♪ judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight... facebook under fire -- a former employee testifies to congress the tech giant harms children, weakens democracy and lacks accountability. then... high stakes -- president biden hits the road aiming to sell his trillion dollar spending bills to moderate democrats by persuading voters in a key swing state. and... return to campus -- universities nationwide begin another school year amid the covid pandemic, facing tough decisions and hoping to avoid major outbreaks. >> this year the difference is we at least, even though we're walking a tightwire, we've got a

safety net which is the vaccine. >> all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by pediatric surgeon, volunteer, topiary artist. taylor's advice to help you live your life. life well planned. for 25 years a consumer cellular's goal is provide wireless service to help you communicate and connect. our u.s.-based customer service team while be find a plan that fits you. johnson & johnson. bnsf railway.

♪ fostering an and engad communities. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. this program was made poible by the corporation for public broadcasting and contribution to your -- thank you. >> i'm stephanie sy with newshour west, we'll return to

the full program after the latest headlines. a one-time "facebook" employee has painted a damning portrait of the social media giant. at a us senate hearing today, frances howgen charged the company puts profit before people, harms children and lies about it. she said nothing will change unless congress forces action. we'll get the details, after the news summary. the senate is headed for a new confrontation over raising the federal debt ceiling. democrats said today they are willing to pass it on their own tomorrow, to prevent a national default. but republicans are insisting on a more complicated process, and vow to block anything short of that. their leaders spoke outside the senate chamber. schumer: we do not have the luxury of using a drawn out, convoluted and risky process. we could prevent a catastrophic default with a simple majority vote tomorrow. if republicans just get out of the damn way, we

could get this all done. mcconnell: i implore them one more time not to play russian roulette with the american economy. we've been down this path before when we did not have a divided government and the party in the majority got the job done. >> meanwhile president biden ventured to michigan to push his infrastructure and social spending bills. democratic moderates and progressives remain at odds over the measures. when he returned to the white house biden declared he's open to suspending senate filibuster rules one time to quickly raise the debt ceiling. but any change to the filibuster will require 50 votes in the senate, and democratic senators joe manchin and kyrsten sinema have repeatedly said they favor maintaining the filibuster. on the pandemic johnson and , johnson asked the fda today to allow boosters for its single-shot covid vaccine. and, astra-zeneca requested authorization for a first-of-its-kind antibody treatment. it's meant to prevent infections in immuno-compromised people.

the coast guard now says something dragged a pipeline that spilled oil off southern california, over the weekend. a section of the line was moved about 100 feet and divers fod a 13-inch gash. they're investigating whether a ship anchor did the damage. the coast guard also confirms it did not investigate initial reports of an oil sheen on friday, citing lack of evidence and darkness. a three-judge panel of the ninth circuit court of appeals ruled that the california ban on private immigration jails violates federal law. gavin newsom signed the ban in 2019 to limit the states cooperation with trump era immigration policies. in france: an independent commission estimates 330,000 children were sexually abused in the untry's roman catholic church, over

70 years. today's report said some 3,000 priests were involved. in paris, the leader of french catholic bishops said they are appalled at the finding. [speaking foreign language] "what has been brought to light is frightening, and it has to be completely brought to light. and so i ask forgiveness with all my heart, and i am well aware that to get this forgiveness, we still have to work, with regard to the immense number that were implicated." >> leaders of victims groups said the report shows coverups that allowed mass crimes. the nobel prize for physics will be shared by 3 scientists for work related to climate change. japan's syukuro manabe -- based at princeton university -- and germany's klaus hasselmann created models that predict global warming. georgio parisi of italy decoded complex behaviors that can help explain forces of nature. in china: doubts over huge debts in the real-estate sector intensified today -- when a mid-size developer missed a $205 million dollar payment.

markets were already fearful that real estate giant "evergrande group" could collapse under $310 billion of debt. still to come on the newshour. california governor gavin newsom discusses prekindergarten the , oil spill and the president's imperiled agenda how universities nationwide plan to avoid covid outbreaks on campus. veterans of russia's war in afghanistan reflect on the american withdrawal plus much more. this is the pbs w eta studios in washington. judy: as we reported earlier, facebook is under fire tonight following testimony by a former employee before a u-s senate committee. she alleges the company too frequently turns a blind eye to

potential harm for the sake of profit. facebook denied that in statements to the "newshour" and said it is working to make its platforms safer. william brangham has our report. >> i'm here today because i believe facebook's products harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy. >> armed with a trove of internal company documents, former facebook employee frances haugen implored senators to rein in the social media giant. >> the company's leadership knows how to make facebook and instagram safer but won't make the necessary changes because they have put their astronomical profits before people. congressional action is needed, they won't solve this crisis without your help. >> haugen appeared before the senate commerce subcommittee on consumer protection. the hearing centered on how facebook -- and especially its photo-sharing app “instagram” -- targets and impacts children, particularly teenagers.

