♪ judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight -- >> we will stand in solidarity against russia's agression, period. judy: the world stage. president biden calls on global leaders to counter russia's invasion of ukraine, as vladimir putin drafts 300,000 more soldiers for the war effort. then, fighting inflation. the federal reserve again raises interest rates to combat rising prices, ancentral banks around the world follow suit. and, the aftermath. in the wake of hurricane fiona, puerto rico begins the long recovery process, while much of the island is still left in the dark and without running water. all that and more on tonight's

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raymondjames taylor's advice to help you live your life. life well planned. >> the walton family foundation, working for solutions to protect water during climate change so people and nature can thrive together. supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information a macfound. org. 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. judy: we have two lead stories tonight. the federal reserve has raised interest rates to their highest level in 14 years, in a move to

fight inflation. but we begin with the largest escalation of the war in ukraine since the russian invasion. overnight, russia's president, vladimir putin, announced a draft of hundreds of thousands of military reservists. president biden and the world are responding today at the annual u.n. general assembly. nick schifrin is in new york, and begins our coverage. nick: on the 210th d of russia's war in ukraine, as a russian rocket left yet another ukrainian home a mangled mess, as ukrainian soldiers maintained their momentum, evicting russian occupiers and capturing equipment as russian troops flee for their lives, president vladimir putin launched russia's largest mobilization since world war 2. >> only military reservists, primarily those who served in the armed forces, will be called up. i have already signed the executive order on partial mobilization.

nick: defense minister sergei shoigu promised to deploy an additional 300,000 veterans, doubling the number of troops already committed to ukraine, on -- and in an echo of 2014 in crimea, putin endorsed referenda in occupied ukrainian territory, that the u.s. believes will lead to annexation. >> we will do everything necessary to create safe conditions for these referenda, so people can express their will. and we will support their choice, for their future. nick: western weapons have helped ukraine survive and beat russia back. putin said the west, quote, "has gone too far," and unleashed what the u.s. today called a nuclear threat. >> our country has different types of weapons, as well, and some of them are more modern than the weapons nato countries have. in the event of a threat to the territorial integrity of our country, and to defend russia and our people, we will certainly make use of all weapon systems available to us. this is not a bluff. >> if nations can pursue their imperial ambitions without consequences, we put at risk

everything this very institution stands for. nick: 4500 miles away, president biden addressed the annual u.n. general assembly, that putin annually boycotts, and called putin's ambitions in ukraine, total. >> this war is about extinguishing ukraine's right to exist as a state, plain and simple, and ukraine's right to exist as a people. wherever you are, wherever you live, whatever you believe, that should make your blood run cold. nick: biden called the war a shameless violation of the very principle on which the u.n. was founded. >> you cannot seize a nation's territory by force. the only country standing in the way of that is russia. >> greetings to all people of the world. nick: this afternoon, ukrainian president volodymyr zelensky urged the world to help ukraine

quickly, before russia can freeze the front lines ahead of the winter. >> it wants to prepare fortifications on occupied land, and carry out military mobilization at home. we cannot agree to a delayed war, because it will be even hotter than the war now. for us, this war is for life. nick: in moscow, the mobilization sparked fury. a rare demonstration against the war ended with what independent rights groups said were more than a thousand arrests. >> men and women chosen to represent the vast majority of mankind, in this new effort to make life safe for the ordinary citizen throughout the globe. nick: the u.n. general assembly launched 76 years ago, in the aftermath of two world wars in one generation. president biden harked back to those 1946 delegates' decision to try and bridge a divided world, and today, ended with a rallying c of hope. >> the challenges we face today are great indeed. but our capacity is greater. our commitment must be greater still.

