judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, moment of crisis. a new book details the extraordinary steps a top u.s. military leader took to keep former president trump from sparking a war. then, taliban takeover. the militant group tightens its grip amid protests and rumors of the death of a senior leader, as the u.s. secretary of state faces senators to defend the should -- defend the u.s. withdrawal. then, recall. california voters head to the polls to decide whether or not governor gavin newsom keeps his job. and, fentanyl frontier. we take an exclusive look inside mexico's sinaloa cartel and its

widespread production of the deadly opioid. >> we've been advised to wear a respirator and goggles because fentanyl is very, very toxic. and many of these cooks have died just by inhaling it. judy: all that and more, on toght's "pbs newshour." ♪ >> 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. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people connect. we offer no contract plans and our u.s.-based customer service team can find one that fits you.

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corporation for public broadcasting and contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: stunning new revelations tonight about how concerned the nation's top military officer was about former president donald trump's behavior and actions around last year's election, and the january insurrection. they come from a yet-to-be-released book by bob woodward and robert costa of the "washington post," and they raise serious questions about the end of the trump administration, the perception of the former president's fitness for the job, and civil-military relations. here to explore all of this are white house correspondent yamiche alcindor and foreign affairs and defense correspondent nick schifrin. nick, to you first, what steps have you learned that the chairman of the joint state -- chiefs of staff, mark milley, took around the time of the election? nick: in january, mark milley called his counterpart, general

-- a general, there is a photo of the two of them taken in beijing. what i'm about to report is all from a defense official, three former senior defense officials, a trump administration official and a congressional official. milley was extremely concern of what was president trump was capable of. mark esper had been terminated and the january 6 attack had just occurred and officials had been replaced with trump loyalists. milley talked every day with secretary of state mike pompeo. they worked together to try to ensure there was continuity at the end of the trump administration. there were no surprises on national security and part of that was reassuring adversaries that there would be continuity from trump to biden. that call is what milley made to the general, there would be no surprises. that is -- the context was back in october, when the chinese, the u.s. believed the chinese

feared some kind of u.s. attack, some kind of october surprise. senior civilian pentagon officials called their counterparts and reassured them that there was no imminent u.s. attack. general milley called his counterpart back in october to reassure him of the same thing. we have some of the words from the call thanks to the woodward-costa book. general milley told the general, you and i have known each other for five years. if we are going to attack, i will call you ahead of time. it is not going to be a surprise. those words, i'm going to call you ahead of time, are extraordinary. these defense officials emphasized that the message, the core message, what milley was trying to say, reassurance that there won't be an attack by the u.s. on china. that was wrong and the message of reassurance was the same thing that the pentagon civilian leadership wanted. judy: from your reporting, who

else have you learned that general milley called? yamiche: general milley was taking extraordinary steps and having extraordinary conversations with the number of people. chief among tm house speaker nancy pelosi. this, on january 8 when a call was made from speaker pelosi to general milley saying i want to know what you are doing to make sure former president trump is not allowed to misuse the nuclear codes or not allowed to get into some military action. during the call, speaker pelosi said of former president trump, he is crazy. you know he is crazy. he's crazy and what he did yesterday, referring to the capitol siege, the attack on january 16 -- sixth, is evidence of his craziness. general milley replied, i agree with you on everything. those are so's on capitol hill confirming those exact words to me tonight. someone like general mley, who

is not seen as political or a democrat or a republican, here he is on the phone with a democrat who is a target of armor president trump's anger saying i agree with you. i want to point out another conversation general milley had with gina haspel, former cia director. she reportedly told general milley, we are on the way to a right-wing coup, going back to the idea of january 6 shaking people up. extraordinary conversations underlying the idea that former president trump was seen as someone who was a loose cannon in his own and nest ration. -- administration. judy: nick, you said you have an understanding now of what it was that general milley did with regards to u.s. policy towards deploying nuclear weapons. nick: this is a routine meeting, even though the context truly was extraordinary. in january, there was a prescheduled quarterly check in with nuclear command.

