captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> nawaz: good evening. i'm amna nawaz. judy woodruff is away. on the newshour tonight: biden, abroad. the president kicks off an overseas trip, meeting with key world leaders, as the fate of his domestic agenda remains uncertain. then, it's friday. david brooks and jonathan capehart break down the democratic battle over the president's spending bill, and growing distrust between some progressives and moderates. and, resisting the vaccine. why a vaccination mandate in new york city is generating fierce opposition from its police officers. >> if they were getting shot or stabbed on the streets of america at the rate they're dying of covid, there would be outrage. but instead, somehow this issue has become politicized. >> nawaz: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour.

>> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> fidelity wealth management. >> johnson & johnson. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> b.d.o. accountants and advisors.

>> the john s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> nawaz: tonight, president biden is in rome, after a day of high-profile meetings with a pope, and a president. nick schifrin has our report. >> schifrin: today in the eternal city, the u.s. sought to make sure its oldest alliance would endure. president biden and french

president emmanuel macron tried to mend a relationship that's been strained since the u.s. excluded france from a deal to provide australia nuclear submarines. today, president biden delivered a mea culpa. >> what happened was-- to use an english phrase-- what we did was clumsy. it was not done with a lot of grace. i want to make it clear that france is an extremely, extremely valued partner. >> schifrin: president macron seemed ready to move on. >> for me, what's important is that we built during the past weeks some very concrete actions in order to strengthen the partnership. >> schifrin: those actions include additional u.s. drones and other military support for french troops fighting militants in western africa, and endorsing increased european military capacity and industry. >> you are the most significant warrior for peace i've ever met. >> schifrin: earlier in the day, two of the world's most prominent catholics discussed climate change, poverty, and covid. president biden and pope francis

exchanged gifts, including a coin that president biden said his late son beau would have wanted the pope to have. in public, the two emphasize their agreements, and avoid discussing the ongoing debate inside the church over abortion. president biden supports abortion rights. the u.s. conference of catholic bishops says that should exclude the president from receiving communion. after meeting italy's prime minister, president biden claimed the pope provided his blessing. >> mr. president, did the issue of abortion come up at all? >> no, we didn't-- it came up-- we just talked about the fact that he was happy i was a good catholic, and i should keep receiving communion. >> schifrin: tomorrow, the president begins the first of two major international summits, including on climate change. away from the pleasantries, palm pressing, and photo ops, back home, the president's climate agenda-- and much of his international clout, along with it-- hangs in the balance. for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin.

>> nawaz: in the day's other news, the food and drug administration formally recommended pfizer's covid-19 vaccine for young children. the c.d.c. makes the final decision next week on the lower-dose shots for five- to 11-year-olds. meanwhile, thousands of new york city's police officers, firefighters, and others refused to comply with today's deadline to get vaccinated. they will be put on unpaid leave starting monday. we'll return to this, later in the program. there is yet more evidence of inflation heating up in this pandemic era. a key barometer of prices is up nearly 4.5% from a year ago. that's the most in 30 years. and, wages and salaries jumped a record 1.5% in the third quarter as employers paid more to attract workers. protesters turned out around the world today ahead of a u.n. climate summit that starts sunday in glasgow, scotland. in london, activists rallied in the financial district to

protest fossil fuel investments. demonstrators also gathered in tel aviv, paris, and other cities. and in rome, the u.n. secretary general warned that the summit may fall short. >> there is a serious risk that glasgow will not deliver. several recent climate announcements might leave the impression of a rosier picture. unfortunately, this is an illusion. we are still careening towards climate catastrophe. >> nawaz: president biden travels to glasgow on monday. he has called cutting the u.s. greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2030, from 2005 levels. the supreme court agreed today to consider whether the federal government can curb carbon emissions from power plants. southern australia is trying to recover from some of the strongest winds in at least a decade. a low-pressure system

roared across melbourne and the surrounding state of victoria overnight, causing severe damage. wind gusts topped 100 miles an hour in plac, peeling back roofs, downing trees and knocking out power to more than 450,000 homes. back in this country, the biden administration will try again to stop making asylum seekers wait in mexico. the homeland security secretary, alejandro mayorkas, said today that the trump-era policy did cut border crossings, but, he said, migrants faced major violence in mexican cities. separately, it was widely reported that the justice department is in talks to pay up to $450,000 apiece to children and parents separated at the border during the trump years. a u.s. military jury today sentenced the first high-value detainee being held at guantanamo bay, cuba. majid khan got 26 years for murder and terrorism charges. but, he could be released in february because he's cooperated with u.s. authorities. on thursday, khan testified