we're not passive witnesses to history. we are the authors of history. we can do this. we have to do it for ourselves, for our future, for humankind. nick: but the very structure of the u.n. -- russia has a permanent veto on the security council -- prevents this institution from having much influence on the war in ukraine. that means the war will be determined by the ukrainian military's ability to fight back against russia and the west's ability to sustain the support ukraine needs in order to do so. judy: a lot going on. you told us there has been talk today in new york about what happened at the largest nuclear plant in europe, that there is discussion about its safety. what can you tell us about that? nick: the director general of

the you and nuclear watchdog is doing shuttle diplomacy. he met with ukrainian for minister -- foreign minister and with russian foreign minister sergey lavrov to create a safe zone around the plant, which wedding clued removing russian vehicles inside the plant and stop russia deliberating -- deliberately sabotaging electrical lines going in and out of the plant. the electricity concerns have abated in the last week or so, but there was an incident today that a pool were spent nuclear fuel old actually stopped operating because there was an explosion at a nearby pipeline. there has been a prisoner swap between ukraine and russia moderated by the saudis and that includes the release of two americans who had been held for three months and sentenced to death. they are free tonight.

judy: interesting timing. we know iran's president spoke today at the u.n. tell us what he said. nick: he spoke at the you and and was defiant. at one point he held up a photo of the former commander killed by a u.s. drone during the trump administration. he said we will, quote, continue down that path, steadfastly, referring to the nuclear advancements his country has made since leaving the iran nuclear deal. what he didn't address are those protests that have spread throughout iran over the last five days come over the deathf a 22-year-old who died in iranian custody. seven people have been killed in those protests. they continue today and president biden said of the

protests, we stand with the women of iran who are demonstrating for their basic rights. judy: nick schifrin reporting for us from the united nations in new york. thank you, nick. ♪ judy: as we set a moment ago, another major story today, the federal reserve once again raised its key interest rate by three-quarters of a point to beat back inflation. so far, the fed has increased rates by three points this year. the benchmark short-term rate has now reached its highest level since 2008. and with fed chairman jay powell saying today that, quote, "there's still a way to go," it looks like the fed's key rate will jump at least one more point before year's end. other countries are following suit, posing more risks. economics correspondent paul solman has the story

paul: the fed's unusually aggressive third straight three-quarters of-a-point interest rate hike is part of its ongoing struggle to tame inflation. chairman jay powell today. >> inflation is running too high. you don't need to know much more than that. if that's the one thing you know, it's that this committee is committed to getting to a meaningful, restrictive stance of policy, and staying there until we feel confident that inflation is coming down. paul: despite previous rate hikes, powell noted that jobs remain unfilled throughout the economy. >> so far, there's only modest evidence that the job market is cooling off. we think we'll need to bring our funds rate to a restrictive level, and to keep it there for some time. paul: former new york fed executive vice president krishna guha explained the mechanics. >> the federal reserve is trying to increase the cost of borrowing, tighten what are called financial conditions more broadly in order to reduce demand in the economy and bring

it into better balance with supply, which continues to be somewhat impaired following the pandemic. the hope is that by doing so, they can help generate a reduction in what is currently very elevated inflation paul: what are the risks? >> it raises the risk that at some point, at least, the fed might overshoot and raise rates too much, pushing the economy into a recession that perhaps didn't need to happen. paul: today, chair powell acknowledged that risk. >> no one knows whether this process will lead to a recession, or if so, how significant that recession would be. that's going to depend on how quickly we bring down wage and price inflation pressures, whether expectations remain anchored, and also, do we get more labor supply, which would help, as well. paul: now, it's not just the federal reserve. most central banks in the world are raising rates.