a defense official, -- confirms lley reiterated the reporting process included h and he should be called in the event of any nuclear order from the president. he made sure that the participants at the meeting confirmed that they would call him. technically, that is not the process. nuclear authority is designed to be fast. even the secretary of defense isn't in the change -- the chain of command when it comes to launching nuclear weapons. there was an understanding that many officials would be informed of, in the event of any nuclear ordernd that is what milley reiterated in january. judy: given all of this, tell us what your sources inside the biden white house and the former tire -- trp administration are saying to you. yamiche: officials inside the biden white house are being tightlipped about this, although a couple tell me this underscores the idea that president biden needed to run and defeat former president trump because he was unstable

and not someone trusted even within his own and nest ration by military officials. talking to trump allies and former trump officials, they are very angry. they think this proves the idea of a deep state,hat there were people working inside the trump. they have -- working inside the trump to undermine prompt -- trump. marco rubio says general milley undermined the commander-in-chief. lieutenant colonel alexander vindman, someone who testified on the first impeachment of former president trump when he said he overheard the call between the president and the president of ukraine saying he was trying to dig for information against joe biden, he was alarmed and reported the call to thenational security council where he was working. he is no saying general mark milley should resign because he broke the chain of command. it is not just trump allies, it is a military official who found

the actions of former president trump to be unstable. he feels like he went through the chain of command by saying to officials and his higher-ups, this is why i'm concerned. this is an extraordinary moment where you see people who aren't usually allied saying general milley probably took a step too far. democrats say it needed to happen because general milley was trying to save and protect the country from a president who was at the time they believe unstable. judy: a developing story. we think both of you for this important reporng. thank you both. ♪ vanessa: i'm vanessa ruiz, in for stephanie sy. we'll return to the full program after the latest headlines. late today, former president donald trump responded to reporting that america's top general, mark milley, assured

his chinese counterpart that no u.s. nuclear attack was imminent. in a statement, trump said that if the calls were true, milley should be, quote, "tried for treason." in the day's other news, covid-19 numbers in the united states hit their highest levels since early march. the nation is now averaging more than 170,000 new cases a day, and more than 1,800 deaths. alaska's largest hospital system announced today that huge spikes in covid cases leaves it unable to provide lifesaving care to everyone who needs it. meanwhile, the african union called today for vaccine manufacturers to ship more doses to the continent. just 3.5% of its population is fully vaccinated the u.s. poverty rate rose slightly last year amid the pandemic, but stimulus aid cushioned the blow. the census bureau reports 11.4% of americans were living in poverty in 2020. at the same time, stimulus payments moved 11.7 million people out of poverty.

opical storm nicholas crawled past houston, texas today, knocking out power to more than half a million homes and businesses. the storm made landfall as a minimal hurricane overnight, with more than a foot of rain in places. but mayor sylvester turner says his city escaped the worst. >> quite we were -- quite frankly, we were blessed last night. i'm not gonna even say "lucky." the lord just smiled on the city of houston. kinda needed a break. vanessa: houston got more than 6 inches of rain from nicholas, compared with 60 inches during hurricane harvey 4 years ago. but southern louisiana could get 20 inches through tonight. and in colorado today, president biden said extreme weather events in the u.s. will cost more than $100 billion this year. voters in california are in the final hours of deciding whether to remove democratic governor

gavin newsom from office. more than a third of voters already cast mail-in ballots before this election day. conservative larry elder is the leading republican candidate. we'll have details on the recall later in the program. four men pleaded not guilty today to federal civil rights charges in the death of george floyd last year. the former minneapolis police officers include derek chauvin, who is already in prison for floyd's murder. the other defendants are asking for separate trials. in afghanistan, the taliban's acting foreign minister pledged again today to bar islamic militants from using afghan territory as a base to attack others. but he dismissed questions about elections and women's rights. instead, he urged other nations to end sanctions. >> we want good relations with the international community. our demand from the international community is not

to put any further pressure on the afghans. the policy of aggression has not yielded any results in 20 years. it will not do so in the future. vanessa: elsewhere, thousands protested in kandahar, after 3,000 families were evicted from a district that's home to retired afghan generals and security forces. and in washington, secretary of state antony blinken faced a second day of congressional questioning over the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. and, former "saturday night live" star norm macdonald has died after a long battle with cancer. macdonald joined the "snl" cast in 1993, and stayed for 5 years. he was known for a wide range of impressions, and for anchoring the weekend update segment. norm macdonald was 61 years old. judy: still to come on the "newshour," republican senator john barrasso discusses the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan, and more. california voters decide whether or not governor gavin newsom

keeps his job cdc director rochelle walensky on the latest surge of covid 19. plus much more. ♪ >> this is the pbs new dona state -- pbs newshour. judy: secretary of state antony blinken was on capitol hill again today, appearing again before a congressional oversight panel with many questions about the u.s. withdrawal from afghanistan. before the senate foreign relations committee, blinken was peppered by both democrats and republicans about the biden white house strategy and planning. here with me now is senator john barrasso, republican of wyoming, and a member of the foreign relations committee. senator, thank you. we appreciate you joining us.

right before i get to that, i want to ask about the revelation we learned about today, the bob woodward and robert costa book that the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, general mark milley, contacted his chinese counterpart in the final days of the trump administration to reassure the chinese that there was not going to be a military strike, that he was so worried about president trump's instability. what is your reaction to the news? >> i haven't seen the book. i haven't read it. i know from the beginning of the newshour tonight on your show, you have had folks commenting on it, i don't know how much is hearsay or what is true or not. i don't feel comfortable making a decision about a book i haven't read, haven't seen and don't know really what is in it. judy: we can respect that. your republican colleague marco rubio is calling for general mill to resign. either you prepared to do that?