publicly about being tortured at secret c.i.a. prisons after 9/11. he's been at guantanamo since 2006. the sheriff in albany county, new york says there is overwhelming evidence for a sex crimes complaint against former governor andrew cuomo. it charges him with groping a woman last year-- a misdemeanor under state law. sheriff craig apple acknowledged today there was confusion over thursday's filing of the complaint, but he said that doesn't change the facts. >> the way it went down has nothing to do with the case. the case is a very solid case. we have great information that was obtained. we met our burden as far as probable cause, and we have filed. >> nawaz: cuomo resigned in august, after a state attorney general's report accused him of harassing multiple women. today, attorney general letitia james announced she will run for governor. republican congressman adam kinzinger of illinois announced today he won't seek re-election

next year. the five-term congressman has been a vocal critic of former president trump. he's also one of only two republicans on the committee investigating the january 6th attack on the u.s. capitol. his announcement came hours after democrs in the illinois legislature approved new congressional districts. they put kinzinger in the same district with a pro-trump republican. federal wildlife officials are proposing new protections for the mexican gray wolf, an endangered species in the southwest. the changes would remove wolf population limits, and restrict legal killing if they prey on livestock, elk or deer. environmental groups say the changes will help the species recover. ranchers say wolf numbers-- and livestock losses-- are already growing. and on wall street, stocks wrapped up a big month. the dow jones industrial average gained 89 points to close at 35,819. the nasdaq rose 50 points. the s&p 500 added nine. overall, the nasdaq and the s&p were up 7% or more in october-- the most in a year.

the dow added nearly 6%-- its best since march. and, merriam-webster dictionary is out with this year's crop of 455 newly-added words. they range from "t.b.h.," an abbreviation for "to be honest," to "super-spreader," to "fluffer-nutter," the sandwich of peanut butter and marshmallow creme. and, for fathers who eat too many fluffer-nutters, there's "dad bod"-- referring to a less-than-fit body type. still to come on the newshour: dads, you look great. still to come on the newshour: taliban takeover. facing economic collapse and looming famine, afghanistan's already-dire needs continue to grow. david brooks and jonathan capehart analyze the debate over president biden's scaled-back spending bill. filmmaker ava duvernay and athlete activist colin kaepernick team up to tell the quarterback's coming-of-age story. and much more.

>> nawaz: it's been 2.5 months since the afghan government's collapse, and the taliban's takeover of afghanistan. the u.s. withdrew days later, and since then, the economy has cratered, and a major humanitarian crisis is now underway. the threat of famine looms, and the hard afghan winter is on its way. our jane ferguson was in kabul for the chaotic u.s. withdrawal, and she's back there now. jane, it's good to see you. thanks for being there. i have to ask, this is your first time back in kabul since the fall of the kabul government, the taliban retaking over. what's it like? what do you notice? >> so far, amna, it has been an eerily, quiet situation in the streets. you can see commerce is vastly down. there's the usual traffic jams

and bustling markets are rapidly disappearing. the first thing i noticed coming out of the airport other than truckloads of taliban fighters everywhere is the complete lack of women in the street, almost none seen at all in public spheres. but what was also striking, since we've arrived, has been the sense that, although the taliban technically control this city, there isn't a sense that they have taken over a government. there doesn't appear to be a robust administration. checkpoints are happen hazard. there's a feeling it's occupied by a militia but not necessarily run by one. >> nawaz: back in the states, a new report by the inspector general for afghanistan reconstruction detailing the cost of the final months to have the war for the u.s. and more details about what equipment was left behind and destroyed. what did we learn from that?

>> as real reminder, amna, of just how expensive this war has been for the united states. we know it's been over a trillion dollars throughout the 20 years. by sigar, the special investigator, has been putting out special reports for over 12e7b years now throughout the war about the cost, and they're really looking into corruption or any issues surrounding accountability. so this most recent report has been laying out things like the fact that aircraft had to be destroyed at kabul airport before it could be abandoned to make sure that the taliban couldn't take over, that all aircraft and armored vehicles had to be sabotaged on the way out, those that couldn't be flown out to have the country. about 25% of the afghan air force planes themselves were flown out by pilots who were midair during the takeover of the country, and in a country that's facing famine, you really do feel the starkness of where money has been going here.