>> but the effects of a rate hike in one country, of course, spills over into others, as well. so the whole is more than the sum of the parts of this tightening. and that certainly presents risks to growth. but at the same time, of course, it is the case it's very important for central banks to avoid a return to the 1970s, where higher and -- high and variable inflation became entrenched, causing great misery for households, difficulties for business, poor economic performance. so they are doing this for a reason. the problem, of course, is that it's going toe hard to thread the needle, restore price stability while sustaining ongoing global growth and employment. paul: already here in the u.s., higher interest rates have hiked mortgage rates above 6 percent for the first time since 2008, slowing home sales, raising rent, and of course the stock market is down. >> when the fed raises the interest rate, and particularly as today, signals that it expects to raise rates

appreciably further from here, that pushes up all borrowing costs and longer term borrowing costs, as well as short term borrowing costs. it costs on your mortgage, for instance, costs on an auto loan, costs on other consumer credit. it's also the case that when interest rates go up, the value of assets that generate dividends like shares, also tend to go down. paul: what next? well, today, the fed revised its median forecasts for unemployment and inflation upward, predicting 4.4% unemployment by the end of next year and a core inflation rate of 4.5% by december, and projected they would raise the fed funds rate by at least another 1.25 point by the end of the year. we'll all get to see if those projections are more accurate than recent fed forecasts that so underpredicted the inflation

we now face. r the pbs newshour, paul solman. ♪ stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with newshour west. we'll return to the full program after the latest headlines. new york state sued former president trump, his 3 eldest children and his company, alleging business fraud. the civil lawsuit says they inflated mr. trump's net worth by billions of dollars by exaggerating the value of his key real estate properties. new york state attorney general letitia james announced the lawsuit in manhattan. >> claiming you have money that you do not have does not amount to the art of the deal, it's the art of the steal. there cannot be different rules for different people in this country or in this state. former presidents are no different. stephanie: mr. trump called the

suit a "witch hunt" by a democratic official. we'll take a closer look, later the program. the justice department will be allowed to resume reviewing classified documents seized from trump's florida estate without submitting them to the court-appointed special master. a three-judge panel of the 11th circuit court of appeals this evening lifted an order imposed by a lower court. the f.b.i. seized roughly 11,000 documents. about 100 were marked as classified. the house select committee investigating the january attacks on the u.s. capitol announced it will hold its next hearing septber 28. meanwhile, ginni thomas, the wife of supreme court justice clarence thomas, has agreed to an interview with the committee in the coming weeks. that's according to her attorney. emails obtained earlier by the washington post show ms. thomas pressed lawmakers in arizona and wisconsin to overturn joe biden's victory in those states. the u.s. house of representatives today approved a

bill to block future attempts at subverting presidential elections. it's a direct response to the january 6th riot at the u.s. capitol, and closes loopholes in a centuries-old law. the trump camp tried to exploit those loopholes to overturn the 2020 election results. a similar bill is pending in the senate. the u.s. senate took major action to address climate change today, ratifying an international treaty to limit the use of hydrofluorocarbons. the greenhouse gases, commonly used in refrigeration and air conditioning, are more powerfu than carbon dioxide. the kigali amendment will phase down their production by 85% over the next decade and half. hurricane fiona has grown into a category 4 storm, with winds of 130 miles an hour. the storm slowly swirled north toward bermuda late today. it is forecast to arrive there by thursday night or early friday. in its wake, roughly 1 million homes and businesses in puerto

rico still have no power, and 1.3 million people have no running water. in pakistan, medical workers struggled today to contain malaria outbreaks, as swarms of mosquitoes breed in the wake of the disease is spreading in refugee camps, where hundreds of thousands of people face desperate conditions. in addition to sickness, many are going hungry. >> our problem is food. they give us a one kilogram packet of coed rice every morning. i have a huge family. how is this going to feed all the men, women, and children in our family? stephanie: pakistani officials say the floodwaters, spanning hundreds of square miles, won't entirely recede for up to 6 months. back in this country, robert sarver, the owner of the phoenix suns and phoenix mercury pro basketball teams, announced he's selling both franchises. it comes a week after he was suspended by the nba over allegations of racist and anti-female speech.