>> not on this matter but based on what happened in afghanistan, the american people want accountability. that is from the military, from the state department and from the president. that was a lot of what we talked about today in the hearing after the disastrous withdrawal from afghanistan. judy: i want to ask you about that. as we reported, tough questions today and yesterday for secretary blinken. your own comments have been frankly blistering in criticizing the administration. as you know, the secretary says they inherited a timetable. it was negotiated by president trump. the secretary said, we inherited a deadline, we didn't inherit a plan. >> a couple things. first, this is the first time in american history that we have left people behind. we can never again say america will leave no one behind because

based on the testimony today from secretary blinken, we still have 100 american citizens behind enemy lines in afghanistan at the mercy of the taliban. they are people that are not known for showing mercy. the president of the united states, president biden on national television said he would extend the time the military would stay in afghanistan to make sure we got out every american. the president went back on his word. now, president biden has had a number of things, policies that came out of the trump administration that he has reversed, like the iran deal. the paris accord. the world health organization. rejoining that. the remain in mexico policy at the border. he has reversed all of those things. he could have done things with regard to afghanistan if you wanted to. but i will tell you, i think the president has been wrong time and time again.

he said there is very little chance afghanistan would fall to the taliban. he said under no circumstances would we see helicopters on the roof of the embassy, but all of those things turned out to become of the president was wrong. judy: how long do you believe the u.s. should have stayed in afghanistan? how long do you think 2500 troops, which is what the u.s. had at the end, could have held off the taliban? >> 2500 troops is a light touch. we hadn't lost any sdiers in combat in over a year in afghanistan, yet just a couple weeks ago, we had the biggest loss of american life at war in afghanistan in what, for a single day in over a decade, and one of those soldiers was from wyoming. 20 years old, lt behind a pregnant wife. i was with her and the rest of the family on the tarmac in wyoming on friday when we

brought home from -- for the last time his remains in his flag draped coffin. the price of this decision by the president to act on what i believe was a reckless matter, he has called an extraordinary success. he has said -- and i believe it is an epic failure and americans paid a high price for the decisions of this administration to be more focused on the calendar on the wall than on the conditions on the ground. judy: with regard to americans left behind, as you mentioned, we think less than 100. the administration is pointing out, we did evacuate thousands of americans. perhaps as many as 6000. the u.s., the biden administration evacuated something like 120,000 afghan citizens. is your state of wyoming prepared to accept some of these afgh refugees?

>> a couple things. one is i asked secretary blinken, how many of these refugees were vetted before they were loaded up on planes in afghanistan? he said he didn't know. it sounded like anybody who could get to the airport, whether they were terrible wrists or whatever, could get onto planes and be flown to other locations. they were not vetted. you have to make sure people are vetted. when you talk about the fact, almost in a cavalier manner that there are still 100 americans behind enemy lines, america was held hostage in iran by the ayatollah home any -- the ayatollah with 41 hostages. so this is more than twice that number. the american people want two things that i've heard it all over the country, the american people want to know what will we do to get our 100 citizens out? and how are we going to keep america safe at a time when the taliban have taken over the country of afghanistan and it is

now once again a safe haven for terrorists? judy: are you prepared, do you think it is a good idea fo wyoming and other states to accept afghan refugees? >> people need to be 100% fully vetted. we need to make sure these are people that have helped our soldiers when they were on the ground. people i have talked to through the university of wyoming who lived in afghanistan, worked with people, trying to get folks out, we don't know who has gotten out and is vetted. we have a long way to go. judy: president biden's $3.5 trillion spending bill is moving through congress right now. the democrats are looking at ways to pay for this. they are proposing raising the individual, the top individual tax rate, the top capital gains rate, although less than what it was before, and to add a surtax on those earning over $5 million