>> kids who are bullied on instagram, the bullying follows them home. it follows them into their bedrooms, the last thing they see before they go to bed at night is someone being cruel to them. or the first thing they see in the morning is someone being cruel to them. >> haugen said facebook's own internal research proved that its products have negative impacts on kids -- including that, for 1 in 3 teenage girls, “instagram” makes negative body issues worse. >> facebook knows that they are leading young users to anorexia content. >> in an exchange with republican senator dan sullivan of alaska, she pointed to the scale of the problem for teens. >> we're going to look back 20 years from now and all of us are going to be like what in the hell were we thinking when we recognize the damage that it's done to a generation of kids. do you agree with that, ms. haugen? >> when facebook made statements, has made statements

in the past about how much benefit instagram is providing to kids' mental health, ke kids are connecting who were once alone, what i am so surprised about that is if instagram is such a positive force, have we seen a golden age of teenage mental health in the last ten years? no we've seen escalating- >> we've seen the opposite, right? >> we've seen escalating rates of suicide and depression among teenagers. >> for its part, facebook has rejected these criticisms, and says its internal research about instagram has been taken out of context. >> franc haugen did not work on child safety or instagram or research these issues and has no direct knowledge of the topic from her work at facebook. >> but last week, amid criticism in response to some of these revelations, facebook paused a plan for a new “instagram kids” feature for those under the age of 13. haugen resigned from facebook in april, fed up she said with the company's inaction. today, she

laid ultimate responsibility on “facebook” foundernd ceo mark zuckerberg. >> in the end the buck stops with mark. there is no one currently holding mark accountable but himself. we are responsible for the organizaons we build. mark has built an organization that is very metrics-driven. it is intended to be flat, there is no unilateral responsibility, the metrics make the decision. unfortunately that itself is a decision. and in the end, if he is the ceo and the chairman of facebook he is responsible for those decisions. >> throughout the hearing, facebook came under bi-partisan scrutiny, as the senators found rare common ground criticizing the social media juggernaut. >> the damage to self-interest and self-worth inflicted by facebook today will haunt a generation. >> facebook is not interested in making significant changes to improve kids' safety on their

platforms, at least not when that would result in losing eyeballs on posts or decreasing their ad revenues. >> facebook also rejects the claims that its endangering its users to maximize profit. in a statement, facebook's director of policy communications, lena pietsch said, "we've invested heavily in people and technology to keep our platform safe, and have made fighting misinformation and providing authoritative information a priority. if any -- >> at the hearing, haugen didn't recommend breaking up facebook, but called for increased federal oversight. >> if you split facebook and instagram apart, it's likely that most advertising dollars will go to instagram and facebook will continue to be this frankenstein that is endangering lives around the world, only now there won't be money to fund it. >> in the past facebook has repeatedly said in a backs smart regulation of social media companies and today's disputed

much of her testimony pointing out she was a junior employee. she says that we do not agree with many of her characterizations. we agree on one thing. it is time to create standard rules for the internet. while today showed a clear rule -- while today revealed a clear bipartisan consensus for action, there's no timetable for when that might occur, or what shape it might take. for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham. ♪ judy: as we reported, president biden spoke in michigan today on the need for his infrastructure and social spending plans, as negotiations over both bills are underway on capitol hill. yamiche alcindor talks to two leaders in michigan about what the state needs and the potential impact of the biden agenda.