sarver bought the teams in 2004. and, a new monument in missouri now officially marks the center of the country. it was unveiled today in the small town of hartville, east of springfield. it signifies the geographic center of the u.s. population. the spot is calculated every 10 years after the census. still to come on the "newshour," the details of the new york attorney general's lawsuit against former president trump and his children we speak with the president of poland about vladimir putin's moves to escalate the war in ukraine. a sheriff opens an investigation into florida's decision to fly migrants to martha's vineyard. and much more. ♪ >> this is the pbs newshour from w eta studios in washington and the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: as we reported, the attorney general of new york is suing former president donald

trump and his private company for financial fraud. our john yang has more on the latest development in trump's legal ttles. john: judy, new york attorney general letitia james' civil suit alleges that the former president and executives of the trump organization, including his three oldest children, lied to bankers and insurers for years by inflating the value of their real estate holdings in violation of new york state law. james can't bring criminal charges in this case, but suggests that federal laws were -- may have been broken, as well. she has referred the case to the u.s. attorney's office in manhattan and the irs. we look at two aspects of this with andrea burn-stine, who covers the former president's legal issues for npr, and jessica roth, a former federal prosecutor who is now a professor at the cardozo school of law. thanks to you both for joining us. andrea, you have watched these investigations of the former president closely for a while

now. to you, what is the significance of what happened today? >> i think of what was striking was to hear today, the new york attorney general say aloud that this had been a pattern and practice of the trump organization for, she put it in her complaint, at least a decade. take trump's apartment in trump tower. according to the complaint, the apartment was valued three times its size, a 200 million dollar difference, making it valued at the time as the most up -- expensive apartment in new york city. according to the attorney general, what the president did is take this to bankers and say i have all this money and get more favorable rates. this happened according to them, or where -- over 200 times and was central to trump's business model, a pattern of fraud that went on and on. john: jessica, there is a

referral for the southern district of new york. you worked in that office. what typically happens when a referral comes over like this? >> the u.s. attorney's office will make an independent assessment of the evidence. it would conduct its own investigation, and would make a determination about whether there is enough evidence to proceed with criminal charges. the burden of proof in a criminal case is considerably higher than the burden in a civil case. the burden in a criminal cases prove beyond reasonable doubt. if all the allegations in the complaint are accepted as true, the u.s. attorney would have to be satisfied that he would be able to persuade a jury unanimously beyond a reasonable doubt of criminal intent by each of the individuals alleged here, not just the corporation. john: andrea, we have said the trump reaction is that this is a political witchhunt. the former president did respond on the truth social media site

in a political way. he said, "attorney general letitia 'peekaboo' james, a total crime fighting disaster in new york, is spending all of her time fighting for very powerful and well represented banks and insurance companies, who were fully paid, made a lot of money, and never had a complaint about me, instead of fighting murder and violent crime, which is killing new york state." the attorney general has emerged as one of the leading antagonists of the former president. she is a democrat, she was talking about running for governor for a while. what role does politics play in all of this in your view? >> according to the judge in the investigation, it doesn't matter. this has been a running argument that has been going on since january in new york state esident'company or whethermero she is trying to get it to embarrass the former president and his company.

what the judge has ruled is it doesn't matter that the attorney general is a democrat, doesn't matter that she was running for office, about investigating trump. what matters are the facts involved in this case has survived several hurdles. in a civil case like this in new york, this case is advanced. the attorney general has a lot of information, millions of pages of documents. we remember she interewed the former president, he took the fifth amendment 500 times. the case is far along in the evidence is out there, and the judge has said politics doesn't matter, it will be tested in the courts. john: real estate valuations are often subjective. how i what is being alleged in the civil suit, how out of the ordinary is this for real estate? >> i have covered trump's business for a long time and i have covered real estate in new york for a lng time.