per year. what is your take on this? >> every republican is going to stand together in the house and the senate and vote against this reckless tax and spending blow out the democrats are proposing. we think it will harm the economy and will add significantly to the debt. it will tax just about everyone, we went through a list at our conference lunch, there are about ready different taxes that are being proposed. you mentioned a couple that the decrats have not decided how they want to do it. there are concerns the republicans have. we are standing united. this is not the right move right now for our country. more taxes, more spending, or big government. we need to get our economy, which is recovering coming out of cov, to recover fully. this is the wrong time for the kind of taxing and spending when inflation is running rampant, prices of food is up, prices of gasoline and heating, all those things are up. they will need every democrat in

the senate. i talked to joe manchin this afternoon and it doesn't sound like even he is on board for this $3.5 trillion blowout. judy: in a couple words, the argument by democrats that there is no massive inequality in this country that has been made worse by the pandemic, the top 1% earns far more than the bottom 92. sent -- 92%. >> we need to get the pandemic under control and get the economy growing. for the pandemic hit, we had the best economy i have had in my lifetime as a result of republican tax cuts, regulatory relief, u.s. energy dominance as opposed right now, where joe biden is going to saudi arabia and russia saying produce more oil because i shut it off in the united states and prices are going up in my poll numbers are going down. judy: senator john barrasso from wyoming, thank you. >> thank you, judy.

judy: over the past two decades tens of thousands of afghans rose to the occasion and took jobs in the public sector to help their country and their livelihoods. now that the u.s. has pulled out, many say they feel abandoned. one particular group who say they feel let down and now appear to be targeted by the taliban is former policewomen. we have this report by lindsey hilsum of independent television news. lindsey: all over this city, women are iniding, concealed behind dark windows and walls. they did what western countries wanted, worked for government, aid agencies, the security sector. the taliban says they can carry on, all the while sending goons to threaten them if they do. fatima is one. a former policewoman, a single mother, divorced from the man she was forced to marry at the age of 12, all crimes in the eyes of the taliban.

>> now i'm being threatened from all sides, from the former government, from the criminals i caught when i was in the police, from t taliban, from my relatives. so i'm living hidden from the world with my kids. i have moved three times in a single month. lindsey: she thinks constantly of her fellow policewoman negar masumi, 8 months pregnant, who was murdered last week. the taliban say they're investigating. in the last few months, at least six policewomen were killed in taliban-controlled areas before should taliban-controlled areas before -- before the capture of kabul. last year, fatima released on social media a video of herself destroying h police id in protest about sexual harassment by her male superiors. shamed by her behaviour, she says, her own family then tried

to kill her. now, she fears both them and the taliban. the personal and political are intertwined. western countries spent an estimated $100 million training women for the afghan security services. but most male police officers rejected them, and now, the western missions who encouraged the women to blaze the trail have vanished, leaving them to their fate. should -- >> why have they abandoned us to the taliban? since they were supporting us, surely they should ask what's happening to us now? what is our crime? our crime is that we were policewomen. for this crime, they kill us in the most brutal way. why is the international community not asking about us?

lindsey: a demonstration this weekend showcased the taliban ideal of womanhood, entirely covered and utterly obedient. a job lot of identical niqabs appears to have been acquired for the occasion. this is not traditional afghan dress. the women proclaimed their support for segregation in education, which is now the law. at ghalib university, they've started educating women and men on alternate day as a private university, they have enough facilities, but public institutions are struggling. women are meant to be taught only by women or very old men, but there aren't enough female teachers and lecturers. far fewer won are showing up to class, but those who've come are determined. >> women are very important in the country. so, we afghans, we have the right to be like women

in developed countries. lindsey: fatima used to be proud of her uniform, but now, penniless, unable to earn a living and with no family protection, she feels that all she can do is speak out. >> they will kill us. whether or not we raise our voice and talk in front of a camera, the taliban will kill us anyway. that's why i raise my voice. if i talk in front of the camera, at least after i'm gone, maybe other policewomen will not be killed. lindsey: in afghanistan's cities, many women embraced the western project to liberate them. some have managed to flee, but most can't. they're left with a new set of beliefs, for which they may end up paying with their lives. judy: that report from lindsey hilsum of independent television news, in kabul.

