captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> nawaz: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. judy woodruff is away. on the newshour tonight: facing questions. top u.s. military leaders take heat from lawmakers and contradict president bid on america's withdrawal from afghanistan. then, high stakes. progressive democrats in the house dig in, threatening to vote against the president's bipartisan infrastructure bill, just days before a key vote. and, the cost of covid. school closures in uganda lead children to help their families survive, with many being trafficked into forced labor. >> 2020 was the first year in two decades that saw an increase in child labor around the world. and, with the pandemic devastating economies, the

united nations says the problem is getting much worse. >> nawaz: all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> pediatric surgeon. volunteer. topiary artist. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life, well-planned. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has been offering no-contract wireless plans, designed to help people do more of what they like. our u.s.-based customer service team can help find a plan that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. >> johnson & johnson. >> bnsf railway.

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>> nawaz: "strategic failure." that is the assessment of the chairman of the joint chiefs, general mark milley, on the end of america's 20-year war in afghanistan. but he recommended that the president keep troops in afghanistan, and the president rejected that. milley, secretary of defense lloyd austin, and general frank mckenzie, who runs u.s. central command, all appeared before the senate armed services committee today. nick schifrin has the story. >> schifrin: in the senate committee responsible for military oversight, the military's leaders today said that earlier this year, after 20 years of war in afghanistan, they advised it was not time to withdraw. central command chief general frank mckenzie: >> 2,500 was an appropriate number to remain, and if we went below that number, we would probably witness the collapse of the afghan government, and the afghan military. >> schifrin: that refutes president biden's august statement to abc news' george stephanopoulos that the military

supported the withdrawal. >> they didn't argue against that. >> your military advisors did not tell you, "no, we should just keep 2,500 troops. it's been a stable situation for the last several years. we can do that. we can continue to do that"? >> no. no one said that to me, that i can recall. >> was that a false statement by the president of the united states? remember, you do not have to duty to cover for a president when he is not telling the truth. >> schifrin: republicans seized on the president's having rejected military advice. alaska's dan sullivan: >> on the biggest national security fiasco in a generation, there has been zero accountability. >> schifrin: mississippi's roger wicker: >> our credibility has been gravely damaged. has it not, general milley? >> schifrin: joint chiefs chairman general mark milley: >> i think that our credibility with allies and partners around the world, and with adversaries, is being intensely reviewed by them, to see which way this is going to go. and i think that damage is one word that could be used, yes.

>> schifrin: and, after two decades of war, more than 2,000 americans killed, 20,000 americans wounded, and the taliban in control in kabul-- for the first time, milley admitted defeat. >> an outcome that is a strategic failure-- the enemy is in charge of kabul, there's no way else to describe that. that outcome is the cumulative effect of 20 years, not 20 days. >> schifrin: the commanders defended the chaotic evacuation of more than 100,000 afghans and americans, and they said president biden did take their advice on withdrawing by august 31, even though thousands who wanted to leave, were left behind. >> if we stayed past the 31st, which militarily is feasible, but it would have required an additional commitment of significant amounts oforces. probably 18th airborne corps... 15,000, 20,000, maybe 25,000 troops. we would have had to re-seize bagram. would have had to clear kabul. 6,000 taliban already in kabul. that's what would have had to have happened, beginning on the 1st. and that would have resulted in significant casualties on the

u.s. side, and it would have placed american citizens who are still there at greater risk. >> schifrin: but the war's critics say that argument for rapid mitary escalation was the heart of the u.s.' strategic failure, and even milley today agreed that despite years of training, the afghan military wouldn't survive u.s. withdrawal, no matter the date. >> i think the end state probably would have been the same, no matter when you did it. >> schifrin: indeed, senators and commanders revisited a series of fatal mistakes: creating the afghan army dependent on the u.s.; afghan corruption, and u.s. failure to create strong afghan institutions. secretary of defense lloyd austin: >> did we have too many strategies? did we put too much faith in our ability to build affective afghan institutions, an army, an air force, a police force, and government ministries. we helped build a state, mr. chamber, but we could not forge are commitment.

forge a nation. >> schifrin: and, wavering american commitment. milley confirmed for the first time that president trump tried to withdraw unconditionally late last year, months after the agreement signed in doha with the taliban, that first promised u.s. withdrawal. >> the taliban were heartened by what they saw happen at doha, and what followed, and our eventual decision to get out by a certain date. i think the afghans were very weakened by that, morally and spiritually. >> schifrin: separately, milley defended his actions during the trump-biden transition, when he reassured his chinese counterpart the u.s. wasn't going to attack, and when he talked with speaker of the house nancy pelosi about nuclear procedures, and ensured with nuclear command staff he was part of the nuclear reporting process. >> at no time was i attempting to change or influence the process, usurp authority, or insert myself into the chain of command. >> schifrin: moving forward, the military says the taliban has not broken with al qaeda, which could reconstitute within 12 months. but, the military doesn't know if it can effectively target terrorists in a country where there are no service members. arizona democrat mark kelly: >> are you confident-- confident-- that we can deny