there is a lot of puffery about what the value of a property may be. what the attorney general was saying was, this was so far out of bounds, hundreds of millions of dollars in individual cases, adding up to more than $1 billion, the there were actual victims, the taxpayers of new york who didn't get taxes they were entitled to. she says if you were a average person and lie on a bank application, you could be liable. doesn't matter if you are the former president, you should be as well. john: jessica, andrea talks about puffery in real estate. you talked about these allegations and claims being objectively verifiable when you talk about the importance of that. explain what you meant by that. >> i think the attorney general anticipated the defense was likely to be that these are the kinds of practices that are routinely engaged in, in the

re estate industry. i think she was wise to make her allegations as concrete as possible, and grounded in representations that were made that could be shown to be objectively false. for example, the square footage andrea talked about, the former presidents apartment that was grossly inflated in some of the statements. that is fact. the square footage of the apartment. things like that, or whether or not statements were prepared with the input of outside professionals. that can be verified, whether outside professionals gave their sanction to the statements. according to the allegations, some of the outside professionals were interviewed by the attney general and they didn't provide input, the kind described in the statements or sanction them in any way. that is what i mean, that it is smart as a litigation strategy to stick to facts that can be verified and proven to be false. john: jessica, based on the

allegations in the suit, what potential federal charges do you see possible here? >> they include the charges that are mentioned in a footnote in this complaint, including wire fraud and bank fraud. those would involve frauds committed upon financial institutions, banks, and use of the wires in furtherance of any other kind of fraud, including bank fraud, insurance fraud. anytime interstate wires are used to further a scheme to defraud, that can count as wire fraud under the federal statutes. that is what the u.s. attorney will be looking at in addition to the evidence, what are the federal statutes that may have been violated? john: former federal prosecutor jessica roth and andrea bernstein of npr, thank you.

♪ judy: ukraine's largest neighbor on its western border is poland, a nato and european union member that has its own long and violt history with russia. as vladimir putin looks to accelerate the war, i sat down in new york early this afternoon with poland's president, andrzej duda. president duda, thank you very much for talking with us. let's start with ukraine. you've just listened to president biden's remarks at the united nations, where he said what president putin has done in taking over territory that doesn't belong to him. and now with this overt threat of nuclear weaponry, that it should make our blood run cold. is that how you take what's going on? >> russia is in a difficult situation. russia has demonstrated its weakness. what

russia has been doing so far in ukraine, the aggression and all the outrageous dimensions of the war which russia demonstrated in ukraine, as a matter of fact, have turned out to be a failure of russia. russia tries to change its tactics at the same time it tries to threaten the world with nuclear weapons. the -- judy: because the statement -- w does the statement from president putin that he is going to mobilize up to hundreds of thousands more troops to fight this war, that he's in this for the long haul? how does that change the war right now? >> please bear in mind that at the beginning, before the war happened, the experts were saying it would be enough for russia to conquer the whole of ukraine within 72 hours. however, they failed to seize the whole of ukraine, you can see an attempt to save face. and this mobilization, this partial mobilization, which was announced in russia, well, it causes a horror among his society because thousands of

russian soldiers have already died in ukraine. there will be further thousands following. this is going to be the policy of the russian authorities right now so we can see a weakness of russia in this respect. judy: so are you saying you keep referring to russian weakness, are you saying that the rest of the world should not take his threat seriously when he says we are prepared to use all means necessary? clearly, they have an enormous nuclear arsenal. >> first of all, nobody attacked russia. nobody attacked russia. the russian aggression in ukraine is a totally unprovoked aggression. number two, they have committed murders there, and they know that today they are threatened by criminal accountability. therefore, the russian authorities and vladimir putin started to threaten. what can they threaten with? the only thing they can threaten with is nuclear weapons. if this ukraine, which is defending itself, which has no nuclear weapons, if this ukraine is attacked by nuclear weapons,

even to the smallest degree, even if they were the so-called tactical nuclear weapons used, the most modern ones, the smallest ones, that would break the world taboo. and russia would find itself on the margins of any sensible political debate whatsoever. the whole world will turn its back on russia. even those countries which today support russia silently or openly. even those countries will find themselves in a dramatic position and they will have to say that russia will have violated all the principles. judy: so what should ukraine and the west do right now? you are describing russia as backed into a corner, making threats out of weakness. what should ukraine and the west do? provide more weapons to ukraine? what needs to happen now? where do you see this going? >> one should support ukraine in a consistent and stable way, also by providing military equipment to ukraine. why? because in order to be able to speak about an orderly world,