♪ judy: it is election day in california, where gavin newsom is facing a call effort in one of the bluest states in the nation. stephanie sy has this from orange county. >> recall newsom. stephanie: california is at a crossroads. in these final hours, the stakes and emotions couldn't be higher. >> california needs a change. stephanie: the decision up to 22 million voters, should they keep or remove their governor, democrat gavin newsom? >> the people are fed up. stephanie: james mai organized this pro-recall rally in orange county. he and other republican party activists helped collect the nearly one and a half million signatures required to trigger the special election, only the second in the state's history. >> have you been to l.a. lately?

it looks like a third world country. stephanie: their concerns range from rising crime and homelessness to high taxes. but supercharging their zeal, the coronavirus pandemic and newsom's strict public health measures that shuttered businesses and schools at the height of the pandemic. while covid-19 cases are down in california, and many schools are reopening, mai says his 10-year-old son is still reeling from the loss of a year in the classroom. >> allow us to have a choice. don't close our businesses, don't close our schools, don't close our churches. stephanie: newsom's critics seized on this moment last november, when the governor was captured in photos dining at a fancy restaurant, while the rest of the state was in lockdown. >> he kept prolonging it and prolonging it. but yet he went out and had dinner with friends. his kids were going to private school and not wearing a mask. so it was, like, kind of hypocritical of him. stephanie: while these recall supporters in orange county are fired up, orange county is

traditionally a more conservative area in mucof the state, it is an uphill battle. with democrats outnumbering republicans in california by almost two to one. just to the north in los angeles county, democrat fatima iqbal zubair, a candidate for state assembly, is knocking on doors. >> look, i'll be the first as a progressive to to criticize newsom where i can. stephanie: she doesn't agree with newsom on everything. >> the alternative is awful. stephanie: but iqbal zubair is doing everything she can to help turn out voters for him. she says she's working to protect her 7-year-old son, aydin, and others she believes will be harmed by the policies of a republican governor. >> it's awful for kids like my son, who have special needs, who might have funding cut to the programs he needs in school. to immigrants, to the undocumented community. it really scares me that, if, when i think about if we lose governor newsom. stephanie: and while the most recent polling suggests newsom is likely to hold on, the

democratic party is worried enough, it's brought out its big guns. >> we need science. we need courage. we need leadership. we need gavin newsom. stephanie: that includes visits by president joe biden and vice president kamala harris, a former california senator. the only other time in state history californians held a recall election was in 2003, when voters ousted incumbent democratic governor gray davis, and republican arnold schwarzenegger got the most votes to replace him. >> vote yes on the recall. stephanie: but politics have changed since, and the trump effect is a wildcard. >> women exaggerate the problem of sexism. stephanie: conservative radio host larry elder, who is leading the gop pack of more than 40 caidates vying to replace newsom, has been speaking trump's base. >> i'm gonna have a declaration for a state of emergency for the absolute ridiculous other

mandat that this man has imposed. stephanie: elder's controversial remarks could be a liability, says scott shafer of kqed. >> really, it's in some ways christmas in september for gavin newsom, because larry elder has said some very outlandish things about slavery and reparations and women in the workplace. and it's coming back to haunt him and the republican party. >> i feel like everybody that's running on the recall is kind of a joke. stephanie: at this l.a. area farmers market, voters expressed concern about newsom's possible replacements. >> i would be horrified if, you know, the vote was split and we got someone who didn't know what they were doing, and walked into office and just messed things up for everyone. stephanie: mike netter, another conservative radio host, who helped launch the recall, believes the trump base will be crucial for turnout. >> if elder stimulates people to come out to vote, it's good for the recall of gavin newsom. if it turns off some democrats,

i guess it turns off some democrats stephanie: but those same voters, trump and elder himself, are already questioning the legitimacy of the special election, that is, if newsom wins, echoing the former president's false claims that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent. >> if he wins, it would be fraud. >> it does us no good, zero. >> zero good to say, there is fraud, don't vote. absolutely not. we want people to vote. stephanie: are you worri about that, though? because there is that sentiment among some republicans -- >> yes, i am. stephanie: republicans will need massive turnout on election day in order to overcome the sheer number of california's democratic voters. >> alright, so you guys are voting in the recall too, right? >> yes. stephanie: more than seven million votes have already been cast by mail. >> so you don't need this then, since you already returned your ballot? >> yeah, i already, i already mailed it in. stephanie: but turnout among mocrats has been a concern, as well.

fatima iqbal zubair is working to ensure enough democrats actually vote, aer july polling showed many were apathetic to the recall outcome. >> yeah, the good news is, we don't need every registered democrat in the state to vote. right? we don't.e do need a percentage of them to get out and vote. do i think the young people are excited to vote? probably not. stephanie: does that worry you? >> it does not, because i thk that we have enough of the voters that are energized from what i'm feeling now. i was concerned -- if you asked me this a month or two months ago, i was like, man, like, what if , what are we doing to get the word out on the recall? stephanie: while the math appears to be in newsom's favor, both sides are pushing for every last vote, hoping to leave nothing to chance. for the pbs newshour, i'm stephanie sy in southern california. judy: with just hours left until voting ends in california, we check in once again with scott shafer, politics and government editor for public media station