organizations like al qaeda and isis the ability to use afghanistan as a launch pad for terrorist activity? >> i would not say i'm confident that that's going to be on the ground yet. we could get to that point, but i do not have that level of confidence yet. >> schifrin: that's because today, as it was 20 years ago, kabul has no american troops, and is ruled by the taliban. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> nawaz: in the day's other news, the senate faced a stalemate over raising the federal debt ceiling and avoiding a national default. reblicans again blocked democratic efforts to raise the debt limit, as treasury secretary janet yellen warned that the deadline is october 18. yellen appeared at a senate hearing and appealed for congress to take action, or risk economic chaos. >> america would default, for

the first time in history. the full faith and credit of the united states would be impaired, and our country would likely face a financial crisis and economic recession as a result. it's necessary to avert a catastrophic event for our economy. >> nawaz: meanwhile, democratic factions worked on paring down a sweeping domestic spending bill that now totals $3.5 trillion. we'll return to all of this, after the news summary. on wall street, stocks tumbled in the face of rising bond yields and inflation worries. the dow jones industrial average lost 569 points, 1.6%, to close below 34,300. the nasdaq fell 423 points-- nearly 3%. and the s&p 500 gave up 90 points-- 2%. on the pandemic, the u.s. booster shot campaign is off to a fast start. white house officials say at least 400,000 people got them

over the weekend, and another one million have scheduled appointments. but the c.d.c.'s director warned today that only 30% of pregnant women have been vaccinated at all-- and the rate is lower still for minorities. >> about 15% of african american women who are pregnant, are vaccinated, and this puts them at severe risk of severe disease from covid-19. in august this year, we lost 21 pregnant women to covid-19. so, we absolutely have the data that demonstrates the overwhelming benefit of vaccine, and really very little safety concerns at all. >> nawaz: separately, new york city's covid vaccine mandate foteachers is back in effect, for now. a federal appeals panel upheld last night, but teachers said they'll appeal to the u.s. supreme court. we'll look at new york state's vaccine mandate for hospital and nursing home workers, later in the program. the u.s. state department now says two american siblings have returned from china, after being blocked from leaving since 2018. cynthia and victor liu arrived

home on saturday. china defended holding them until now, as it pursued their parents in a money laundering case. beijing also denies any link between the liu's and canada's release of a huawei executive who'd been held on u.s. fraud charges. the u.s. has reportedly extradited a convicted hacker back to russia. it's a rare move since the two countries don't have an extradition treaty. russian media reports that alexei burkov was detained today upon arriving in moscow. he had been serving a nine-year prison sentence in the u.s. for operating websites that enabled credit card fraud and hacking. investigators for the world health organization say agency staffers committed sexual abuse during an ebola outbreak in congo. the findings were commissioned by the w.h.o. they cite at least 83 alleged incidents and implicate at least 21 w.h.o. woers. in geneva today, the agency's director in africa addressed the victims, some of whom were as young as 13. >> we in w.h.o. are indeed

humbled, horrified and heartbroken by the findings of this inquiry. as w.h.o. leadership, we apologize to these people, to the women and girls, for the suffering that they have had because of the actions of our staff members and people we have sent into their communities to help in a very difficult situation of an epidemic. >> nawaz: the associated press has reported that senior w.h.o. officials were informed of the abuse claims back in 2019, but failed to act. an overloaded boat docked in sicily overnight with nearly 700 migrants on board-- that marks the biggest arrival in italy in five years. passengers were most from africa, and were crammed together on a rusty fishing boat out of libya. after disembarking, they headed to a reception center. nearly 45,000 migrants have reached italy this year, nearly double the total at the same point last year. back in this country, the georgia man accused of killing eight people at spas in the

atlanta area pleaded "not guilty" to four of the killings. robert aaron long entered the plea in fulton county, georgia. he had already admitted guilt to the other killings in a separate county. six of the eight victims were women of asian descent. the guman who killed five employees at a newspaper in maryland was sentenced today to life in prison without parole. jarrod warren ramos opened fire with a shotgun at the "capital gazette" in annapolis in 2018. it was one of the deadliest attacks on journalists in american history. and, the obama presidential center had its celebrary groundbreaking on chicago's south side. the former first couple attended, along with chicago's mayor and the governor of illinois. the center will house the obama presidential papers, plus a museum and other facilities. the project had been delayed over concerns about displacing black residents, and historic preservation. still to come on the newshour: vaccine requirements face widespread legal challenges, amid a shortage of healthcare

workers. covid school closures in one afrin country lead to children being trafficked into forced labor. farmers struggle to protect their livestock from the threats of climate change. plus, much more. >> nawaz: well, it is a crucial day of negotiations on both sides of pennsylvania avenue today. as we reported earlier democrats are working around the clock to pass two significant bills, on infrastructure and major democratic priorities. and, our capitol hill correspondent lisa desjardins is here with more on what's at stake.