about a world in which peace is going to be guarded and protected, then ukraine has to regain control over its internationally recognized borders. one has to support ukraine to make sure that it defends itself so that russians are forced to withdraw from ukraine to give back the occupied lands to ukraine. and then we have to help ukraine to rebuild itself. this is the most important task facing us today. ukraine has to regain its territory. russia has to withdraw. the primacy of international law has to be restored. judy: are you absolutely confident russia will not use nuclear weapons? >> well, this is a question which you cannot give an answer to. nobody can be sure of that 100%. russia, which has never used nuclear weapons so far, and i want to stress this point never, ever, even in the times of the most acute cold war, even in the times when the tensions were running high, russia has never

applied nuclear weapons. and in particular it has never used nuclear weapons against a state which is not equipped with nuclear weapons itself. that would break all the taboos. and i believe that the russian authorities know that perfectly well. it is not only vladimir putin, also the inner circle of vladimir putin, also those who make strategic military decisions. judy: the west has been largely united against russia up until now. but if this war drags on for a very long time, with the economy being what it is with winter coming, are you concerned at all that that unity could could come apart? >> of course, this situation is very challenging. there are two overarching topics. first of all, the energy crisis, and secondly, inflation. of course, on top of that, there is a third extremely important topic, namely the food crisis. but the question that arises is

as follows. if we want to have an easier life, if we want to pay lower prices, are we going to agree for the sake of that to one of the nations' independence, sovereignty and freedom? can we agree to one european country, which wants to be a democratic state, which wants to belong to the western community, and be a free, independent state, if we agree to that, then russia will not stop. it will want to bite off other pieces of territory. it will want to seize the baltic states, perhaps my country, poland, perhaps it also wants to seize bulgaria, the czech republic, slovakia. this is the former soviet sphere of influence. we have to say no to this and we are saying no. judy: last question is about your country, about poland. you are clearly siding with the west in opposing what putin and the russians are doing in ukraine. at the same time, your country has taken what is seen in the united states by the u.s. biden administration as some extreme

positions. there was a challenge to independent television network. there are questions about the independence of your judiciary, your country's policy towards abortion is very extreme , there are extreme limits on abortion in poland. so my question is, as the united states looks at your government and the positions you've taken, the question is raised, is this a country that's moving in an authoritarian direction or in the direction of democracy? what's your answer? >> first, let's start with the following. poland is a sovereign, independent, and free state. the program which is being implemented in poland, including the litical program, is the program which voters wanted to have. these are purely democratic principles. this is how it functions in poland today. i am listening to my voters, and hence i'm making decisions which i believe meet their

expectations. they are just decisions and correct ones in their perspective. i believe the president of the republic of poland has got this authority in our country, and has constitutional powers. the president has instruments to stop any given amendment. everybody knew who i am and what my convictions are when i was running for president. i was not hiding anything. but my mandate is the mandate which i won democratically, and there haven't ever been any doubts about that in poland. and i'm implementing the mandate today with full responsibility. judy: we are going to leave it there. president duda, we thank you very much for talking with us. >> thank you very much. ♪ judy: as we've reported, russian president vladimir putin doubled down on his war in ukraine, ordering russia's first mobilization since world war 2, calling up hundreds of thousands of reserves and retired

fighters. he said more manpower needed to win a war not just against ukraine, but against its western backers. amna nawaz has more. amna: the call-up of russia's 300,000 reservists, a referendum in russian-occupied regions of ukraine on joining russia, and a stark warning from vladimir putin to the west that he is not bluffing when he talks about being ready to use nuclear weapons. it has been an eventful, foreboding day. so, to understand what all of this means at this juncture in the war, both on the battlefield and in russia, we turn to nataliya bugayova, russia fellow at the institute for the study of war and author of "how we got here with russia: the kremlin's worldview." welcome to the newshour. thank you for being here. people were looking at putin's order of partial mobilization and calling it an act of desperation. what do you think? >> let's be clear. the reason why putin has made