kqed in san francisco. he also hosts the "political breakdown" podcast. scott, welcome back to the program. in these final hours of campaigning, tell us what they are saying, each one of the campaigns. what are they worried about and what do they say about turnout? >> governor newsom was in san francisco today thanking volunteers and i have to say, he had a bit of a bounce in his step, very energetic. the lls back him up. i haven't seen a single poll that shows the recall passing. republicans i think are very concerned about turnout. the early votes really have favored the democrats in terms of ballots returned. and you've got the head of the republican party saying things like, even if the recall doesn't succeed, we sent a message to gavin newsom. that is not the kind of thing you say if you think you are about to have a big victory. privately, both republican and democrat consultants think it

will be a win for newsom. the question is how big? especially considering the 24.8 point margin in the election. judy: how have mail-in ballots affected the tenor of the race? >> 22 million voters got a ballot in the mail about a month ago, and there was a lot of concern, as stephanie said, that democrats weren't engaged. we haven't seen that. the ballots are tracked by a firm in california, and more than half of the ballots returned, 9 million now it is up to come over that, were sent by democrats and there are 5 million more democrats in the state and there are republicans. if republicans are going to catch up, they have to have a really massive turnout today on election day in person. we are not really seeing that in talking and hearing, listening to what is going on around the state. there are polling places that are busy, but they are not

overwhelmed. it is not the kind of surge might see if it would be a huge republican turnout. judy: quickly, are republicans, is larry elder saying anything to back up the claim that the election may not be legitimate if newsom hangs on? >> there is nothing to back it up. it is totally fabricated. governor newsom called those comments by him in former president trump shameful. it is really something that can't be proved because it is not true. judy: scott shafer with kqed in san francisco. watching until all the ballots are counted. thank you, scott. ♪ judy: covid cases, hospitalizations, and deaths have risen substantially in the u.s. from low points earlier this summer. in some states, icus have been

overloaded as the delta vaant keeps its hold on much of the country. the biden administration has said booster shots may be available to eligible groups next week. but that timing is uncertain. scientific advisory committees still need to meet in the next several days. earlier today, lisa desjardins spoke with cdc director dr. rochelle walensky about many of these questions. it was part of a special forum hosted by research america, a biomedical advocacy group. lisa: one of the items that is a major discussi for scientists and for you right now is the idea of booster shots. the biden administration is planning to roll out a major booster effort within just days. i wonder if you can tell us exactly who you think should be getting those booster shots, what the plan is right now. what does the data support here? how do you see this? >> we know that among the things that we need to do as we're planning a lot for booster shots is to really focus as well on

the unvaccinated. so i really do want to highlight that while we are focusing on booster shots, making sure that people who are not yet vaccinated get vaccinated. so let's say that, but also turn to the importance of the data that we are going to need to collect to understand who and when booster shot should be given. we have we at cdc, i'm really pleased and proud to say, have been following a group of cohorts, of selected people across the country, to follow the question of how are vaccines working? now, we have many of these cohorts, tens of thousands of people, 4000 health care workers that are getting a test every week, regardless of symptoms that can tell us about asymptomatic spread. we started to see that there was some waning with our vaccine effectiveness. just with regard to infections, people weren't getting that particularly sick but just with regard to infections. and that

foreshadowed, we may be seeing this soon with regard to hospitalizations and severe disease. and that's really, where we came together and said as a country, as a government, we are planning for this. we know that this might happen. we're starting to see the data that might happen. and we are now planning for this. lisa: and will those booster shots begin as planned? >> i'm not going to get ahead of the fda's process, but we are planning and i'm hopeful for the timeline that's been mapped out. lisa: you also are a global infectious disease expert. and you know that there's been so much pushback from around the world, from the who, saying this is like giving a life jacket to someone who already has a life jacket. your counterpart in africa said it's not fair, and you've worked on infectious disease in africa. i wonder how you respond to that criticism. >> i think it's a false narrive to imply they're mutually exclusive. my job as the cdc director is to protect our country. i do that by making sure that the people of this country are safe, and i do that by making sure that the rest of

the world is safe so that people don't bring other things into this country. other variants, other diseases. we have already donated one -- 130 million doses of vaccine into 90 countries. and when i think about what the impact of boosters will be here in the united states over the rest of 2021, we anticipate perhaps about 100 million doses of boosters being given in the next three months. during that period of time, we will have donated 200 million more doses internationally. so i don't necessarily think it's a fair discussion to say either or. i think we have to do three things simultaneously. we have to work to vaccinate the world and we are doing so. we have to work to boost people here in the united states so we can maintain a good level of protection. and we need to work to vaccinate the people who are not vaccinated. and we can't focus on any single one of those parts. we have to do them all together. lisa: i know that you want