>> howell, michigan - a detroit suburb - is part of a county that president biden lost in 2020. today, he made the case there that his agenda would benefit all americans: >> these bills are notbout left vs. right or moderates vs. progressives or anything that pits americans against one another. these bills are about competitiveness vs. complacency. they are about opportunity vs. decay. they're about leading the world or continuing to let the world pass us by which is what's happening." >> here to talk about the president's pitch, i'm joined by nick proctor. he's the mayor of howell and attended the president's remarks. and congresswoman lisa mcclain. she represents the northeastern part of the state. thank you so much both of you for being here. president biden only got 38%f the vote in between 20 election. a lot of your residence did not support him. youaid that you did not vote for president biden. you do support his

infrastructure plan. talk to me about howou square how your residence support present bidens and the structure plan. >> i kinda view this a little differently. it is not who we voted for or who we did not award. we were excited to have a visit by the president. we were very happy that he came here to pitch his build back better program. as a president said in his remarks today, this is not a partisan issue on infrastructure . we all use roads and we all turn on the water. we expect the water be treated. this is not a republican, democrat, independent issue. this is an in -- american issue i do support the bill back better program. i think most people what. the key is how it will be paid for. i think the president was very clear on this planet how it will be paid for.

here in howell we have $45 million in capital and amber structure needs. the bill is very large. we do not know what will come to the state of michigan war howell. -- or howell. if it passes we hope to apply some of that bill back better money to our capital needs. >> he talks about the amber structure package being bipartisan. you yourself -- it would help to million children in michigan and reduce child poverty. ericans largely back and support the president infrastructure plans. why do not support them? >> when you talk about infrastructure, and need to be that, infrastructure. only 10% of the bill actually

deals with infrastructure, roads, bridges, waterways. here in michigan, we are in need of infrastructure. our roads and bridges are crumbling. we definitely need infrastructure. we do not need all of the other pork that is in this bill. here is an example. it is like me saying to my husband that i will take the car to get an oil change. it is needed to continue to maintain the car. then i come home with a new for ari. -- new car. that is what this bill is. i would be happy to support and infrastructure bill. i would not be happy to support a bill that will burden our children and grandchildren with more debt than we know how to pay for. >> when you say this would burden children and has a lot of pork in it, the white house

points out that this would provide high-quality preschool to three-year-olds and four-year-olds in michigan. it would also provide meals. what you say to the average woman, average mother, average family that wants human infrastructure and investment in the families? >> i would say that is not traditional infrastructure. if you want to talk about those bills in an educational form, i am happy to do so. those are not infrastructure. what the american people need is a little bit of truth and transparency and consistency. i am not opposed to talking about those. let's talk about infrastructure when we talk about infrastructure. let's talk about the other things at a later date. >> when you make about what the congresswoman is staying? >> i do not necessarily disagree with her. she has probably read the bill.

i have not. i do not know what pork is in it and what is not truly infrastructure. the president talk today, about two separate issues, the physical infrastructure and the human investment in that infrastructure. i focus on the physical infrastructure. that is what our community needs. we have about $45 million in capital infrastructure needs here. i focus on the physical infrastructure. i am hoping that congress can move the physical infrastructure aspect. >> congresswoman, there are those that are looking at the way you talk about infrastructure and say that is one way to look at it. the president is expding it saying that investing in families and health-care workers should be part of the larger infrastructure. why is that wrong when you see families that want help, one child poverty reduced in the state. >> i do not want to make people

dependt. i want to give people an opportunity to work. i want to give people an opportunity for the american dream. we hav11 million jobs that are not dealt right now. we have labor shortage. t's get people back to work and back to school. and put the power back in the people's hands. >> congressmen mcclain and never proctor i appreciate both you coming on. >> thank you for having us. ♪ >> a key focus of president biden's larger spending plan cents on climate change and expanding universal kindergarten. i spent -- spoke with gavin newsom earlier today just after he signed a

$123 billion bill that would, among other things, expand pre-k and provide an extra year of kindergarten for some children. governor newsom, thank you very much for joining us on the newshour. you're receiving congratulations right now for defeating this recall, but the challenges don't get any easier. and let's start with one of them education. you're announcing today a major investment in what you're calling transitional kindergarten summer, similar to pre-kindergarten. tell us why it is worth this major investment. billions of dollars. what are you trying to accomplish? newsom: i think we appropriately and understandably talk a lot about the achievement gap, but i think we don't talk enough about the readiness gap. people aren't left behind educationally as much as they start behind, and i think that's one of the fundamental things we have to address as a nation that if we're going to address the issue of wealth and income disparities, we've got to begin at the beginning prenatal care.

