and, he said the fires show the nation needs his plan for spending three point $5 trillion on social and environmental needs. >> we can build back better than it was before, and it literally provides for billions of dollars for wildfire preparedness, resilience, and response force management, and public water sources. >> we will speak with senator bernie sanders, who is pushing president biden's spending bill later in the program. the biden administration today announced resources to help reunify families who were separated at the border during the trump administration's zero-tolerance policy. a federal reunification task force will help identify parents

who were expelled and help them return to the united states to reunite with their children. u.s. capitol police announced they will put temporary fencing back up, ahead of a saturday rally. it's being organized to support trump backers who stormed the capitol on january 6. more than 600 people are facing charges. and george ween, founder of the newport jazz festival, died today at his home in new york. he launched the newport festival in 1954 and led it for more than 50 years. he later started the new orleans jazz festival and his success sparked numous other events including woodstock. george ween was 95 years old. still to come on the newshour, senator bernie sanders on the challenges facing the spending bill. why the american academy of pediatrics is calling for children to get the vaccine.

how the boston mayor's race reflects the city's changing demographics, and much more . >> this is the pbs from wbt a studios and the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: it is now four weeks since the taliban takeover of afghanistan. and, as the militant group cementsontrol, restricting the rights of women and minorities, the lives of so many millions more afghans lie in the balance: the very real specter of famine looms, and global efforts to deliver emergency aid accelerated today. foreign affairs correspondent nick schifrin reports. nick: today in a kabul market where the taliban flag flies, for fighters are traffic cops,

furniture is on sale so families can avoid starvation. >> i brought household items for sale because there are no jobs. how will we eat? we sold these today. what will we sell tomorrow? nick: afghanistan's economic crisis continues to push afghans to flee. thousands tried to cross the friendship gate along the southern border with pakistan. afghans say pakistan hasn't been very friendly, but today, allowed more refugees entry. for afghan health care, the crisis is acute. most hospitals are propped up by international organizations that have now frozen $600 million. 31 of afghanistan's 34 provinces are at risk of losing health services entirely. and afghan officials fear a 4th covid wave. only 1% of people have been fully vaccinated. today i spoke wi dr. wahid majrooh, afghanistan's minister of public health during the previous government, who stayed on after the taliban took over. >> approximately 150 mothers will be deprived of caesarean

sections every day. patients are admitted in the hospitals, unfortunately, are not provided with food, at least. with oxygen. if health service delivery in contribution to the sector is politicized, we will witness the the human price, we will witness collapse. nick: today at a u.n. conference, donors pledged more than $1 billion in urgent humanitarian assistance. thousands of afghan health care personnel have worked without pa majrooh urges the international community to fund the health ministry through, or outside the taliban government. >> it does nomatter for me what the political agenda is. what matters for me is how we can reach the children in need, the mothers in need. why did you stay on? despite the fact the taliban is in charge. >> it was a challengi decision

to make. i had to weigh my safety and safety of my family and safety of 35 million people who are in need of emergency care. i am very happy i could stay to ensure the health ministry remains operational, health facilities remain functional. my ultimate goal is ensuring service delivery to our patients. nick: but so many afghans need so much help. the u.n. warned today millions could run out of food and a million children are at risk of starvation and death. as for dr. majrooh, judy, he will soon give way to a taliban appointed minister, who will be responsible for a health ministry that still relies on foreign aid to exist. welcome back from parental leave. you are a dad. let's shift over to congress. the first testimony by a biden administration official since

the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. how did secretary of state tony blinken defend administration policies? nick: one of the main criticisms is the withdrawal itself because of what happened with the taliban takeover. the administration has argued its hands were tied. but republican steve chabot of ohio pointed out what many have pointed out. the biden administration rejected other trump policies. >> this was the one trump policy that he had to follow. do you understand why this is pretty hard to fathom for a lot of people? >> the agreement reached by the previous administration required all u.s. forces to be out by may 1. in return, the taliban stopped attacking our forces, our partners, and it did not commence an onslaught of the afghanistan cities. had the president not followed through on the commitments that his predecessor made, those attacks would have resumed, we would have re-upped the war in afghanistan after 20 years, for

another 5, 10, or 20 years. we would have had to send more forces back in. nick: that answer, though, does not acknowledge the military was willing to remain in afghanistan with a smaller number of troops. and the administration could have argued the taliban was not pledging their part of the agreement, so the u.s. could have decided not to follow through. elsewhere, judy, it got much mo heated. republicans accused blinken of passing the buck to the trump administration and demanded he resign. he refused. judy: was there also criticism of the execution of the pullout, leaving afghans behind. nick: it is afghans who are eligible for visas and refugee status, it is also americans. about 100 americans who were in afghanistan who want to leave are still there as well as thousands of green card lders. this was the criticism from ranking member of the house foreign affairs committee, republican mike mccall.