the decision is because russian forces are not accomplishing their objectives in ukraine. putin has invaded ukraine in february with insufficient force, which he has exhausted in pursuit of very limited gains. his efforts to replenish that force through other means, short of mobilization, has not produced the outcome he expected, so this is his way to reconcile the gap between his unchanged intent to control all of ukraine, and russia' rapidly degrading capability to do so. amna: who are these reservists? what do we know about them, their skill level, and what difference could they make in the war? >> i think the impact of this decision will not reconcile, will not help reconcile the gap between the intent and capability. we will know the full impact of the decision in the months to come, but i think russia will face a number of challenges. in integrating these forces.

the first is quantity. i think desertion wl be an issue. many russians support the war rhetorically but they are not willing to fight in it. russians will face challenges in equipping, integrating the forces, training them and capacity to deploy them, which requires officer cadre and diminishing resources in the russian military. equipment will also be a challenge. russia has used some of its best forces and equipment already in this fight, and the shortcomings of russia's defense and industrial bases increasingly a problem. as they expand control on electronics, equipping russian forces and producing advanced capabilities militarily would be an increasing challenge. amna: they are seeing the impact of sanctions. what about the impact back home in russia? russians may sport it invoice only, not necessarily being

willing to fight in the war. could this decision further erode support for the war back home? >> vladimir putin's value proposition has been a promise of great russia. this proposition has been fundamentally challenged in large part by setbacks of russia's military in ukraine. i think he is increasingly facing a challenge and needs to reconcile un-reconcilable objectives. keeping up the promise of great russia, eroding capability to deliver on it and unwillingness of russian people to fight for this mission. amna: is there concern about russian people that this could lead to globalization? >> i think we see russian men trying to flee the country. some of the searches on the internet, how to escape mobilization. amna: in his remarks, not so

veiled nuclear threats. you heard president duda of poland saying they don't know what president putin will do. at this point in a war that has dragged on much longer than anyone thought, plaining where the landscape is, are we closer to put in potentially making that kind of decision, either run a nuclear strike on a nato nation or a tax code goal -- tactical strike in ukraine? >> an attack on a nato nation is unlikely. we can't rule out an attack on ukraine but there are two important points. ukraine has been taking that risk since the day it chose to push back on russia in this war. it is ukraine's decision only whether to continue running that risk. so far they have because the alternative is war. we have seen what this looks like. secondly, there is a question of what this would accomplish.

in my assessment it is unlikely to break ukraine's will to fight, which is one of the two key centers of gravity in this war, together with western support. amna: what does this mean for putin back home? does the this make him more politically vulnerable? >> i think he is not imminently vulnerable but more vulnerable than he has been in years precisely because's value proposition is being challenged. however, we will see how he will react. he has been proven to be able to stay in power for years. one more constraint he faces is that a lot of the suppression apparatus is being deployed in ukraine, such as the national guard. he is facing increasing limitation in that regard. amna: what are you watching in the next few days to see how the remarks play out on the ground? >> we are watching the reaction of the russian people to the

mobilization. but this will come in months, not days, russian -- russia will integrate and train these forces and what effect it will eventually produce on the battlefield, which i don't think we will see until 2023. amna: russia research fellow at the institute for the study of war, thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. ♪ judy: hurricane fiona is expected to hit bermuda hard as a category 4 storm as early as tomorrow. but when it saturated puerto rico earlier this week, it did extensive damage as a category 1 storm, and set back the modest progress made since the island was hit by hurricane maria five years ago. william brangham reports on how the storm has affected communities across the island. william: just days ago, these lakes between houses were in

fact roads. since then, hurricane fiona has moved on from puerto rico, leaving the island, and its residents, to reckon with the damage left behind. for zulma vazquez, the memories and fear she felt 5 years ago with hurricane maria came rushing back. >> when maria happen, it was nighttime, and only my mom and i remained. she was 93 years old, bedridn, disabled and we almost drowned. i could't leave her. i thought this was going to be the same or worse. william: she had finally rebuilt her roof before fiona hit. and this time, it withstood the storm. she was one of the lucky ones, many homes across the island were badly damaged. vazquez lives in the fishing town of los naranjos in vega baja. it's located in the wetlands between the cibuco river and a natural reserve.