the power of sort three in particular, but also prepare people as they move towards kindergarten, prepare them with high quality intervention. and so we're providing for brand new grade this year to pay for all. it's a long overdue in california, but i think it's foundational in terms of our educational capacity and leadership. >> and governor, you know, even those who like the idea say this is going to be a daunting challenge to find. what they're saying is something like twelve thousand five hundred new teache to teach these children. this at a time when during the pandemic, i read california's law. something like fourteen thousand mostly women are teaching young children. how do you find these people and how do you pay them what would be considered a decent salary? newsom: it's the right question, and it's a challenge all across the united states, and this is a challenge preexisting challenge before this pandemic, of course, highlighted as a consequence of the pandemic. so that's why we put in our budget this year, quite literally two point nine

million dollars, almost three billion dollars. answer our questions to focus oretention bonuses for hard to teach subjects and low performing school districts, as well as recruitment strategies and professional development. so >> >> and you do have is, as i mentioned, thousands of women leaving the workforce, including teachers. this has now become a national issue. as you know, president biden has universal pre-k as part of his big social spending measure that is facing a rough waters at this moment in congress. for some of the same reasons even, i mean, republicans are against it, even some democrats who say it's going to cost too much right now. what's at stake here? newsom: i mean, it's foundational going on. iill say this as someone that is a very stronsupporter of what's going on in washington, d.c. and the president's packag we're not waiting around for every core principle that they're trying to advance in the three and a half trillion dollar package. california is already

advanced from a free community college to preschool for all, expanding by close to a quarter million under child care slots, and we're focused with a $15 billion package on climate change. that said, even a state the fifth largest economy in the world as large as california, can't do it alone. and so all those investments are foundational, fundamental again to our competitiveness and the future. >> you mentioned climate governor. of course, california is dealing with this massive oil spill right now off the coast of southern california, and i know there's an investigation into underway into what happened, whether a ship dropped anchor in the wrong place. but while we're waiting for that. what do yo know about the extent of the damage? newsom: i just know that it's time to move beyond fossil fuels. i mean, the future is here now. california has five times more green collar green energy jobs five times because

one of the largest oil producing states with five times more green energy jobs than we do fossil fuel jobs. it's time to -- if there is a foreign policy in california is green growth. it is punctuated by this puncture pipeline that is spewing toxic oil and killing birds and fish. impacting our economy, our public health, all at the same time. and so all this does is resolve for all of us to do more and do better to extend our nation leading efforts to transition once and for all away from fossil fuels. >> and i want to ask you some more about the national climate picture governor. but right now, as you know, there are environmental and consumer watchdogs in your state who are saying you bear some of the responsibility for what's going on with this oil spill and others. they point out that you've approved over 100 permits for oil drilling off the coast. they say you haven't done enough to clean up to get these

companies to clean up the pipelines that are already out there. how do you answer? newsom: for those who are very proud of the first governor of the first state in america to require all vehicles that are purchased in the state of california by twenty thirty five to be alternative fuel vehicles, as t first governor to call for the rejection of banning of fracking in the state of california that had to be done before. we are a large, oil producing state that said, we have an approved an offshore oil license and half a century. and we're committed, absolutely resolved and committed to working with the biden administration to do more and do better to accelerate our transition. but look, with the end of the day, we all have to acknowledge our culpability, all of us in terms of our behavior. the fact that i drove, i hear a school in the central valley, i'll be flying to southern california to see this oil spill. all of that, i think, has to be reconciled. the fact is our behavior needs to change. we need to change not just our leaders and we are resolved and committed to continue our nation

leading efforts. but those critics are right. we don't have a spare and we have to do more better. and i can assure you, i mean, just based on this recall where they wanted to increase offshore oil drilling, the folks on the other side of this recall that you ain't seen nothing yet in terms of california's leadership and resolve to address this issue. >> but just to wrap this up and back on the national picture, as you know, part of the president, president biden's plan, the so-called social spending measure, there's ney in there for climate change to address it. but there are democrats and there are certainly republicans, but also some democrats who say this money is better spent elsewhere. we don't want to rush to get rid of fossil fuels in this country. how concerned are you that this moment at that at this moment, the president's effort could end up being being killed by those who oppose it? >> so i'm very, very concerned about our fortunes. my kids are likely to live in a world with eight degree temperatures on