americans to be confident in your organization, but how do you respond to criticism that still, americans feel they're getting conflicting messages? >> yes, i came into this position and an agency that was being challenged at the time and in a public health infrastructure that's had a hard 18 months. my job as the director of this agency is to protect the public, the public health, and to make sure that i have a strong 12,000 team to to do that on behalf of the public. it has been hard to convey rapidly changing science. i think that people want the answer today and they wanted to stay the answer. and delta changed things for us in this country. and the science for delta evolved. and my responsibility was to review the

science, review it carefully, update the science to protect the american people. and that's what we did when we put masks back on. and in fact, i will say that we did it in pretty record speed. we did an outbreak investigation with colleagues in massachusetts that demonstrated that you could transmit if you happen to be a breakthrough infection with a vaccine. we corroborated that within a week and we published the data within a week and the guidelines had changed that week. that's hard to move a train of 300 million people through to convey that science. but that's what we needed to do. and we are actively following the science, and that science as it evolves is resulting in our evolution of guidance. and that's what i was asked to do as director of this agency. lisa: dr. rochelle walensky, thank you so much for your time and for joining us and thank you for your work. >> thank you so much for having me.

♪ judy: tonight, we begin a three-part look at the production, and devastating of -- devastating effects, of the drug fentanyl. illicit use of the synthetic opioid painkiller has ravaged the united states, and mexican drug cartels now see huge profits, and an addicted market, for the drug. with the support of the pulitzer center, from sinaloa state, in mexico, special correspondent monica villamizar d videographer zach fannnin report. monica: a handful of dirt is thrown into the wind, to gauge the way it is blowing. it's important work, because one gust in the wrong direction, and any mistake in this delicate process, could lead to death. >> your life is at stake. an experienced cook knows to look at the direction of the wind, and to turn around when the wind turns, and he knows that is vital. there are people who get sick. this process starts very toxic,

but the toxicity fades. an expert knows towards the end you can get close to the pot, if the toxicity was high at that point you could not even get near to empty the t. that is when the black goat is made. monica: heroin is usually called black goat, but these drugmakers aren't using poppy plants as their raw materials. instead, they start with this synthetic powder, which is cooked over an open flame. the drug is called fentanyl, and we're at the heart of the industry, inside the western mexican state of sinaloa. we've been given rare access to one of the sinaloa cartel's fentanyl labs. it's quite ingenious, because they've set it up in the middle of those cows and because there are so many police operations right now in the area, the cows provide a perfect cover. we've been advised to wear a respirator and goggles because fentanyl is very, very toxic. and many of these cooks have died just by inhaling it. these cooks work without protective equipment, and they believe in a myth here that drinking beer will disable the

high that comes along with being close to the heated substance. this man, who we are calling pedro, is one of the first links in a chain that sends fentanyl from mexico to the united states. this package of fentanyl, which is sold as a competitor to heroin, weighs 11 pounds and sells for $15,000 in sinaloa's capital, culiacan. the further the product travels, the more valuable it gets. by the time it arrives in america, 11 pounds could sell for $100,000. fentanyl has proven to be a diabolical game changer for the cartels. it's inexpensive, it can be mixed into drugs like cocaine, methamphetamine, and other opiates. >> right now as fentanyl is stronger than anything, a little fentanyl can make 11 pounds of black goat, and it is stronger than the poppy flower. that's why people gave up on heroin. it's way cheaper with fentanyl. monica: so many people are dying of fentanyl overdoses in america. do you feel responsible, since

what they are consuming is made here? >> well, it is something that one who consumes decides on his own. drugs are bad and addictive. consumers are aware that the effect doesn't last long, but they cannot go without it, although they knowhat it is wrong. it is addictive. monica: have you had any of your friends die making it? >> so many died for a few pesos. we all like money, there are people who aspire to have better things, but the big money is not made by us, i's made by others. many workers have no other job. it's a hustle. monica: many in the region are self-taught chemists, working in a low-tech multi-million dollar operation. these men used to be farmers until their home state became the stronghold of the powerful sinaloa cart, once run by this man, joaquin guzman, nicknamed "el chapo." he's now serving a life sentence in an american prison. writer ioan grillo explains that fentanyl and synthetics are easier to produce than crop-based drugs, like heroin or cocaine. >> you don't have to care about