>> nawaz: jane, there's another detail from the inspector general john sopka, very strong words directed at the the department of defense and state, he said they unnecessarily declassified his group's reports after the kabul fell. take a listen to what he had to say. >> that information almost certainly would have benefited congress and the public in assessing whether progress was being made in afghanistan and, more importantly, whether we should have ended our efforts there earlier. yet, sigar was forced to relegate all this information into classified annexes. >> nawaz: jane, what do we know about what was classified and why? >> one clue, amna, could be the end of 2019 "the washington post" report that was called the afghanistan papers where they had to take sigar to court under the freedom of information act

to get that very information that had been classified. much of it buzz based around interviews with senior figures in the war who had actually given much more pessimistic views, much more pessimistic outlooks as to how the war was going compared with the statements that were being made by the department of defense and the pentagon. so the point was that, basically, mind the scenes,cy, sigar was gathering information that showed december sent as to how this war was going. that's an earned karat, but we also heard from sigar within this speech that essentially they're calling on -- that they've heard from the state department even after the fall of kabul for them to pull down information from online that's available to the public. so this is an ongoing row about what should and shouldn't be made public. >> nawaz: you mentioned the economic crisis, the looming famine as the winter approaches. what is needed on the ground. any chance aid will make its way in?

>> what we're seeing, amna, is some aid is coming in and being distributed to people but it's extremely complicated and patchy. don't forget this is a government now technically seen by the united states and various governments around the world as a terrorist organization, so getting aid to civilians and avoiding giving any of it to the government is actually causing even more difficulty. on top to have the dire economic collapse and the complex situation of getting aid into the country and throughout afghanistan, has massively impacted agriculture. wheat progress, the harvest this year is down by a third. that, of course, will push up prices. any authorities that exist in afghanistan now will be struggling to buy wheat from outside the country because many of their assets, 9.5 billion internationally, have been frozen. so this will mean there will be a huge shortage of wheat, basically bread that would be keeping millions alive.

now the w.f.p. says upwards of 14 million afghans face starvation if they don't get aid or jobs this winter. >> nawaz: that is jane ferguson back on the ground in kabul, afghanistan, reporting for us today. jane, good to see you. please stay safe. >> thank you. >> nawaz: in new york, this afternoon was the deadline for all city workers to get at least one vaccine dose, or go on unpaid leave. it could mean several thousand officers may be on leave as early as monday. as john yang reports, in new york and other cities around the country, some of the loudest opposition voices belong to police union officials. >> the people will not comply. >> yang: carrying signs readin“" my body, my choice,” and “no vaccine maate,” thousands of people-- including new york

police and firefighters-- marched across the brooklyn bridge this week to protest the city's directive. >> hold the line! >> today is a day in which we, the workers of this great city, stand up to unreasonable mandates. >> yang: the mandate is one of the most aggressive in the nation. mayor bill de blasio. >> if you're a city worker, you need to be vaccinated. we are here to keep you safe, so you can keep everyone else safe. we need you to keep everyone around you in the workplace safe. we need you to make sure that people who you encounter-- the people of this city, the residents of this city-- are safe. >> yang: most new york city municipal workers are getting vaccinated, with the pace picking up as today's deadline neared. today, officials said 71% of fire department workers and 80% of police employees have gotten at least one dose. but, the city's biggest police union continues to resist, and is in court to try to block the mandate, calling it “coercive,” and the threat of unpaid leave for not complying, “arbitrary

and capricious.” it prefers an earlier plan, calling for weekly testing. city and state officials are making contingency plans for possible staffing shortfalls on monday, the first day the leaves would take effect. in cities like seattle, san diego, and los angeles, police unions have urged members to resist vaccine requirements, even though covid has killed about 500 law enforcement officers nationwide since the pandemic began. that's more than all other causes of death combined. >> we have a way to prevent those cops from dying. and it's-- it's been tested. >> yang: former boston police official chuck wexler is executive director of the police executive research forum, a policy development group. >> look, if they were getting shot or stabbed on the streets of america at the rate they're dying of covid, there would be outrage. but instead, somehow this issue has become politicized.

>> yang: the clash over vaccine mandates comes as police are under increasing scrutiny with a nationwide spike in the murder rate and incidents like the death of george floyd. in many big cities, that's led to tense relations between elected leaders and police unions. >> hold the line! >> yang: in few places is it as bitter as it is in chicago, where the mayor and the police union president have long been at odds. in august, mayor lori lightfoot, elected on a pledge of police reform, ordered all city workers to report their vaccination status by october 15 or go on unpaid leave. >> keep fighting this mandate and this dictatorship. >> yang: police union president john catanzara took to social media to urge disobedience. >> do not comply with any direct order to fill out the portal, period. it is illegal. they cannot do it. >> yang: by the deadline,

almost a third of the city's more than 12,000 officers had not complied. >> for the first time in my 21-year career, i disobeyed a direct order. this is very stressful for these officers, for myself. and you know, it seems that city doesn't care. >> yang: but as union protestors gathered at city hall this week, the city is giving most of them another chance. only 27 officers have been placed on unpaid leave. the union president warns of the possibility of scores of police off the job. >> i don't know how the mayor in good conscience can force this to go forward and risk sending half the police department home and subjecting the citizens of this city to that. >> yang: catanzara says the

>> yang: catanzara says the issue isn't vaccines, it's what job requirements should be determined by negotiations. that puts officers in the middle, says chuck wexler of the police executive research forum. >> labor is saying, wait a second, not so fast. we have collective bargaining agreements. you want us to get vaccinated? fine. let's sit down and bargain for it. >> yang: and some say it could be putting public health in jeopardy. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. >> nawaz: voters in minneapolis will head to the polls next week for the first city election since the police officer killing of george floyd, in a race that could be the most expensive in the city's history. and, as special correspondent fred de sam lazaro reports, it's dividing the community over the issue of public safety.