average higher than they are today. i do not know what more people need to see or experience. if that does not wake us up i do not know what the hell does. at the end of the day all of us are accountable. we are accountable for doing more and being better. we owe it now into ourselves but the future of our nation and the world you're trying to live in. the economic costs of neglect are jaw dropping. what is it about our country? we don't support tax cuts that we don't score the cost of disasters. we happily pay for those. but how dare we in delhi discuss the cost direct cost of being smart enough to get a return on our investment by investing in prevention and resilience? we want to fure proothis country. the biden administration wants to future proof of america. i'm proud of his leadership. i'm not proud of

the members of congress right now. gov. gavin newsom of california. >>v. gavin newsom of california. thank you very much for joining us. we appreciate it. >> good to be with you. ♪ >> millions of students returned to campus this fall for the in person college experience is the delta variant continues to affect parts of the u.s.. some schools have strict mandates for vaccination, testing and masking. in other places, that is not an option. our latest rethinking college series at two of america's flagship universities. first, in arizona. >> the records 133 at the university of arizona in tucson is a workout. throw a mask on while shuffling and sliding and it can be even harder. but sophomores say it is no

problem if it means getting back in the swing of college. >> i hear someone say we are like the second freshman because this is our first more normal experience of college. for some people, it is their first time coming to campus. >> do you feel safe on campus? >>? a we still wear masks in my classes. anything to be in person. >> for the first time since the pandemic began, college campuses are certain to look and sound once again like college campuses. the football games. >> touchdown. >> the big lectures. the spontaneous hangouts. it is just as the president imagined it a few months ago. almost. >> we thought we were heading into last summer with no problems coming in. and then delta happened. that is a real concern for us.

this year, the difference is we at least even though we are walking a tight wire, we have a safety net, which is the vaccine. >> he estimates more than 70% of the students on his campus are vaccinated. he cannot be certain. he cannot require students t tell him. >> during the covid-19 crisis -- > that is because the arizona governor has banned several mandates related to covid. for higher ed, no mandates for vaccines or testing. technically no masking mandates either. at least if they are based on vaccination status. the university of arizona a other schools are still requiring them indoors if social distancing is not possible. they say they are not discriminating against the unvaccinated if everyone needs to wear them. >> we have had great complaints. we have had no issues. >> would you like be able to say, if you're not vaccinated, don't show up here? >> i would like to be able to do

that but i cannot. we are working around the realities that we have. >> arizona's covid-19 case and death counts remain stubbornly high as in much of the nation. the delta variant is filling sickness and death. he is using workarounds. r those who vaccinate, their chances to win aim day tickets and free parking. -- toin game day tickets and free parking. gift cards to encourage testing. and more underground methods you could say. >> we know which streams go to which dorms. like testing the wastewater of individual no -- individual dorms to an outbreak early. >> poop does not lie. samples get here in this lab. the goal is to process the samples as quickly as possible. >> dr. ian pepper leads the center conducting the wastewater testing. it has helped the university

pinpoint covid positive students and get them into an isolation dorm while they are still less contagious. >> if the university did not have a system like yours,n early warning and early detection system, where would it be? >> shut down. losing $100 million. we need to keep monitoring because we are not allowed to mandate tesng of students and so the upper administration is fighting blind without the wastewater data. >> it is the kind of noncompulsory approach many believe is appropriate at this stage of the pandemic. shelley is chairman of the pima county republican party. she is focused on vaccination and masking requirements and the university she says has already crossed a line on indoor masking. >> everyone has the right to choose. if you want to wear a mask, you should wear a mask without any

feeling like anyone is retaliating against you. we should honor and respect everybody's decision to wear a mask or not. and to vaccinate or not. when you start telling people what they have to wear, what they have to do, i am never going to be in favor of that. >> the belief is widespread enough that at least 15 states, mostly in the south and west, have barred vaccine or mast mandates at institutions of higher education. within a thousand colleges and universities have vaccine requirements. most in states that voted for president biden last fall. the rules are being challenged in the courts. you know how case numbers are across virginia? >> jim ryan is president of university of virginia were 230 eight students were disrolled for failing to comply with the school vaccine mandate. >> if you're going to have a policy that requires people to get vaccinated, you need to be