>> we abandoned americans behind enemy lines. we left behind the interpreters who you, mr. secretary, and the president, both promised to protect. i can summarize this in one word. betrayal. >> our standing on the world stage has been greatly diminished. our enemies no longer fear us. and our allies no longer trust us. nick: secretary blinken vowed to continue to evacuate the americans from afghanistan, once again blamed the trump administration for, quote, stalling the visa program. lawmakers from both parties have accused the of not evacuating early enough. judy: a lot of talk about tha what is known about what the biden administration plans diplomatically in terms of dealing with this government and also the humanitarianrisis we

have been reporting on? nick: the u.s. needs to work with the taliban to get tse americans and afghan allies out and to confront the humanitarian crisis. but without plop -- proppingp the taliban government. the administration is considering its future relationship with the taliban. blanket laid out u.s. demands. -- blinken laid out u.s. demands. >> we expect the taliban to make good on its commitments on counterterrorism, to uphold the basic rights of the afghan people, including women, girls , and minorities. to name a broadly representative permanent government. the interim government falls short of the mark that was set by the international community for inclusivity. nick: that last line is a bit of an understatement. it has as its interior minister, rajuddin haqqani, who is singularly responsible for the worst tacks on u.s. forces

over the last 20 years. by the taliban need money to prevent state collapse and to prevent humanitarian crises. that gives the u.s. leverage. that money needs to be delivered quickly. there are millions of afghans who have nothing to do with these politics, who are -- who could suffer dramatically. their lives are at stake right now. the world needs to figure out how to get humanitarian aid into afghanistan. judy: thank you and again welcome back. as we reported earlier, democrats on the house ways and means committee released a proposal today that would help pay for mo of president biden's $3.5 trillion dollar spending bill. in addition to raising the corporate tax rate on businesses making $5 million dollars in

income to 26.5%, the plan also includes a 3% surtax on wealthy americans making over $5 million a year and a top tax rate of 39.6% percent on couples earning more than $450,000. for more on all of this, i'm joined by the chairman of the budget committee, senator bernie sanders. he is leading the effort behind the massive bill. senator sanders, welcome back to the newshour. it is very good to see you. let me ask you what we are seeing from the house tax rating committee, the ways and means committee. it is a lot of money, but it is well short of what president biden was looking for. what is your take? >> we will do better in the senate. the bottom line is every american knows in our country today, the people on top, the

1%, large corporations, are doing extremely well. what we are seeing is at any given year, you have multibillionaire's who are not paying a nickel in federal income taxes. i think what the american people are quite clear on, i am quite clear on, now is the time demand the wealthiest people and the biggest corporations pay their fair share of taxes. my hope is we will pay completely for this $3.5 trillion. judy: one thing they are proposing is to raise the top corporate tax rate from 20% to 26.5%, raising the capital gains tax rate as high as 31.3% for thvery wealthy. that is less than the top rate for earned income. is that acceptable to you? sen. sanders: we will see what the senate finance committee does, but my general view is

that at a time of massive and growing income and wealth inequality, when two people own more wealthhan the bottom 40%, when the top 1% has more wealth than the bottom 92%, now is the time to ask the wealthy and large corporations to pay their fair share so we can begin to redress the long-neglected needs of working families, in terms of children, health care, the elderly, and by the way, in terms of addressing the existential threat of climate change. judy: lete just ask you about one other element of this bill, that t house committee looked at. this is something senator joe manchin, who has problems with the overall spending bill, he said he accepts this, and that is extending the child tax credit, which has taken families out of poverty. he said it should be limited to poor and middle income americans, not families earning as much as $400,000 a year.