it is good to see you. >> goods to see you. >> nawaz: the two big bills, where are we right now? >> it is about as clear as a glass of mud, to be honest, and somehow it got even muddier today. others reported the infrastructure has long be connected to that large, we call it reconciliation package, that's how they want to pass it in the senate. speaker nancy pelosi said she would take a vote on that infrastructure bill on thursday. she has an all-out rebellion from progressives, who think that will jeopardize the reconciliation bill. we saw this statement from progressives, from jayapal, who reiterated and doubled down on this statement, saying we will only vote for the infrastructure bill after passing the reconciliation bill. that then was bolstered by senator bernie sanders, one of the top progressives in this country. he came out and said we thought we had a deal, that the two would only go together. he told people not to vote for the infrastructure bill this thursday. so how do they get the reconciliation bill

moving? first they need to forget how big it is going to be. there is a real divide over that. and we're watching two key senators, everybody is watching them, kyrsten sinema and joe manchin, who are moderates who said that $3.5 trillion number is too large for them. amna, they have not come up with a number. everybody is watching. and we'll see if this infrastructure bill comes up on thursday. >> nawaz: we talk a lot about the policies and the procedures, let's talk at what is at stake. democrats are fighting hard for what is in that reconciliation bill. let's dig in and talk about where they are and why they're still divided. let's talk about climate change, where are they? >> i'm happy worry talking about the substance of what is in this thing. i want to run through what progressives want, what is in this bill. look at what is in here: first of all, the reconciliation bill will have extensive clean

energy tax breaks for individuals and businesses. but it has carrots and stick. it would reward or penalize businesses based on how much renewable fuel they're using versus how much fossil fuel they're using. and, also, i have to say there are issues with this, of course. manchin is one of them. he is worried about coal jobs in the short-term. and there is a real question about senate rules, and if all of the mechanisms can pass the narrow chael tha reconciliation measures have to. climate change is one of the biggest issues facing is country. that is why the stakes are so high right now, because democrats realize this may be their only chance, perhaps this generation, to get something significant through. i talked to the members today, and they're sweating this, and they're worried about these provisions staying intact. >> nawaz: and there is another issue that resonates with american voters, and that is drug costs. where are they on that? >> this is a point of contention among

democrats. i don't think i need to tell many viewers the drug costs are high, higher than the rest of the world. they're about two and a half times than most of the rest of the wor. america on its ow represents almost half of all of the money coming to drug companies. we testified to someone from harvard's medical schools, aaron kesselheim, about this issue. >> there have been, of course, reports from patients with diabetes unable to afford their insulin and have to ration eir insulin, or patients who are needing to get cancer treatment, not able to afford the cancer therapy that they need. and those kinds of things can have important impacts on their health. >> lisa: that's why this is on the table. what will democrats do in reconciliation? so far what we've seen in the bill, a few things: first, they would like to extend medicare to include vision and dental over a series of years. and they would have medicare negotiate drug prices.

that medicare has such leverage in the industry, and could completely change what people pay in drugs, and it would be based on wa other countries pay. the issues here: moderate democrats are worried that medicare would go too far, change the drug pricing for too many drugs and the american drug companies will be harmed. they're in the minority, but they are enough to potentially hold up the bill. >> nawaz: another thing we've heard them talking about is making historic investments in child care, especially after this first pandemic year. where is the agreement here? >> lisa: a reminder on child care, we have an affordability problem when it comes to child care. when you look at 41 strearld nations, we're almost at the bottom. brandy jones lawrence is with the college education center. >> in more than 40 states -- i think 40 states plus the district of columbia, the cost of child care is upwards of a

mortgage payment for an average family. >> lisa: my apologies, that is brandy jones lawrence. the democrats would cap child care costs based on income. there would be a tax credit. they would continue the current tax create, $3600 per child. would they limit it based on income, that's the question. >> nawaz: talk about raising the debt ceilings, funding the government, where do we stand on those? >> lisa: it looks like democrats will have a way to fund the government past thursday. we should learn about that tomorrow. we're cutting it close. on the debt sc ceiling, there two ways, the hard way or the excruciating hard way. we're going to watch it day by day, week by week. >> nawaz: we'll be watching it. thank yoso much, lisa. >> nawaz: and for more on democrats' plans, i'm joined by the chairman of the house budget committee, representative john yarmuth of kentucky.