>> reporter: on a recent afternoon in minneapolis, a small but spirited crowd withstood a gusty fall day to send a message: >> yes on 2! yes on 2! >> reporter: "two" is question two on the ballot in the election here. it's an initiative that could dramatically reshape policing and public safety in the city where george floyd was murdered a year and a half ago. the proposal has drawn support from minnesota democrats like state attorney general keith ellison and congresswoman ilhan omar. >> we're voting "yes," because there is a vision we can collectively create as a city on what public safety should look like for us. >> reporter: the plan would amend the minneapolis charter, removing the police department, and the city's requirement to fund a minimum number of officers. there would, instead, be a department of public safety that takes a "comprehensive public health approach," including police officers "if necessary."

the department would report not just to the mayor, but also the city council. and, it would likelynclude social workers, housing experts, and mental health specialists. minneapolis resident mercedes stevenson welcomes the amendment. she's a survivor of domestic violence. >> it's about expanding the public safety department. we as a community need more trained individuals to help with the mental health and emotional health crises that's going on in north minneapolis. i myself suffer from p.t.s.d., and i know that my trauma response wouldn't be the same as anybody else's response. and so, having someone trained and knows my language-- that would be comforting to me. >> reporter: but the amendment is far from universally supported. teto wilson lives and owns a barbershop in the majority black north minneapolis. >> people feel frustrated, and they don't feel safe. they feel like if-- if-- if crime happens and we don't have

the proper amount of police to deal with it, what are we going to do? i don't feel like there's enough about it that has been explained for me to feel comfortable, you know, voting for a "department of public safety." >> reporter: the north side has borne the brunt of the city's sharp increase in shootings and homicidethis year. memorials to children killed by gun violence dot the neighborhood. >> do police, you know, harm us in our communities? they have. they most certainly have. but the number of african american, you know, men, boys, little girls, you know, women, they get killed in our communities, by us, by far, i mean, by far outweighs, you know, what the police do. and so we still need to have-- people that are, you know, employed to keep our communities safe. >> reporter: critics say the amendment's language leaves the door open to "defunding" or "abolishing" police.

the "yes" campaign insists that there will still be officers-- partially because state law requires them to respond in certain kinds of cases. >> i feel like there's some miscommunication and some misconceptions about the police being taken away from the whole situation. and that's not the truth. we will have these well-trained individuals, who will be in the same office as the police. >> reporter: even as the city debates its future, the minneapolis police department continues to make headlines almost daily. about 300 officers-- more than a third of the force-- have left the department since george floyd's killing. there have been allegations of intentional slow-downs in service. and, body-camera video published this month shed light on the department's response to protests after floyd's death. >> you guys are out hunting people now. it's just a nice change in tempo.

>> yep, agreed. ( bleep ) these people. >> reporter: police chief medaria arradondo defended the department this week. he held a news conference, that "yes" supporters said violated a city policy forbidding employees from engaging in political activity. >> as your chief of police, i would not be in favor of this ballot amendment. that does not have to do whether you have an "r" or a "d" or an "i" behind your political affiliations. that is based, again, on the realities on the ground, that i see, and that our men and women are experiencing every day, including the victims of crime in our city. >> reporter: the issue of public safety has dominated an election in which all 13 seats on the city council are up for grabs-- as is the mayor's office. >> there are 17 candidates on the minneapolis mayoral ballot. >> reporter: the incumbent, jacob frey, is voting "no" on question two. >> question two has nothing in it about accountability or reform. it is not responsive to those specific issues that people are experiencing every single day within our department. >> reporter: the winner will

be picked by ranked choice voting, and some of frey's main opponents support the public safety amendment. >> i've been clear since day one of my campaign that i support a department of public safety, and a charter amendment to create it. >> we've been just talking about, how are we going to change police?, what are we going to do about police?, but we're in a public safety crisis in minneapolis. >> reporter: the split on public safety in minneapolis mirrors a political divide in this overwhelmingly democratic city, says hamline university's david schultz. >> we have this group, which is more progressive, who are behind the police initiative, behind an initiative to reform police. at the same time, then, we also have, what we're going to call, let's say, the more centrist democrats. they appear to be opposed to changes in police funding, thinking that without changing the charter, some reforms are possible. >> reporter: so, while omar and ellison say they'll vote for the amendment, fellow minnesota democrats like governor tim walz and senators amy klobuchar and tina smith oppose it.