how do you see that? sen. sanders: what i believe is that in the richest country in the history of the world, we have the highest rate of childhood poverty of almost any major country on earth. what we should all be very proud of is that in terms of the american rescue plan, what we did, and this is -- this tells you what good policy can do. through the direct payments that went to working-clas families, the $300 per month payment for working parents, we have reduced childhood poverty by over 50%. that is pretty good and we have got to make sure that this approach, this direct payment to working parents, continues. because if we do not pass a reconciliation bill that ends in december, that would be an absolute shame. judy: for the overall spending bill, $3.5 trillion.

i know you, president biden, and many others say it is absolutely necessary. have several members of your own party who are saying it is just too much. among them, senator joe manchin of west virgia. it does not look right now is if you have the votes to get that $3.5 trillion passed. are you prepared to compromise? sen. sanders: i have compromised. i brought forth of the budget for $6 trillion. we need every penny of that if we are going to deal with the extraordinary crisis fang this planet in terms of climate change and have the united states lead the world in transforming our energy system. i compromised. and by the way, that $6 trillion budget, i would say, had the support of at least 80% of the democratic caucus in the senate. it was what people wanted. i compromised, we took it down to 3.5 trillion dollars.

but what you are looking at right now is a budget and a set of proposals, whether it is expanding childcare, expanding medicare to cover dental, hearing aids, and eyeglasses, making sure pre-k in america is free and universal, ending the absurdity that we are the only major country on earth not to guarantee paid family and medical leave, building the housing, and by the way, when you do these things, creating many millions of good paying jobs, this is a popular idea. it is supported widely. working-class americans whether you are democrat, republican, or independent, that is the approach that has got to be finalize judy: senator, my point is, you not only have blanket republican opposition, they are calling it a socialist wishlist, mcconnell is, but you have democrats as i just mentioned, senator manchin and others who are worried this is too much. they talk about inflation, how

much money has gone out the door during this covid pandemic. sen. sanders: look. we had a similar problem in terms of passing the american rescue plan, which as you will recall, ended up being passed at 4:00 in the morning with the vice president casting the deciding vote. judy: you think senator manchin will come around? sen. sanders: at the end of the day -- by the way, everybody has a problem with this bill. i have problems with this bill. we are working 24/7 trying to resolve everybody's problem. if you are asking me, at the end of the day, do i think of the democratic caucus will turn its back on the needs of working families, turn its back on the unbelievable crisis we face in terms of climate change, i do not believe that. we will come together and we will pass -- by the way, not only this $3.5 trillion. the reconciliation bill is tied together with a $550 billion physical infrastructure bill.

i hope very much we can pass both. judy: very quickly, different subject. newest member of the supreme court, justice amy coney barrett, in a speech yesterday in kentucky, said contrary to what some believe, the court is not driven by partisanship. she said we are not a bunch of partisan hacks. we are driven by judicial philosophies. sen. sanders: i don't consider them to be partisan political hacks. i think there is no question but that donald trump and other republican presidents have appointed people they felt would very conservative line with regard to corporate needs, with regard to being anti-choice in terms of women's rights. that is what republican presidents including trump

appointed barrett have done and that is the simple reality. judy: you're saying they are not driven by judicial philosophies. sen. sanders: i'm sure they believe that they are, but it is not an accident that donald trump happened to appoint them and not somebody else. judy: senator bernie sanders, chairman of the senate budget committee. we thank you very much. sen. sanders: thank you. ♪ judy: the biden administration rolled out new mandates last week to expand vaccination for more than 100 million more americans. but questions remain about when one major population ineligible for the shot, kids under the age of 12, will be able to get it. william brangham looks at those concerns. william: judy, there are forty

-- 48 million kids in america under the age of 12, but the timeline for a vaccine for those kids kps changing. this summer, the fda went back to manufacturers asking for expanded trials and more data. it's not clear when emergency authorization will actually happen, but with the delta variant raging almost five times as many children are now being hospitaliz for covid-19. the american academy of pediatrics has called on the fda to pick up the pace. we talk now to dr. lee beers - she is president of the academy and also a pediatrician. great to have you this hour. you wrote this letter on behalf of the academy to the fda saying we've got to move quicker, make the case. why do you think they need to speed up the process? >> for any vaccine, medication, any kind of medical intervention, one of the things we always think about is the risk benefit. and we need to make sure that the the benefit of the vaccine or the medication or the therapeutic outweighs the the -- the risk of that outweighs