protecting those from the military. you just buy some precursors, mix them up in a lab and you've got your drug. so the profit margins are massive on synthetic drugs. also, you can do this anywhere. so this has really changed the geography of organized crime as well. we can find labs all over the country. you can see labs for synthetic drugs on the outskirts of mexico city. you can see labs right on the border with the united states. monica: with el chapo serving life, his three sons, know as the "chapitos," or little chapos, were left to run the criminal empire. back in 2019, the mexican military arrested one of them, but was forced to let him go after the sinaloa cartel barricaded the city of culiacan and overpowered the soldiers. >>exico has a dysfunctional justice system, and that not only means that criminals can get away with murder, and you

have some states, we have a 98% impunity for murder, which means the cartels develop this power as the alternative version of offering security. monica: we reached out to mexico's department of justice, but we were not granted an interview. some of mexico's biggest drug bosses were from sinaloa state. the capital city, culiacan, remains a safe space for criminal families to live in peace. this is not an upscale neighborhood. it's actually a cartel cemetery in culiacan, and a reminder of the deadly cost of the illicit drug business. many who lie inside these tombs were once top players. their final resting places are equipped with party rooms, security systems, surveillance cameras, and air conditioning. the drug business has generated so much violence that there is a cult of death here. its icon is santa muerte, or saint ath. saturnino losoya takes care of

this shrine in sinaloa state. >> some people say that they are afraid of her. that is why some don't t near here. i have never been afraid of death. i know that i am going to die one day, and she is going to take care of me. i know she will take me away but i don't know where to. monica: sinaloa is also home to narcos that manufacture fentanyl pills inside homemade labs that are run by chemists like this man. he says he is always alert as too much exposure to fentanyl, even in pill form, can be deadly. the chemist says he makes 150,000 pills on a good day, which are worth about $90,000 in sinaloa. the same pills can fetch about ten or twenty times that price when they hit the streets of america. the pills are marked m30m20 and m10. >> m 30 carries 30 milligrams of fentanyl. the other has 10 milligrams. some inferior pills aren't clearly marked, but these are the good ones, the m-30.

monica: a few years back he made oxycontin pills, another opioid painkiller. but today he only makes fentanyl, which is much strong and deadlier. since fentanyl is added into almost every drug in the illicit market, it helps explain the cause of over 90,000 overdose deaths last year in the united states. the cartel chemist says the spike in overdose deaths is the fault of local dealers in america who change the original dosage. >> look, it has been known that there are many problems in the u.s. people are dying. what happens is that people take our product and they put more stuff into it, then they modify it. our formula does not kill. but if you change the product then there can be a big problem. monica: the pills are wrapped in carbon paper and tape. the tape protects them from sniffing dogs, the paper hides them from x-ray machines. before they are exported, they are tested. a pill that has the right amount of active ingredient has a faint smell of

popcorn. the chemist gave us a peek at how they hide drugs in the back of cars that are sent north, to america. [speaking spanish] i asked him, will this car cross the border? or, will the drugs be transferred to another vehicle? >> sometimes. it depends, it depends on movement across the route. monica: the chemist tells us we have to leave. the presence of our camera risks his operation. according to the u.s. customs and border protection, the vast majority of fentanyl goes into the u.s. through legal ports of entry, in vehicles. nobody knows how month -- much fentanyl, in both gel and pill form, is successfully crossing the southern border. but as long as there is demand, chemists and cooks like these men will keep up the supply. for the pbs newshour, i'm monica villimazar in culiacan, sinaloa. judy: stunning to have that access.

and tomorrow we look at the price of addiction in arizona, in lives and livelihoods, as fentanyl streams across the border. that is 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 see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> ♪ >> consumer cellular. johnson & johnson. financiaservices firm raymond james. bnsf railway. carnegie corporation of new york , supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security, at carnegie.org. the target foundation, committed to advancing racial equity and

creating the change required to shift systems that accelerate equitable economic opportunity. 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 stations from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ >> this is pbs newshour west from w eta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪

-sonora, a vast open territory in northern mexico defined by rugged mountain ranges, unforgiving deserts, and the peaceful sea of cortez. but down in the valley a gift from the culinary gods. here conditions are just right to grow and harvest miles and miles of the regions most identifiable crop -- sonoran wheat. the flour produce from these wheat fields has completely shaped the food of northern mexico. mmm, delicioso! and that iconic wheat flour it's inspiration from my take on two classic recipes. this dough is -- oh, it's so delicious. sonora's absolute favorite pan dulce -- these light, crisp, flaky, sweet coyotas, and the hearty, savory, super satisfying chili con carne, wrapped in a flour tortilla,