>> nawaz: welcome back to the newshour. always great to see you. >> thank you. >> nawaz: let's talk about the infrastructure bill and the reconciliation bill. they have been moving through together, speaker pelosi decoupled them. you have some of your progressive colleagues calling that a betrayal. do you agree with that? >> no, it is not a betrayal. what we're trying to do is navigate a very, very precarious waterway right now, where we have no margin in either the house or the senate. we can lose three votes in the house. no votes in the senate. and we have some differences of opinion about how we can get these two major initiatives done. the good news is, two things: one is, both the moderates and the progressives -- i'm a progressive -- both groups want to get both of them done. and the second thing is they're both overwhelming popular with the american people. if i might add a third, these things are both

things we absolutely have to do to serve the country well, to serve the american people. so i'm convinced that ultimately we will get them done. we'll compromise. there is always compmise. i never doubt nancy pelosi's ability to, again, navigate these very precurious waters. i think all of those factors mean we'll get them done. >> nawaz: so, congressman, i guess the question is how? how do you navigate that tough path? in what order do they move through and how quickly? >> i think what is going to happen in the next 48hours -- and the good news is nobody will remember i said this, but i think over the next 48 hours, there will be enough agreements reached on the specifics of what will go into the build back better act, which is the larger bill, that's the partisan bill. and that the moderates -- the progressives will say, okay, we're confident enough we can support the

infrastructure bill. remember, if one goes down, they both go down. i think that is kind of the eternal truth here that we're dealing with. and, you know, i feel good about the fact that really we're only talking about eight to 10 democrats who are really laying down the red lines, and i think we'll overcome that. >> nawaz: but you need many of those eight to 10 democrats. i'm curious why you think -- with the language we've been seeing, why you think those progressive democrats will be willing to basically take a leap of faith? you're saying they would sign on to the infrastructure bill with enough assurances that what they want will be in the reconciliation bill? is that what you see happening? >> i think this is a question of good faith right now. and i think there is a question on both sides as to whether there is good faith. i've heard conversations behind the scenes, and, you know, on the staff level, and i don't think

the positions nearly as rigid as what we're seeing and hearing in the public arena. >> nawaz: you're saying what we are hearing from senator bernie sanders, for example, telling hem to vote against the infrastructure bill, there is a different message being delivered behind cled doors? >> yes. and jayapal, the chair of the progressive caucus, she has acted very responsively throughout this. she is advocating very strongly for her priorities and the priorities of the progressive caucus, but she has left enough of the door open to allow her to say we believe we can get bo of these done. we'll go ahead and not kill the bipartisan bill on thursday if it comes up for a vote on thursday, which the speaker has said it would. >> nawaz: a follow-up, and you said "if," and do you think that vote will happen on thursday? >> the last word i got

from the speaker is yes. >> nawaz: i have to ask you about two other major things you have to deal with on your plate, and that is government funding and raising the debt ceiling. the republicans have blocked that bill that would do both. and you have some looloomingdeadlines, so what's e deal? >> we're going to pass tomorrow some looming resolutions, and the republicans and the democrats said they will support it. i think we'll get that done before the deadline on thursday night. as for the debt ceiling, according to yellen, we have to somewhere around the 18th of october, so we have some time. what i'm hoping will happen, we're going to pass in the next couple of days, and we call it clean debt limit suspension, which means there is nothing else on it. what this will do would be to put senate republicans in a very interesting spot because there is no way they can hide their vote. they will be voting default on the full faith and credit of the united states.

i don't think that is where anybody in congress wants to be. and, you know, mysenator, mitch mcconnell, who has bizarrely said we absolutely have to raise the debt limit, but i'm not going to help you do it and neither will republicans, and that is like a mother saying, i know my baby needs to have food to eat, but i'm not going to feed her, i'm going to rely on the nasty woman across the street. it is an amazingly irresponsible position to take. one option is, and i hope this is the case, at least 10republican senators are sane enough to say we're not going to let the nation default, and we'll break ranks and help the democrats pass the suspension of the debt limit. if not, we'll probably have to resort to a reconciliation resolution that will take some time. it generally takes at least 10 days, probably two weeks to get done. we'll do it on our own. the other option, which is the one that makes te

most sense, is we put this bill up to suspend the debt limit, and then republicans just don't filibuster it in the senate. so they get their wish. democrats will raise the debt limit, or suspend the debt limit by themselves with no republican help, just don't filibuster. that is actually a pretty easy solution. >> nawaz: let me ask you about that path ahead if you have to move without republican support, because mitch mcconnell said they're unified to their opposition to raising the debt ceiling. you said you didn't have enough time for democrats to be able to move ahead without republican support. janet yellen saying october 18th -- do you have enough time? >> it is close. it is a 10 to 14-day process. so if we started it on monday, the 3rd or the 4th-- that gives us -- if we can get it done in two weeks, it is up

against the limit. it is really playing with fire. we have seen some of the havoc that can be created by this. we saw the dow jones industrial average plunge 500 points, and bond rates are changing because of the uncertainty. so we really need to do this. we have never defaulted on our debt in 100 years since this debt ceiling was put into the law. we need to get rid of the law, actually. >> nawaz: that is a lot to follow on capitol hill. we know it is a busy day for you. we appreciate you making the time. that is congressman john yarmuth, chair of the house budget committee joining us. thank you, sir. >> you're welcome. thank you. >> nawaz: new york state has become the first in the nation to require all healthcare workers to get a covid-19 vaccine, or face being fired. before last night's midnight