the risk of the illness. and what we've been seeing with covid, you know, we kn that thankfully covid tends to be very mild in children, but some children can still get very sick. that low risk is not zero risk. and what we've seen with delta is that delta is so much more contagious. we're seeing many, many more children get sick. i often say a small percentage of a large number of children is a really large number of children. right now we're seeing children get very sick. see is andhe numbers. we also see it in pediatricians offices. we're hearing from pediatrician offices and hospitals all across the country that they're that they are overwhelmed. we've always thought the vaccine is a really important tool, but it is gettingarticularly acute william: in the letter that you all wrote to the fda, you said that if after two months of data, it looks like it's a viable vaccine for kids, let's approve it versus the six months

they seem to want. can you explain the difference there? [00:03:20][13.5] -- can you slay the difference there? >> this is something we all got familiar with in the final approval of the vaccine for adults. emergency use authorization was given after two months and final approval after six months. what we know from vaccine science and vaccine development, for a vaccine that is not a live virus this one is not, we never see a side effect after the first six to eight weeks. we feel quite comfortable that a two-month monitoring period is adequate for making this decision about whether the vaccine is safe and effective. we know the delta variant is quite contagious, so we are seeing a lot of kids get sick. we feel the two-month period is adequate. william: we have seen some very rare complications with young younger adults, younger males in particular, this this myocarditis, the inflammation of muscles of the heart.

do you worry that even if after two months, the fda does not see anything really problematic, there might be cases in children, and six children, because of a vacci in the hospital becomes wildfire in this media ecosysteme live in, and that that could do greater damage than the -- to the vaccine effortore broadly. is that is that a fear that you have? [00:04:51][35.7] -- i fear you have? >> we want to be cautious. that is why we have structured and deliberate systems. i like to remind people the fact we are having this discussion about a side effect that is quite rare tells us our vaccine monitoring systems are working the way they should. we take every side effect seriously. what we have seen with the cases of myocarditis after the vaccine is that almost exclusively, they are very mild and they do resolve on their own. we also know getting infected

with covid can cause myocarditis as well. what we are seeing in those cases is the risk of myocarditis with covid is greater than the risk we are seeing with the vaccine, and also the risk of myocarditi -- or the myocarditis that happens in kids after a covid infection can be much more severe. >> we have seen anecdotal reports of parents getting off label vaccinations for their children for covid-19. i guess through clinics or doctors that are willing to do that. you have been counseling against that. >> that is absolutely correct. our processes are in place for a reason. we want to make sure we can be confident in vaccine safety. it is important to follow those processes. the other pieces we know from the clinical trials, the dosage in younger children of the vaccine is likely to be smaller. we really don't want children getting off-label vaccines. we want to make sure the

vaccine, when they get it, it is an authorized, safe, and effective vaccine. william: dr. lee beers, president of the american academy of pediatrics, thank you so much for being here. >> thank you so much for having me. judy: voters in boston are getting ready for a major shakeup in their city's politics. tomorrow's election in the race for mayor narrows the field to two finalists. one thing won't change, all the contenders in this non-partisan election are left of center. but as jeffrey brown repts, the face of leadership looks different this year. it's part of our race matters series. >> now. change is in the air in boston, where the top candidates this year are all women of color who serve on the city council.

active mayor kim janie and andrea campbell, michelle wu, taiwanese american, annissa essaibi george, daughter of tunisian and polish parents. to many, like cheryl clyburn crawford, it's a watershed moment. she grew up here and now heads massvote, aimed at increasing voter participation in communities of color. >> one point we could not see ourselves -- a female, a black female mayor? this just was not in the cards. as the demographics change in the city, is becoming more mixed, diverse, people see themselves in that role and they say i can. that is open for me. >> this is a city of rich history, but part of that history includes deep racism. when i was growing up in this area, one of my childhood heroes was bill russell, one of the

great basketball players with the boston celtics. he would write in a memoir with bitterness of his experience as a black man here, calling boston a fleamarket of racism. one question posed now, how much has this city really changed? in the 1970's bussing era, overt violence. today, continued economic disparities. a study by the federal reserve bank of boston found the median net worth for non-immigrant black households in the metropolitan area was just $8, compared to $250,000 for whites. >> boston has quite a reputation as a racist city because of its past. >> it does. >> is it deserved? >> very much so. i grew up here. i went to school here. i left and i came ck after 25 years, and yes, in a different shape, a differen form, but it still exists. i think we are working on it. i feel hopeful.