but, the divisions aren't just political. >> this is an election about fear: fear of police, fear of not having police. it's almost primordial, in the sense that people are just worried about, "am i going to be safe walking the streets, whether i'm white or a person of color?" >> reporter: according to the most recent polls, white residents of minneapolis-- and they make up a majority-- generally support the public safety amendment. and, even though race and policing are at the heart of the debate, most black voters oppose it. teto wilson says the numbers may reflect “white allies,” sensitized to the fact that minneapolis has some of the worst racial inequality in the nation. >> they may think, you know, "hey, yeah, we're going to side with african americans. we're going to say we don't want policing either." that's not helping u they're thinking that it's helping us, because they witnessed george floyd being murdered the same way we did. they may be thinking, "hey, you know what? let's un-guilt ourselves."

>> reporter: but the "yes" campaigners insist they are a multi-racial coalition with strong black leadership. >> we have to make sure this passes. for our children. for our elders. we have to make this step forward, so we have something sustainable. >> minneapolis has become, what? in some sense, the epicenter for race and policing in america >> reporter: hamline's david schultz says the election will have wider implications. >> if the ballot initiative were to pass, this is going to be a central issue between the democrats and republicans as they fight for control of congress. >> reporter: in what normally would be a mundane municipal election, city officials say that with several days to go, early voting tallies have already exceeded turnout from four years ago. for the pbs newshour, i'm fred de sam lazaro in minneapolis. >> nawaz: and fred's reporting is in partnership with the under-told stories project at

the university of st. thomas in minnesota. >> nawaz: while the president travels overseas, lawmakers at home consider his "build back better" framework, and virginians cast their vote for governor. there's a lot to unpack in this week's analysis of brooks and capehart. that is "new york times" columnist david brooks, and jonathan capehart, columnist for the "washington post." welcome to you both, good to see you. >> good to see you, too. >> naw: this week we got the framework for the white house's $1.75 trillion build back better plan. turking through, universal pre-k, childcare, extension of the child tax credit, climate change investment, strengthen the hca, how they're paying for it taxes on the corporations and wealthiest persons.

paid leave is now totally out. what do you make of how this shook out? >> not as good. i liked it better when it was $3.5 trillion for a couple of reasons. the core problem all the way along is the democrats unwillingness and inability to prioritize. in the original proposal, family leave, electrical chargers, healthcare and vision care for seniors, it was a grab bag. they had to cut it back to make joe manchin happy. instead of saying let's pick out what we really need to do for this country and do it well, they cut everything back a little. there's so much stuff that's sunset that will end in a couple of years, to me the most valuable sickle proposal is the child tax credit. lifts kids out of poverty, and when you don't grow up in poverty you do well in school, so a big education reform. that's extended for a paltry year now. the aca, healthcare subsidies,

five years, so future congresses could get rid of all this. if that's the case, there will be no lasting impact. there's good sells, corporate taxes and subsidies for the healthcare, but it's not what it s because they can't pass it if they drop anything so they just shrunk it. >> nawaz: jonathan, it's not what it was. the president said nobody gets everything they want, right? >> that's true. you talked about paid family leave went from 12 weeks to four weeks to no weeks. so there are things that were in the bill that are no longer there, but i'm going to be the sunny optimist for once here. even though it's not 3.5 trillion, it's 1.75 trillion, still more than has ever been spent on anything inhe history of the country, and everything in that framework is something that is beneficial to the american people, and beneficial to the country going

forward. i understand your pessimism about the child tax credit only being extended for a year, but we know how washington works. yes, future congresses could wipe it out, but once something is in law, it's kind of -- it's harded to take it out than it is to get it in there in the first place. so the fact that it survived this framework, i think, is a very good thing. pleasing manchin and pleasing sinema is something that i'm still trying to figure out how they do it, but if i could be in a room with both of them, i would say listen to david brooks, pass the thing. just take yes for an answer and let's move on. >> nawaz: i want to come to manchin and sina in a moment, but paid leave as an example, that was a signature issue. for it not to be in there at all, what kind of message does that send that the president couldn't get that done? >> it says he compromised. he wants to get something done. something had to go by the