deadline, there was a dash for vaccinations. of the 450,000 hospital and nursing home staff and other healthcare workers, the governor's office today reported that more than 90% have gotten at least one shot. but, as john yang reports, many hospitals are bracing for staff shortages if they have to lay off workers or some leave the profession altogether. >> yang: amna, while new york governor kathy hochul says the vaccine requirement is needed to try to curb the spread of covid, she acknowledges the problems it may create for hospitals already strained by a surge of cases caused by the delta variant. she's declared a disaster emergency, opening the door for health care workers from out of state, and even out of country, to practice in new york. >> it reflects my priority to stop this virus dead in its tracks. we are over it. we are done. we want to move on. and the only way we can do that is to ensure that everyone is vaccinated-- but particularly individuals who are taking care

of the people who are sick. >> yang: to see the effect on one health care operation in new york, we're joined by tom quatroche. he's president and c.e.o. of the erie county medical center, which operates a hospital and a nursing home in buffalo, new york. mr. quatroche, thank you very much for joining us. what's been the compliance with your staff so far on this vaccine requirement? >> well, thank you for having me. we're down to about 5% in the hospital, of folks that had to go on unpaid leave as a result of the vaccine mandate. in our nursing home, it's a little different situation. about 20% of our workforce is on unpaid leave. ad that's kind of a common theme among nursing homes, because some of the workers are on lower on the wage scale. they're able to make other choices, and get out of health care if they choose to be unvaccinated. so for us, it's a challenge because obviously patients need to be discharged from the hospital to nursing homes. so, it's kind of clogged up a lot of hospitals, with patients who really belong in nursing

homes but are stuck in hospitals. >> yang: and what are those numbers doing to your operations, in terms of elective surgery and that sort of thing? >> so, about a week ago, we started seeing this effect that i discussed, about nursing homes kind of not accepting our patients. so, we had the highest census we ever had in history, with 56 people waiting in the e.r. so we took some mitigating steps. we stopped elective inpatient elective surgeries. we stopped many of our outpatient visits. we stopped medical i.c.u. transfers to rural hospitals, and other, lower-- lower levels of care. so, we took some mitigating steps. it did have an effect on lowering the volume. right now, we have a lot of people that remain, taking extra shifts for us, and we incentivize them to do that. and that's working very, very well. but, you know, this is a longer- term problem. in the short run, we're managing the situation, but we're very concerned long-term because we had some of these staffing issues prior to the decision to do a vaccine mandate.

>> yang: and you say, at least in the hospital, a lot of the unvaccinated workers are so far being put on unpaid leave. you're not severing them altogether from employment. are you hopeful that they'll come around, that they will eventually become vaccinated? or, what's the situation? >> yeah, we weren't certain what the actions of the state would be around the date, so we wanted a little bit of flexibility with those workers. they do have 30 days before their employment will be terminated. and, there's some question around exemptions, and religious exemptions, and those types of things. for us as a public institution, it's very hard to sever somebody from employment, then bring them back. so, we have-- we have a unique challenge in that regard. that's why we decided to do the unpaid leave. >> yang: are you talking to them at all? >> we are. many people-- actually, as a result of the incentive to work extra shifts, which is obviously extra money-- some of them came back and received vaccinations because of that. so, you know, you never know what's going to work and getting

somebody motivated to be vaccinated. but, you know, as we continue to educate and i hope colleagues continue to talk to them about the importance of vaccination, we'll get some folks back. but the reality is there are some people that just believe in either choice or they don't want to be vaccinated for whatever reason, and they're leaving, leaving health care. >> yang: and you said there's a difference between the hopital workers and the nursing home workers. the nursing home workers, you say, tend to be lower on the pay scale, is that right? and so, more likely to go elsewhere? >> yeah, the way the reimbursement models work for nursing homes is it really doesn't support as much nursing care as we probably should. we actually have a higher nursing ratio than many other nursing homes, but it's supported by a lot of aides. and those aides are in the range of anywhere from about $18 to $20 somewhere around there. and as you know, many, many organizations are offering that kind of wage for workers, including fast food restaurants.