>> these are the 411 kits with all of the information about the campaigns we are working on. >> crawford's group is non-partis and doesn't back specific candidates. but she says an election amid a pandemic gives all of them a need to respond. >> i think with covid last year, 2020, ripping the ba-aid off and exposing all the inequities that exist within our communities, that we have a real opportunity to make change. >> thriving church, the hub of this neighborhood. >> the old way in boston revolved around tight-knit neighborhood institutions, like the tholic church. larry dicara learned that as a politician himself in many roles, beginning in the 1970s as a city councilor and candidate for mayor. we met him outside blessed sacrament, shuttered since 2004, in the jamaica plain neighborhood. >> when i arrived in jamaica plain there were four catholic churches and four catholic schools.

today there are two catholic churches. >> today it is a more gentrified community, new businesses mixed with old. >> many of these buildings are occupied by young, single people who are not from here. >> they don't have those routes. >> they don't even know what church they are supposed to go to. very different. >> people also don't have the political roots. >> they don't, because they don't know she was in the state senate and her grandfather was before. they just don't know. >> dorchester's fields corner, immigrants, most from vietnam, have helped revitalize a neighborhood in decline. paul watson abe, a political scientist at the university of massachusetts boston, brought us to the community center. >> they found the rent is cheap

and they found an opportunity, they built a community here. this is a city that was on the decline. up until the most recent censuses, we saw the population going down, not increasing. we have seen the growth of this city under one explanation, and that is immigration. immigration has added to the vibrancy of the city. it helped bring it back. >> i might send you to st. george's this time. it is up on the hill. >> in west roxbury, rachel poliner, head of the local chapter of progressive massachusetts, is backing current front-runner michelle wu, who happens to be originally from chicago. but today, poliner thinks, bostonians vote more on issues like affordable housing and homelessness due to the opioid crisis rather than old ties. >> we have questionnaires that go out to candidates. we interview the candidates, we have forums. i think all those things contribute. the political conversation is

shifting over the next decade. >> for paul watanabe, there's a chance boston itself will move from national political laggard to leader. >> if you think about northern industrial cities, most of them have had a black mayor before. i will argue the leadership tt emerges from this election is going to be one that has i hope a national impact on this debate, not only for what happens in boston, but how we get a nation that is going to look like boston soon. a majority minority nation, one that again has leadership that reflects that new reality. >> tuesday's preliminary election will narrow the field to two, who then go head to head in november. as appears all but certain, the winner will reflect the face of change. for the pbs newshour, i'm jb in -- jeffrey brown in boston. judy: as the u.s. senate

negotiates a trillion dollar budget resolution in washington, democrats in california are in the final stretch of a recall election that risks their hold of the governor's mansion. here to talk about this busy week in politics, our politics monday team. amy walter of the cook political report. and tamara keith of npr. it is so good to see both of you this monday. thank you for being here. start with talking about what i was talking to bernie sanders about. that is this mega spending bill, $3.5 trillion. he says he is sticking to his guns. where does it stand? amy: not with senator sanders, but with senator manchin. when you only have 50 votes in the senate, your ability to get something passed on a partyline vote rests with the one who is the most at risk. the most at risk senator's joe manchin, who has set out loud, multiple times, we are not doing

3.5 trillion dollars. the bigger challenge is, everything we talked about has been the price tag. we have talked very little about the policy. for democrats talking about selling this in the next election, right now what they are talking about, it is all kinds of different things within it. we heard sator sanders talk about making the rich pay their fair share, income inequality. but what is it tangible? -- tangibly? republicans have the opportunity for these next few weeks and probably the drought the campaign -- throughout the campaign in 2022 to define it by that number. this is just more money going out of washington, whether it is socialism, whether it is why the deficit is so large, or why inflation is going up. judy:judy: you could argue the president has tried to talk about it, senator sanders has

tried to talk about it. the president is in california talking about, we are going to fix the environment. tamara: president biden has been pitching the build back better agenda. i think a lot of the conversation about it, as amy says, has gotten bogged down in the process. it is a reconciliation bill. the reality is if they are going to pass something and it has things that matter to people, they will have some thing to talk about it. if they don't pass anything, they won't. senator sanders also seemed to say democrats are not going to let nothing pass. at some point, something is going to have to give, but it seems like democrats are very motivated to have something, and they know the window of time to do this is not that wide because once you get into 2022, that is an election year. endangered members of congress, members of the house, are going