willing to enforce it. >> he says it is no different than the other vaccines universities require and he feels lucky to be in virginia where a tough stance as possible. here at uva, 97% of students have shown proof they are fully vaccinated. the restave received medical or religious exemptions and submit to weekly mandated testing. >> if you asked me what is the most important thing to getting back to normal, head is the high vaccination rate. i feel grateful that we have the ability to take the precautions that are -- that our medical experts are telling us we should take. >> for now, students must be mast inside. -- must be masked inside. same goes for professors unless they are behind plexiglass. the rules feel reassuring. >> i feel way safer in all my

interactions in small classrooms knowing that i am a lot safer being vaccinated but jus as importantly people around me are vaccinated and are not at risk. that is an important part of it. it tires pack -- it ties back to the larger communities. >> the balance seems off to others. a graduate student was shocked by the national headlines about his school kicking out students. >> the disenrollment, i don't know. it is very authoritarian and severe to me. i don't like the idea of saying if you don't agree with this particular health mandate, you are no longer allowed to come back and finish your degree. >> recent national polls show that students overwhelmingly support vaccine and mast mandates even on campuses that do not have them. one ominous reason may be that several universities from texas to california to connecticut have already reverted to virtual

learning for parts of this fall as covid cases sore. that is why brock at university of arizona is not above asking his fellow students to wear a mask whether it is required or not. >> i say we don't want to go backwards. this is for the sake of your college experience. some girl walked in and she said -- i was like you have a mess on your? she was like you are right. i don't want to go back on zoom. that is right. say it again. >> for now, drew and his friends are holding their breath that this feeling of a real college experience less. they know what it feels like to lose it. ♪ >> as the united states continues to manage its fallout from the withdrawal of afghanistan, in moscow, there is

a sense of deja vu. the war the soviet union fought lasted for a decade. from 1979101989. but russian veterans who were there as the ussr left see some differences between the soviet and american withdrawals. our special correspondent in moscow reports. >> withdrawals from afghanistan go throughout history. for the u.s., it was the soviets who left in 1989 10 years after they invaded on christmas eve, 1979. officially ty had been invited by the socialist afghan government to help fight them lucia how dean and set up a 16th republic of the soviet union. partly because soviet officials worried afghanistan's new leaders would start to forge closer ties with the unit states. after a bloody decade in heavy it soviet -- and heavy soviet losses, the soviets withdrew. these paintings are on display at russia's union of afghan

veterans. embers work to help fighters of moscow's old war and pass on what they have learned to young russians. >> you see the words glory to the soldiers of the fatherland, glory to the sounds of the motherland? this is how we left. today the americans just left -- just ran away and that is it. >> he fought as a paratrooper for the soviet union. when he compares the recent american withdrawal to the soviet one, he sees a stark difference. >> in 1989, the withdrawal operation was being prepared. it was orderly. if you want archived footage, you will see along the whole route of the soviet army big celebrations. soviet soldiers were congratulated. there was this unity and peace and friendship. there was no such disgrace that is happening in afghanistan today. >> the government moscow left in place teetered for four years. then the country collapsed into a brutal civil war that ended

when the taliban came to power for the first time in 1996. he has sympathy for the u.s. soldiers who fought over the past two decades. one veteran to another. >> our problems are the same. you have been used. you have gone through all that. next comes a new step. in 1979 to 1989, 15,000 soldiers died and 35,000 were wounded in afghanistan. it is estimated more than one million afghans died in that war. elion's more fled the country. snapshots of the decade-long conflicts are on display at the afghan war museum in moscow. igor has collected weapons, armor and books to keep alive the memory of his friends and colleagues, often donated by their families. >> parents often don't have much. some don't even have photos of their children in military uniforms. many did not have the time before quickly being sent to

afghanistan where they were killed in battle. >> he believes there is a fundamental difference between the motivations of his comrades and those of u.s. troops. >> their duty is completely different. they are mercenaries. they do it for money. we did it out of patriotic duty. >> you can read the comments of soldiers who came to the museum to seek answers and compare their experiences in afghanistan. he fears the story of russian involvement in the country is not over yet. >> it is unpleasant for us that this allas happening on the border of the former soviet union because this can grow bigger and spillover. this would mean more victims, a new war and new refugees. america is far away and other countries are close by. >> from the kremlin, the change in the balance of power in southwest asia means a change of approach is on the horizon. russia has learned painful lessons from afghanistan. ones which the u.s. is grappling with today.