so they can't get the benefits maybe that they would have in a place like ours, but they can get the same wage. >> yang: if the governor had not placed this mandate, or placed this requirement on-- on health care workers, had you been considering doing it on your own? >> we hadn't. we had not considered that. we were continuing to educate our staff, and we were also worried about the fact, if we did it, then those workers could go to another hospital somewhere else. so, it is a competitive issue for us. so, the government's doing the right thing, for all the right reasons. there's just a reaction and effect that has on the health care industry. so we're trying to work with the state government, and we're supporting the vaccine mandate, but we just need some help with the reality on the ground. >> yang: and as we said, the governor has opened the door to not only out-of-state, but out- of-country health care workers. is that something you think you might-- you might avail yourself of? >> we'll have to see if that can be helpful. we're just grateful that the

governor is trying everything that she can do in her power to-- to help us. it's a challenge. agencies across the united states are charging crazy amounts of money for agency nurses, talking $150 to $200 an hour. normally, it's about $65 an hour for an agency nurse. so the demand that's been created nationally for agency nurses is a real challenge for everybody in health care. >> yang: what, as you look forward-- you're looking ahead. what are your concerns? >> i worry about burnout of our staff. they've been through a lot during covid, and i think it was a shocker for them to think they're going to have even less people in the institution. so i, you know, we worry about the long-term sustainability of these types of staffing levels and making sure that we can take care of many of the patients that come into our care. >> yang: tom quatroche, the c.e.o. of erie county medical center in buffalo, new york. thank you very much. >> thank you very much, john.

>> nawaz: well, the effects of the pandemic on children vary dramatically depending on the country. with schools still shuttered in uganda and other developing nations, many children have no choice but to work to survive. in africa, more than a fifth of all children, or se 87 million kids, work. special correspondent fred de sam lazaro reports from kampala. >> reporter: it looks like a scene set in the middle ages. a gaping, sprawling stone quarry just outside uganda's capital. it is also a gravel factory-- all of it done by hand. large, small, and very small hands. evelyn is 11 years old. she works every day, balancing on a makeshift ladder to crack open the rock face. her family will then pound the larger rocks into gravel with crude hammers. for some, the only available tool is a larger rock.

braving sun and rain, evelyn's mother, sylvia naggujja, who has done this work for more than a decade, labors by her side, next to six brothers and sisters. for all this work labor, they earn less than $2 a day. that's the whole family. >> we go and break stos. like, that plastic jerry can, you see there? we fill it, at 300 shillings for each jerry can. >> reporter: it's exhausting, dangerous work, a scene repeated at dozenof sites in the area. accidents and injuries are common, especially among young children. >> life is not okay. when i break these stones, sometimes they cut my fingers. sometimes the small pebbles fall into my eyes. life is not good. another time a big stone hit me on the head, right here. >> reporter: but what weighs on evelyn most is her life before the pandemic. aside from a few weeks between uganda's two covid

surges, schools have been shuttered across this country of 44 million. >> ( translated ): i miss school. i miss work at school. i work every day. i would like to be a doctor or a nurse. i wanted to go to school, go to university, possibly go abad and help my mother. >> reporter: it is not uncommon to see young children doing hard work, fetching water or wood for the family cook stove. but whether in quarries, mines, or farmland, more and more children are being forced to work for their survival. 2020 was the first year in two decades that saw an increase in child labor around the world. and, with the pandemic devastating economies, the united nations says the problem is getting much worse. it issued a report, along with the international labor organization, that found 160 million children, some as young as five, working in child labor, many doing tasks that directly threaten their health and safety.

>> i saw a nine-year-old in a gold mine. >> reporter: as the mother of a nine-year-old herself, human rights advocate angella nabwowe kasuleays the encounter stopped her in her tracks. >> i was practically looking at my daughter doing that work. i talked to this girl. she lives with her grandmother. they have nothing. nothing! a nine-year-old, in a gold mine. it inot right. it's not. >> reporter: she says years of progress have been wiped out by the pandemic, as has the income and prospects of a large number of uganda's poorest people, who live hand-to-mouth in the mostly-informal economy. >> the official data is that 23% of that lost everything. they do not have any source of

what? income. because of covid-19. >> reporter: it's not just income. for many childre the loss of school has deprived them of a reliable meal each day. as we saw in this school in 2017, meals are often provided across the developing world to boost both nutrition and attendance. that all stopped when schools closed. >> food is a basic right! people don't have what to eat. and what is the effect of that? >>t's been pretty catastrophic. >> reporter: tyler dunman, a lawyer with a human rights group, is on loan to uganda's director of public prosecutions. unlike children like evelyn, who work with their parents, many have been trafficked into labor, he says. it's illegal, but enforcement is spotty-- complicated further by the pandemic. >> often they're finding themselves on the streets begging, or being forced to sell things, or as they call it, "hawking" things here. those situations have increased

exponentially. >> reporter: so has trafficking into the sex trade, he says. young women are particularly vulnerable. and, there's another risk. social workers we talked to say they've seen a spike in teen pregnancies. >> ( translated ): i'm 15 years old. >> reporter: we visited esther in this kampala slum. she enjoyed school and got good grades, and when school stopped, she took a job in a food stand to help out the family. then she became pregnant-- the result of boredom and rebellion, she now admits. when the baby arrives in february, school will be out of the question; impractical, she says, and unaffordable. >> ( translated ): i was studying to become a doctor. i missed the company of my friends. we used to sit down there. we would talk, would be reading books. >> reporter: what is your dream for your future? >> ( translated ): my dream is, if i have a chance, i want to