wayside, no matter what it was, family leave or something else, it would have been really bad. i think that the president is hoping that, you know, let's not forget he's still in year one of a four-year term that maybe they can come back, especially if democrats hold the house and hold the senate, fingers crossed, that they could do it. but, you know, that's what compromise is. >> nawaz: david, what about the president overseas. is the fact it's uncertain at home, that he couldn't get the things done at home, does that complicate the case he's making overseas? >> i don't think so, amna. i'm struck with how progressive he's been on all. this bernie sanders was talking about $6 trillion, joe manchin was talking 1.5, we ended up 1.7. guess who won? joe manchin played tough, endured a lot ofriticism but got the overall top number he wanted. we'll see if he likes the guts of it. the fact the progressives said

better than nothing or made the case jonathan just made, there's a lot of good stuff in there, that shows me -- i doubt manchin would walk away at this point after having sort of won. so i expected after what has been a pretty depressing few weeks, but in a month they'll just remember it got passed. >> nawaz: the governor's race, republican candidate glenn youngkin, republican terry mcauliffe, it has tightened. pollso show 49% for mcauliffe, 48 for youngkin. this is a state biden would be by so points in 2020. democrats haven't lost a statewide race since 2009 in the commonwealth. why is it as tight as it is? >> this is ken pucinelli. this is someone who's embraced

trump, talking about glenn youngkin, without embracing trump. people are making a thing about ten out of eleven gubernatorial races, the person who won is the opposite from the person in the white house. the one exception terry mcauliffe. what people don't talk about beyond that is here mcauliffe won by three points, it was a turnout election, and what made that election an anomaly by virginia standards is that they had presidential level turnout in an off-year election, and this race has always been a turnout race. if terry mcauliffe is to win the democratic coalition, particularly african-american voters need to come out at the levels that they did last year for joe biden. >> there's clearly concern in the democratic party, though they are calling out the big guns to stump for mcauliffe. take a look. recently had both of what presit obama had to say.

>> but with terry, you don't haveo to wonder what he's like as governor, you've seen him. he walked the walk, didn't just talk the talk. >> gren glenn has been campaigning with the officials who repeated the lie of election fraud, critical race here anger. here's a clip. >> when it comes to the economy, virginia has a choice. my day one game plan will lower taxes, eliminate the grocery tax and save virginians nearly $1,500, year one. >> nawaz: david, there has been a lot o early turnout, already. do you dare to make a prediction in what happens here? >> the last week has been pretty good for youngkin so the early turnout would be more mcauliffe side. it's close because the economy suffered because to have the delta variant, and because of cultural issues. the swing in the last week can only be the cultural issues, the school board issues. there's a case more complicated than mcauliffe made it out to

seem, but sexual assault in a girls bathroom with a fluid gender guy as the alleged perpetrator, so that turned into a big thing. so it's a question are people from outside or a certain teacher or education schools imposing values that we don't agree with on us and imposing them on you are kids, and that made people angry and i think that is the issue people seized and how democrats let themselves get on the wrong side to have the issue is big. no brainer how people have diverse beliefs on gender and you have to show you have all kind of views and no tool to the left. >> nawaz: what's the message? you can't defeat every republican just by talking about donald trump a lot. that will send shockwaves through the democratic party. if they lose this in a plus-ten democratic state, it will be a bit of a panic time for democrats, i would think. >> nawaz: jonathan. it would show that fear and

anger win the day. the fact that we're having a conversation about critical race theory that is not taught in public schools in virginia, it just goes to show how republicans have decided that picking out white grievance and tap dancing with white supremacy is their way back into power, and if glenn youngkin wins, yeah, the democrats should be afraid because fear works. you know, i like to say whiteness is a hell of a drug, and going into the midterm elections, we will see just how successful it can be. >> nawaz: that is virginia. let's broaden it out just a bit because last night was something called the sames, award for the partnership of public service honoring government workers and their accomplishments. they honored everyone from wheel who led covid response, doctors and officials who led testing and ramped up vaccine trials to a hunt team for their foster program work, they helped to support kids who aged out of the

system. wonderful, extraordinary work being done by the government, yet, when you look at the latest numbers from pew, public trust in the government is down to 24%. a new number from georgetown, 63% of americans say the country is headed in the wrong direction. david, what's going on here? >> occasionally, we get to sit off the record on government agency meetings, say at h.u.d., i remember a h.u.d. meeting i was at several years ago, and i was amazed at the quality of the civil servants. i'm always struck by that. these are people who are not paid a lot of money, a lot of them vastly overqualified for the work, but they believe in. it. they're not particularly ideological left or right, they just want to do the job. so i've come, living in the swamp in d.c., i've come to really respect civil servants just because i've gotten to know and watch them operate. as for the trust, it's the