to start thinking about their future and it gets much harder. amy: it is too big to fail basically. judy: we will see what not nothing looks like. the other reason the president is in california is to do a visit to show his hand for governor gavin newsom, facing a recall vote. people have been voting, but what are you watching from this? what could the parties learn from this? >> it has been interesting. part of the reason newsom was imperiled at all was his handling of covid. specifically his decision to hang out with a bunch of wealthy lobbyists typeset a fancy restaurant in the bay area -- types at a fancy restaurant in the bay area. that anger turned into all the other troubles the rest of the country is having with the delta variant and more shutdowns, but over the last few weeks, new

cement democrats have been able to turn covid against republicans. larry elder has come out against mandates for vaccines and for masking, which in a state that has an 80% vaccination rate, that is not a popular position. you have everybody from this president to former president obama to other major democratic figures saying voting against gavin newsom is literally dangerous to your health. using -- nationalizing covid, but in a way that helps a sitting governor. judy: it is not for lack of challenges. there are something like 46 candidates. >> yes, but that is not nearly as many challengers as in 2003. sadly gary coleman is no longer with us to run again in this recall. there are a lot of challengers. one thing that is missing is -- that was there that i think hurt

gray davis that governor newsom has been able to avoid is, of the options on question t, the people that could be picked, there really is no major credible democrat. there is a youtuber that has generated buzz among younger voters. otherwise it is mostly republicans, which hasllowed newsom and democrats to nationalize this election, to say it is a republican power grab. there are other different dynamics, too. despite gavin newsom's troubles, he is above water. his popularity is above 50%. davis was below 30%. judy: we will seem. it it looks good. >> the polling and as you said, this is mostly male-in ballots. -- mail-in ballots.

democrats have turned out, and it is mh more polarized today than it was in 2003. a lot of democrats in 2003 voted for the recall and for arnold schwarzenegger because he was moderate in a way elder is not. judy: hard to get people in california to pay attention to elections. we are not just picking on california. the last thing, over the weekend, 9/11, some somber, solemn remembrances of that day. one that stood out to me was former president george w. bush. shanksville pennsylvania. here is an excerpt of what he had to say. >> there is little cultural overlap between violent extremists abroad and violent extremists at home. but their disdain for carol is him -- pluralism, there

determination to defile national symbols, they a children of the same foul spirit and it is our continuing duty to confront them. judy: children of the same foul spirit. he is talking about the january 6 insurrectionists. >> he is drawing a direct line. flight 93 was thought to be aimed at the nations capital and january 6 did attack the capitol building. a lot has happened in those 20 years. it has been an incredibly difficult 20 years for this country through the recession and war and the pandemic. but the words from the former president also indicate just how much things have changed. what he is saying what sort of a mainline idea at least an ideal probably not realized 20 years ago, but now it is almost controversial, at least in some parts of his own party.

>> but his position about domestic terrorism versus terrorism abroad is reflected among many americans. npr, pbs newshour poll, more americans said they were worried about extremism in the united states than from abroad. there was an a people in august, same thing -- ap poll in august, same thing. i'm more worried about what's going on here than being attacked by foreign extremists. this moment we had in 9/11 is a moment where we thought there was going to be unity and instead we have seen all these other big events lead us to more polarization. judy: thank you both. saturdayarked the 20th anniversary of the september

11th attacks. on that day and for weeks after, first responders at the world trade center worked to clear rubble and to search for remains. many were stricken with debilitating illness, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or copd. amna nawaz has more on the challenges first responders are still facing. but let's start by hearing from some of them in their own words, brought to us by the dorney-koppel foundation. >> it was very bad, like a sandstorm. you could not see three or four feet in front of you. >> it took weeks for the dust to get out of my workboots. >> my teeth felt like i had sand in my mouth. i was blowing my nose for weeks and blood was coming out. i kept going back and i was every night for three months. >> after the twin tower went

down, the air was not healthy enough for people living or working there. i was there every day. >> the air quality was not what it should have been. we all knew it. we went in anyway. >> the department of environmental protection came out saying the air is fine. it is healthy to breathe. don't worry about the air. >> they told us it was clean, it was ok. >> they said everything would be all right. everything was not all right. >> we all knew the site was contaminated, no matter what government agencies said. it was not. we all knew it, all the first responders knew it. all of us knew we were not safe, but -- you know, we did our job. >> it took a few years, i