learn how to weave hair, do hair, and in the process, be able to start my own business. >> how do they survive? because their parents cannot meet their basic needs. >> reporter: rogers mutaawe runs the uganda youth development link, uydel, part of a team of charities that work with at-risk youth. since march of 2020, the number of young people they're helping train for safer jobs has nearly doubled. when we visited, they were learning baking-- cupcakes on this day. >> and so, we are trying our best as a program as an organization to be able to give them a second hope, to give them some a future to their lives. because most cases is young people have been vulnerable. they've been left alone, they have low self esteem, they have depression, they've been victimized. >> reporter: he took me to meet 14-year-old christopher. two years ago, he dreamed of being a professional soccer player after completing school. what was your favorite subject? >> math and ience. >> reporter: now he works from 4:00 in the morning until the national curfew at 7:00 p.m.,

at a food stand inampala's banda slum. his mother, harriet namoulondo, sells meat kebabs nearby. it is not enough. are you able to buy enough food for the family? >> ( translated ): we do not eat after lunch. that's the end. we stopped eating dinner long ago. >> reporter: for its part, the government hopes to open schools by the new year, by when it hopes teachers and staff will be vaccinated. health minister dr. jane ruth aceng. >> we are losing, you know, a generation of people, who would later on become economically productive, and steer this country ahead. we are doing our best working with minister of education, to ensure that open schools as quickly as possible, but also open schools, not to close them again. >> reporter: opening schools is only step one inhat many activists say is a lonroad to repairing a public education

system that is desperately short of the resources children and their teachers need. although tuition is free, various fees and expenses for uniforms put school out of reach for many low-income ugandans. evelyn's mom says she will do her best to send her and her six siblings back when schools reopen. >> ( translated ): i dream for my children to be okay. to be able to support themselves in the future, and also to be able to support me. i want my children to have a good life. >> reporter: "for now, i'm grateful for one thing," she said. "none of my children has gotten ill or seriously injured." for the pbs newshour, i'm fred de sam lazaro, just outside kampala, uganda. >> nawaz: and fred's reporting is in partnership with the under-told stories project at the university of st. thomas in minnesota.

>> nawaz: farmers across the country are struggling to keep their livestock cool enough, amid rising temperatures and dangerous heat caused by climate change. as iinois public media's dana cronin reports, livestock producers are searching for ways to keep their animals safe. >> reporter: it's feeding time on borgic farms in raymond, illinois. hundreds of 12-week-old pigs are crammed into a long barn, climbing over each other in search of feed. it's pushing 90 degrees today, and the air here is humid and heavy with the smell of pig manure. phil borgic owns this farm. he just turned on eight massive cooling fans with six-foot blades to suck the hot air out of the barn. >>nd then if the temperature comes up like this afternoon and it gets warm enough, then we'll turn on the water. but the first thing that comes

is a beze. and then it gets warmer yet then we bring out the garden hose and hose down the kids and cool them off. >> reporter: borgic's parents bought the farm in the 1950s, when most livestock farming was done outside. as the climate warmed over the years, they've since moved things indoors to help keep the pigs safe from increasingly high temperatures. >> as we went through time, our fans kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger to pull more air through and over the top of the pigs, and they get that heat out of there. and in the beginning, we didn't add water. and so as we learn, we started adding that sprinkle of water then to help cool them off some more. >> reporter: average temperatures in illinois have already gone up by between one and two degrees fahrenheit over the past 100 years. right now, the state sees about a week of temperatures above 95 degrees during the summer. climate scientist and university of illinois professor don wuebbles says if we continue

emitting high levels of greenhouse gases, the state will only get hotter and the heat will last longer. >> if you look at the high scenario, which is what we're following right now, most of the summer ends up being above 95 degrees. again, very different illinois than we have right now. >> reporter: those scorching temperatures threaten not only farm animals' comfort and health, but also their productivity. amanda stone researches heat stress in dairy cows at mississippi state university, and says when the heat index is above 68 degrees fahrenheit-- much cooler than the 90 degrees here today-- a cow's milk production can decrease up to 25%. >> so if a cow is producing 100 pounds, during periods of heat stress, she's only producing 75 pounds. >> reporter: and it's not just cows. it's goats, too. every morning at 5:00 a.m., the 100-plus goats here at prairie fruits farm and creamery outside champaign, illinois file in for milking.