number one statistic if you want to understand politics, if you ask people from, say, 1940 to 1967, say, do you trust government to do the right thing most of the time, you have 75% answers yes, i do. vietnam and watergate comes along, plummets in the '70s, ticks up a little under clinton, reagan, obama, but been in the low 20s, and dumped down to 19. when no one trusts government to do the right thing, it's hard to rally people to say government does the right thing, just don't trust it. it's fundamental in our country, not universals. in countries across the west, they don't see levels of distrust the way we have. it pulls people in to fear, conspiracy, not wanting to get vaccinated, leads to problem after problem and how we rebuild trust in this country is a major challenge. >> nawaz: what do you think when you look at the the numbers, jonathan. >> it goes to show, when you ask people generally do you trust the government, for a lot of

people, the government is an -- a faceless malevolent blob that is harming their lives in some wway or not getting anything done. but if you were to ask those same people their opinion of the folks who won the sames, i bet their approval rating would be through the roof. when you put a face on government and show the people doing the really hard work, and david just talked about, you know, their bureaucrats, they're overqualified but they do this because they love the work and they could be making more money in the private sector and, yet, they want to serve their country, they want to do good, and i think, in the end, that is what i think the american peoply trust. it's just too bad they don't see enough of it. >> nawaz: wonderful work being done and we're grateful for it. i didn't get to ask you what your halloween costumes are but i'll let people on twitter guess.

how is that? good to see you. >> good to see you. >> nawaz: well, the acclaimed film director ava duvernay, who's behind projects includin“" the 13th," “when they see us," and ”selma,” is now the force behind a powerful new series. it's called "colin in black and white,” available today on netflix, and it tells the coming of age story of a young colin kaepernick, years before he became a quarterback in the n.f.l. and a leader in the fight for racial justice. i sat down with duvernay and the show's young star this week, to discuss what the series teaches us about kaepernick, and what it reveals about us as a society, for our arts and culture series, "canvas." >> since the day i was born, my passion, my love was being a quarterback. >> nawaz: it's the story of a

young colin kaepernick, in his own words. the years before he went on to quarterback the university of nevada team; before he led the san francisco 49ers for six seasons; and before his historic sideline protests against racial injustice. the real kaepernick narrates, looking back at young colin, played by 18-year-old actor jaden michael. >> what you start out as is not necessarily what you become. >> nawaz: the idea to focus on his early years, and serve as guide of his own story, was kaepernick's himself, as duvernay told me when we met up at the museum of modern art in new york this week. 2017. colin kaepernick comes to you and says, i want to tell my origin story. i want to tell the story of my adolescent years, of how i became to be the person i am today. what does he say to you? >> we both are in agreement with issues of justice and dignity for all.

and so, really, i think what it was saying was that we wanted to express himself in a way that allowed people to enter into a story without, you know, outside the sphere of politics. maybe the most innocent entry point is that of young people. and so i thought that was wise at the moment. i wasn't sure what he was trying to do, and i wasn't sure if i was the right person for it. >> nawaz: yet, as he told her about his early life-- being a biracial kid who was adopted by two white parents, growing up in a primarily white town, and struggling with a place that didn't regard him as black-- she decided: >> all those things became really interesting to me, as a springboard into larger conversations about race, identity, respectability, privilege. so that's what we did. >> nawaz: the unusual blend of documentary, narrative, a little graphic sensibility, was her call. >> the opportunity was to take the story and kind of scramble

it up, using different formats, different styles to activate, you know, something new. >> nawaz: part of that something "new" was taking a chance on casting jaden michael-- unknown to most of the audience. >> mom said your baseball coach called. >> about what? >> he wants you to cut your hair. >> what? >> you have to cut your hair to stay on the team. >> you're joking, right? >> it's a team rule, colin. >> makes sense. truth be told, you do look unprofessional. >> why am i supposed to look professional? i'm 14, i'm a kid. >> nawaz: why him? what was it about him that spoke to you? >> we needed someone who could be in every single scene of the series, in every scene of the series and have the chops to be able to hold the center of the frame, right? so, a great actor. and that's a tall order. a kid, three sports, and can act as his patootie off.

it was tough to find. and we got this-- this-- this tape, from this kid in new york, casting for spirit, gumption, some kind of gusto. something that the kid has that goes beyond a child actor just doing his job, but someone who's really going to immerse themselves in the characters like an adult actor. >> nawaz: six auditions and self-tapes later-- and with his mom serving as his "reader" of the other characters' lines in the script-- michael dove into the part. >> i had a call-back via zoom with aisha coley and ava duvernay, and they're on my laptop in my living room. >> nawaz: what is that like? >> oh, my god, i screamed into my pillow as soon as i finished it, like, oh my god, ava duvernay was on my computer. >> nawaz: michael got the gig. and with it, the chance to help tell the story of an american icon, a sport superstar who's changed the conversation on america's history and legacy of racism. was that intimidating in any way? >> it was intimidating from a creative perspective, because i knew if you get him wrong, if all of your mistakes are going to be highlighted. because not only is it a real person, but the real person is sharing the screen with you.