with the tides now turn, moscow seeds opportunity in what it views as america's humiliation. to do that, russian president vladimir putin c is to the taliban as a necessity -- sees talking to the taliban as a necessity. >> the quicker the taliban joins the family of let's say civilized nations the easier it will be to somehow influence them and ask questions. remind them that civilized relations require of being civilized rules. in case of disintegration, there would be nobody to talk to. that is the threat to our neighbors d allies. >> that russia is maintaining dialogue with taliban representatives is incensed today's opposition communist party, the descendant of those 40 years ago >>. this is a disaster. i cannot imagine how the taliban organization banned in russia, banned in russia has to interact

with and meet with them. you tell me this organization is prohibited by law. how can you meet them? how can you negotiate with them? they cut off heads. they cut people like animals. >> at the museum in moscow, american cold war propaganda posters no ring darkly ironic. to many russians, the message is not reversed. russians know that conflicts have consequences. the failure of the soviet afghan war helped bring about the collapse of the ussr. afghanistan leaves an imprint on every foreign power that intervenes. ♪ >> the united states recently passed another tragic milestone. covid-19 has no claim to lives of more than 700,000 americans.

william is with the author of a new book about the failed u.s. response and how it can do better next time. >> as we near two years since this coronavirus first emerged, plenty of questions remain as to why the u.s. suffered so badly compared to other nations. why did this virus not only kill so many americans and because so much emotional and financial ruin, but why did it divide us so badly? a new book is out that tries to address these questions. it is called uncontrolled spread. why covid-19 crush does and how we can defeat the next pandemic. the author ran the food and drug administration from 2017 to 2019. thank you very much for being here. there are some of the elements you recap in this book china sea quincy, our fixation -- in this book appeared china secrecy, failures of our stockpile, multiple mistakes made by

different agencies. one of the failures you keep hammering over and over was our recurrent inability to do widespread testing. can you remind us why testing is so important in the middle of a pandemic? >> testing was important particularly in this pandemic because you had a virus that has a long incubation period, meaning people could get exposed to the virus and get sick in a long interval after the exposure. there was an opportunity to get them isolated. people spread the virus when they were asymptomatic. people who went to spread the virus never developed symptoms. testing would be a very good tool to control spread. the challenge was we had prepped for a pandemic involving influenza. influenza has a short incubation period and people are not contagious until they manifest symptoms. never prepare the capacity or the planning to roll a diagnostic test at scale. >> not only did it make it

difficult for us to st where the virus was initially and give us a chance to stop it but it also when we did impose fairly draconian lockdowns, we imposed them everywhere because we did not know where the virus was and where it was not. >> when you look back at the 2005 planning around a pandemic, which is when we started this modern planning for pandemic preparedness and i was a start of that. i was in the bush administration at that time. the planning envisioned mitigation would be carried out on a city by city basis. the presumption was you would know where the virus was spreading. in the early days of this outbreak, not only did we not know where it was. we did not know where it was not. we applicant -- we blended the mitigation azure's across the country. we implemented a 45 day shutdown of non-essential businesses, an extra nares step two on the virus spread to the south later this summer, the political

support for shutdowns had dissipated people down there said you told us to shut down in the spring. we did not have to. we are not doing it again. thought a diagnostic test, we were blind tohe spreading could not target the most onerous interventions. >> you lay a lot of the blame in this book on the cdc. watching initial tests, how it gathers information, how it relays information to the general public. when you look back at the two years of this pandemic, does the cdc's respon makes sense to you? does it seem like they should have done differently or is this how the organization was built? >> it is the way we built the organization. the organization was not equipped to respond to a public health crisis of this magnitude. they are accustomed to getting bespoke data feeds and doing very careful scientific analysis and surfacing answers sometimes weeks, months after an event. they are not the joint special operations command. they're not accustomed to

servicing real-time information and surfacing partial conclusions to inform current policymaking. there was a presumption pdc had the ball. they did not have the ball. the cdc i don't think raise their hand and said we don't have this. we need help. this is not what we typically do. >> without a failure of leadership at the top to recognize that the organizations we had and the way they were structured were not up to the task and we need to on the fly admittedly deploy new tools? >> it was a failure of leadership at the top. i also think it was a failure of leadership inside the department of health and human services. they had more proximity to what these public health agencies were and were not capable of doing. the testing is a perfect example. someone needed to pick up the phone at some point in january and called the major diagnostic manufacturers and say this is concerning. we think this may turn into a global pandemic. we need to start scaling the production of diagnostic tests.