started to notice i could not go as long, like walking or running, because i love sports. i noticed my breathing was slowing down. >> i was fooling myself. i would think there was nothing wrong, i would just take some time off work. two years later i started to realize it is not going away. it is not getting any better. >> the doctor told me i had copd, what is that? i did not know until he explained it to me. >> i used to wash my own car, keep my house nice and neat. i can't do any of that now. >> if it is under 20 degrees out , i can't go outside my house because it feels like i am inhaling broken glass. >> i can't play any sports that i want.

one day i'm hoping to have grandchildren. i want to be able to do that with them. but who knows? >> there's more information about those suffering from this disease at copdsos.org. copd is just one of many illnesses plaguing first responders since the attacks. among the initial first responders, and those who worked or lived in the area, more than 4,600 have died since that day. it's still not clear how many of those deaths were linked to exposure at the attack sites for weeks and months afterward. since 9/11, more than 80,000 responders have sought medical help. for a closer look, i'm joined by dr. steven markowitz. for eight yeares, he ran the world trade center health clinic

in queens, new york. from 2011 to 2020, he served on the scientific and technical advisory board of the world trade center health program. he's an epidemiologist who now works with the advocacy group - 9/11 health watch. welcome to the newshour. thank you for making the time. the world trade center health program is a federal program. give us a sense of the scale and scope. what support does it provide? how many people has it helped? >> over 110,000 people at this point. three quarters of them are responders who worked at ground zero, firefighters, police. the remainder are neighborhood residents. it is a program providing annual monitoring, but also care for selected health conditions deemed to be related to 9/11. >> do you have your arms around the universe of people who need help. is everyone eligible already

part of the program? >> the last eight months or so there are over 500 people each month who are joining the program. that means there clearly is an untapped population, even though over 110,000 are members. clearly there are more who could be served. >> what about the medical impact? you just heard about copd. we have heard stories of cancer linked to that day. what else? >> the 40% have digestive conditions, asthma, upper respiratory problems, or acid reflux. that is about 45,000 people. cancer is a common problem. over 20,000 responders, residents in the program, ve

been treated for cancer. an additional 20,000 people have mental health problems, mainly posttraumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety, and a range of other conditions as well. the majority of people have one or more of these certified health conditions. >> the program was set up for a 90 year duration, but there are concerns it is going to run out of money by 2024 or 2025. what is needed now? >> congress did its best to estimate what funding would be needed over acertain period of time. people have gotten ill and more people have joined the program than expected. the health care that is given for responders and residents, is there good health care? it is excellent care. a recent research sdy looking at cancer, among program

participants, they do better in this program than they would have if they were part of the general population of new york state. 28% better in terms of outcome. the program is providing excellent care. it costs money. if the money runs out in 2024, 2025, the program will not be able to continue. it is a problem. >> in 2019, it took jon stewart publicly shaming congress to get funds reauthorized. are you confident it will get the funds it needs? >> i am confident. i think people understand. the people who are cared for our all over the country. the majority are in new york, new jersey, and connecticut, but there are thousands of people in florida who are part of this. thousands of people in south

carolina, north carolina, virginia. it is a national care program. i think people in congress will understand. the other thing i should mention is it is 20 years now. most toxins don't cause problems right away. the toxins that cause chronic conditions like cancer, neurological disease, etc., they wait 15 or 20 years before they cause problems. we have seen accelerated development of problems. if these toxins act like they normally do, we have to be very vigilant about the health of these participants and make sure if new problems develop, we can catch it early. >> we hope those who need the help can get it. thank you for your time. judy: we certainly do hope they can get the help they need.

that is the newshour for tonight. thank you, please stay safe and we will see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by. >> pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymondjames financial advisor taylor's advice to help you live your life. life well planned. >> consumer cellular. johnson & johnson. bnsf railway. the kendeda fund, committed to advancing restorative justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. ♪ >> supported by the macarthur

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♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ -today on "cook's country," christie makes julia showstopping pork carnitas, jack challenges bridget to a tasting of lard, and julia makes bridget the ultimate shrimp tacos. that's all right here on "cook's country."