milk meters measure how much each goat produces per day. when it's hot, farm co-owner wes jarrell says there's less milk. and, he has noticed the changing climate is having an impact. prairie fruits farm is >> reporter: prairie fruits farm is pasture-based, meaning the goats spend most of their time outside grazing on acres of grass and shrubs. like dogs, jarrell says goats pant when they getoo hot, and take cover in the shade under trees. and, while the farm does have a couple of small barns, he says they're making plans to build a bigger indoor facility, in part because it's getng harder to keep the goats cool enough. >> in summer, when it's going to be hotter and more humid, we need the best ventilation

possible and we need protection. >> reporter: the price tag on that new barn is nearly $700,000. the illinois department of agriculture doesn't currently offer any assistance or information for farmers dealing with the effects of heat stress on their animals. jarrell says they'll have to find some way to pay for the new barn, and there are few options, except to pass the costs on to consumers. >> obviously, what we need to do is make sure we can sell the product and we can look at what customers are willing to pay. are they willing to pay any more for a product that addresses all these other societal and environmental problems that we're talking about? >> reporter: jarrell's hoping the answer is yes, so don't be surprised when you start paying a little more for your milk, pork, or goat cheese. it may just be another cost of doing business in a changing climate. for the pbs newshour, i'm dana

cronin in champaign, illinois. >> nawaz: more than 20 years ago, kara swisher decided to leave the "washington post" to cover the internet full-time. that decision has made her one of the most respected and feared journalists on the beat, holding those in the tech world accountable. she's now the host of the "new york times" podcast "sway," and the vox podcast "pivot." and tonight, swisher offers us her "brief but spectacular" take on power and responsibility within tech. >> when i was younger, i was often the person in class-- it was like, no, like, you know, the teacher would say, i'm like, no. like, no, it was a really powerful word. i love to use it. >> when i started off in reporting, you, you, you do suspecpeople, like, what are they trying to spin me? what are they trying to say? what's their messaging? what do i have to get past to

get to the real story? but actually, the real question is what they're lying to themselves about. what do they need to have said about themselves so that they can feel good about talking? and everybody has a thing. a lot of powerful people get licked up and down all day. i'm very obvious. i would say i'm obvious of which way i'm going to go. you have to respect the person's point of view. you don't have to agree with them. and you, you have to say it out loud. what i hate is when interviewers sort of shake their head and then add on layers of narration, that's really obnoxis. like, i hate that. like, you better not do that here. i have a lot of information before i talk to people. i'm very skilled at understanding when people are lying to me. i went to the school of foreign service. i was super-interested in the uses of propaganda, and i studied that in school. and i thought i would go into the c.i.a. to do that. i wanted to go into the military. i couldn't, because i was gay, courtesy of bill clinton.

we had "don't ask, don't tell." i wanted to tell, i wanted to be asked. i started my career at the "washington post." i was walking out of an interview for a book. was working on an aol, my first book on aol. it was a beautiful day in new york. and i waed out and i thought, i'm aving the "washington post." i'm going to write about the internet like this. this is going to be so big. this internet thing, this was super early in the 1990s. you could see how bad it could go and you could see how good it could go. i love tech for its ability to transform people's lives in really positive ways. i love tech and i hate what they've done to it. obviously our history is littered with powerful people, make decisions for people who are unelected, but in this case, they can see every bit of your life. now it happens that apple is very good on privacy, but what if it wasn't? my favorite interview was with elon musk. i met him when he was a nobody, so we have kind of a really interesting relationship. silicon valley, a lot of big minds chasinsmall ideas. and i think he's a big mind chasing big ideas. i've interviewed mark zuckerberg several times. i think very few people are capable of handling e responsibility he has, and he's certainly not up to the task. he's like a world leader without any world leader experience. by the way, our world leaders

are very good and they're good at better than him. and he wants to create an all enveloping universe around you of reality. and he's really bad at it. >> but you like him. >> i do. >> why do you like him? >> because he's a nice boy from chappaqua, new york, but i think he lives in a bubble and he doesn't tolerate dissent very well. i honestly think we should shut it down at this point-- you can't fix it. i'm optimistic about climate change technology. i'm confident that there are innovative technological solutions to global warming-- or living in new ways in a new environmental situation. and so i'm optimistic about that. what i'm not optimistic about is that authoritarian streaks in people will take advantage of all this information and be able to control people in ways that are both subtle and obvious at the same time. my name is kara swisher, and this is my "brief but spectacular" take on tech-- get off your phone! put it down. okay, bye! >> nawaz: you can watch all our "brief but spectacular" episodes at www.pbs.org/newshour/brief.

on the newshour online right now, health care systems that are already in harm's way of natural disasters will face th increasing threats of climate change. read more about how hospitals are coping with the potential for flooding on our website. that's www.pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. pleasee join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> the landscape has changed, and not for the last time. the rules of business are being reinvented, with a more flexible workforce, by embracing innovation, by looking not only at current opportunities, but ahead to future es. resilience is the ability to pivot again and again, for whatever happens next. >> people who know, know b.d.o.

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. hello, everyone. welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. >> all of the actions now are to stay ahead of the virus. >> with covid cases climbing, the u.s. begins rolling out booster shots. cdc direcr tells walter isaacson why she broke precedent to expand access to the doses. then -- germany's center left posted a win over merkel's party. what does it all mean be for europe and the trans atlantic partnership. and -- >> i'm optimistic about this week. it's going to take the