the lead time on doing that is four to six weeks. that phone call did not get made into the end of february. >> when you look at this past almost two years, you have a sense as to why we became so politicized? >> i think that is what political -- that is when political leadership comes in. have to galvanize the public to get codes -- to get consistent adherence pair there is a sense in the white house over this time that uncontrolled spread was inevitable. there was not much we would be able to do about it. the interventions were going to be costly without much benefit. i disagree with that. >> your book is full of examples of things we ought to do better from better surveillance thow we should treat this as a national security threat, which it so clearly is. lots of good suggestions going forward. how confident are you that when this crisis passes we wl actually take those lessons on board?

as you know and as you write any of the book, history keep showing us the lessons of pandemics get forgotten the minute the virus dissipates. >> i am hopeful. given the impact of this pandemic had another public health, the fact it crowded out other national priorities, change the course of history, i am hopeful we are going to recognize the devastating because of sars-cov-2 and take steps to ensure this does not happen again. that needs to be our goal. we have not engaged that discussion yet and that is surprising to me. it could be the fact we are in the throes of the current pandemic so it is hard to reflect on how to prevent the next pandemic. i don't think it is too early to begin the discussion. you don't see commissions being created. you don't see congress working on legislation. that needs to start sooner. if we get too far out from this, some of those lessons will be lost. some of the public support we need will start to dissipate. >> the book is called uncontrolled spread.

like covid-19 crushed us and how we can defeat the next pandemic. thank you very much for being here. ♪ >> she started her career working with low income communities in india where she saw her clients suffering and even dying because they could not afford life-saving medicine. she is an advocate for a more equitable health care system. tonight she gives her brief but spectacular take on the importance obuilding a global system that works for all. >> 13% of americans say they have lost a loved one in the last five years because they could not afford their medicine. that number is twice as high for people of color. en covid hit, i thi a lot of people were taken by surprise. for us in the acces to

medicines movement, we have been on the frontlines of every epidemic and pandemic of the last 30 years. we knew what was coming. we knew that governments were going to invest billions of dollars of taxpayer money on research and development for covid vaccines. therefore, companies would make exorbitant profit off of taxpayer-funded research while most of the world would not have access to the vaccine. we are 18 months in. less than 1% of low income country populations have been vaccinated. there is no plan. i grew up with a dad who worked in the pharmaceutical industry as a scientist. every time he made a discovery, he would get a patent. that patent would get framed and go up on the wall in our house. patents are supposed to be a reward given to inventors and in

return, we, the public, are supposed to benefit from that invention. but what we are seeing today is that companies hire armies of lawyers to represent their private interests and file hundreds of patents. the monopolies get longer and longer. the companies keep hiking the prices. it is americans who are crying out for relief. he cannot afford the medicines. people are rationing. they are going without. in many cases, they are dying. we live in a hierarchy of health. some people are going to get medical products first. some people are not going to get them at all. we sell that with covid when the tests and treatments started coming out. that is how the system esntially works. a more just and equitable system for pandemics would ensure that in every region of the world, we could develop, manufacture vaccines and other medical products and get them to every

countr who needed them as quickly as possible. that is what is going to be needed not just for covid in the next three years but for every epidemic that is likely to follow. we could save twice as many lives if we work collaboratively instead of competitively. as a variants continue to emerge, we are going to start to be faced with that hard truth that none of us are safe until all of us are safe. this is my brief but spectacular take on the importance of building a global health system that works for all. >> you can watch all of our brief but spectacular episodes at pbs.org/newshour/brief. that is the newshour for tonight. join us online and again here tomorrow evening for -- again tomorrow but -- again here tomorrow evening. please stay safe and we will 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 only at current opportunities but ahead to future ones. resilience is the ability to pivot again and again for whatever happens next. >> people who know know bdo. ♪ >> consumer cellular. johnson & johnson. financial services 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 got org -- tonic -- carnegie.org. the target foundation committed to advancing racial equity and accelerating 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 station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ this is pbs newshour west from w eta studios in washington and from ourureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. >>

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