the polarizing issue here is right-- right in your face. it's in the title. it was scary at first, i was afraid of what my family, what-- what my friends with-- what the people around me might think of me. but i realized like, hey, you know, that's-- that's the reason why we should make this project. it's so that we can have this conversation, and so that wean make, you know, if i feel afraid to be who i am around the people around me in my society, then-- then i need to make this show. >> that lady downstairs, she just rolls up on me and jabs me in the back. and for what? for nothing! >> that's the manager! >> she thought you were a vagrant. >> is that really what's bothering you? >> sometimes i just feel... uncomfortable. >> i don't think anyone is trying to make you feel that way. >> nawaz: do you remember hearing about him protesting, and what you thought about it at the time? >> oh, yeah.

i was watching it on tv. i felt the fd among people in the streets and people in my family or the people around me. and, i don't know, there was something really powerful about... risking your career for someone else, that i found deeply respectable. i kind of fell in love with him from that day forward. i'd known about his n.f.l. career, because my family is a huge sports people. it takes a lot of bravery to stand up for someone else and use your platform for change. >> nawaz: one of the final scenes leaves young colin behind and brings the audience to now. >> growing up with white parents, i moved through life with the audacity of whiteness. i assumed their privilege was mine. i was in for a rude awakening. >> the backlash is growing against colin kaepernick after the 49ers quarterback refused to stand during the national anthem at a game played last friday.

>> who knows what colin kaepernick does things or why he's so unhappy. >> colin, here's my solution for you. >> not standing up for the "star-spangled banner" is the wrong way to protest. >> get that son of a bitch off the field. right now, out. he's fired, he's fired. >> this is an attack on the country. >> he's un-american and doesn't deserve to be in our country. >> all lives matter. >> nawaz: he clearly loves to be a quarterback. even has this-- a few lines when he says, i was born to do this. and yet, there is this sport that is not allowing him a place. and i guess i wonder if you think we will ever see colin kepernick in the n.f.l. again? >> oh, it's up to the n.f.l. this is a disease, a racist institution. that has blackballed him. so the decision rests with them. there's no other assumptions or conversation that's really formative or constructive. >> nawaz: the series is dedicated to “the underestimated, the overlooked,

and the outcast-- trust your power.” >> i didn't rebel, because i didn't know how. but now? >> nawaz: on monday, we heard from our student reporting labs about the tiktok trend“ devious licks”-- videos of students stealing or vandalizing school property. now, a counter-response has emerged. it's called “angelic yields.” and in these tiktok videos, students replace stolen items, or do kind acts, to improve their school. again, from student reporting labs. >> some girls are putting inspirational and inspiring quotes on the doors and on the walls, as well as putting emergency kits in the bathrooms with sanitary items, combs, and hair ties. >> they're leaving scented hand soap on the sinks in the bathrooms, or, like, they'll put toilet paper, stuff like that.

>> i've seen people going as far as taking couches and tvs in them and putting candles, too. and just leaving soap and maybe a little bit of money in there. >> i think those are funnier, in my opinion, because it's like, there's one where they put clorox wipes on every sink, and they refilled the soap, and had a table and were playing checkers, and they had classical music with candles. >> it makes me feel happy that kids are actually returning stolen goods and helping other kids, helping out the school. >> now that i've heard about this angelic yields, i will, within the next week, be participating. >> nawaz: and the kids are all right. and on the newshour online, why do so many great movie villains have an evil laugh? we break down the psychology and power behind a classic cackle on our website, pbs.org/newshour. and don't forget to watch "washington week" tonight, as moderator yamiche alcindor and her panel analyze the latest from capitol hill, and discuss

president biden's european trip. that's tonight on pbs. on pbs newshour weekend, how a guaranteed income program is changing lives in gary, indiana. that's on saturday. on sunday, a look at britain's big investment in planting new forests to help slow global warming. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. join us online, and again here monday evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, have a great evening, and a wonderful halloween weekend. ( spooky music ) >> major funding for t 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 ones.

resilience is the ability to pivot again and again, for whatever happens next. >> people who know, know b.d.o. >> fidelity wealth management. >> consumer cellular. >> johnson & johnson. >> bnsf railway. >> financial services firm raymond jas. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions

and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org ( spoo

♪ hello, everyone, welcome to "amanpour & company", here's what's coming up. >> after four decades of deception an delay it is time for the fossil fuel industry to finally change its ways. >> as fossil fuel giants testify on capitol hill, i ask is this a game-changing moment. >> then. >> the current system is bias towards bad actors. >> facebook tries to chart a new course, can it rehabilitate what critics call its toxic elements and then from hong kong to afghanistan and beyond, what the loss of freedom