founded by freed slaves over 100 years ago, it's a tight-knit and family-oriented community. carla medina, one of vazquez's neighbors and mother of two, has to sweep up fiona's mess. the storm dumped an estimated 20 to 30 inches of rain across the island. the cibuco overflowed its banks, and sent two feet of water into her home. to save what she could, medina stacked furnituron top of her bed. during the storm, she fled to her mom's house because it's on higher ground. ricardo laureano works on flood control and other projects here. he says in a warming world, these kinds of disasters will only become more common. >> people need to start being more aware of how we need to manage climate change. we can extend our lives if we do a good job restoring the ecosystem, that's what we need

here. william: marisa rojas, a local community leader, says the aftermath of these storms is always the real challenge. >> one of the biggest impacts are the flood -- are the floods. many times, people don't even know where it is going to come from. during maria, the effect was the next day, not during the hurricane. william: for many, it will be a long and bumpy road to recovery. as the sun goes down in los naranjos, volunteers distribute food and drinking water for those who need it. about 40% of the island still doesn't have potable water. but this aid isn't enough to calm the greater feeling of gloom here. >> we have no water, no electricity, we are in the ends of time. william: it is even worse on the other side of the island, where the storm has left its mark on yauco. located in the southwest, it was one of the hardest hit towns. cesar ramos just bought a house

here, about a month before fiona badly damaged it >> we were told that this area was flood prone but not to this magnitude, and what we're dealing with now, that surprised me. we were not prepared. william: now, having strengthened into a category 4 storm, fiona is making its way north. heavy winds have damaged turks and caicos, after dumping heaps of rain on the dominican republic. it's set to hit bermuda next. but the communities fiona has tone -- torn apart along the way are no left to pick up the pieces. for the pbs newshour, i'm william brangham. ♪ judy: outrage over florida governor ron desantis' decision to fly dozens of migrants to martha's vineyard in massachusetts last week is

facing legal challenges. yesterday, some of the migrants filed a class action case against desantis and other florida officials, accusing them of discrimination and of violating the migrants' due process rights. and an invtigation is underway in texas, where the flights originated. stephanie sy has more on that. stephanie: advocates for the migrants say they were tricked into boarding charter planes that left from san antonio and eventually arrived in martha's vineyard, massachusetts last wednesday. sheriff javier salazar in bexar county has launched an investigation into possible crimes. his jurisdiction includes san antonio. sheriff, thanks for joining the newshour. i will jump right in, why have you decided to launch a criminal investigation? what laws may have been broken? waxed the way we have the obligation, some of the men

didn't criminal charges. some are unfounded. it is too early to tell which way this one will go. being that our alleged victims and-or witnesses are on the east coast of the country, what is at stake right now is, we have to determine, did someone with boots on the ground in bexar county break the law? if they did, we have to take in with t victims and witnesses are telling us in make that determination. was the law broken while they were in our county? stephanie: florida governor ron desantis has been named in a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of the migrants. the complaint alleges that he and other officials, quote, designed and executed a premeditated number fraudulent and illegal scheme for the sole purpose of inventing -- advancing their ownnterests. is that the kind of thing you are looking into, and is governor desantis a suspect?

>> i think to say governor desantis is a suspect is a long stretch. what my concern is, what i have authority over, is my corner of the world, which is bexar county. my concern is, did someone in the county break the law or not? we are told that is a distinct possibility by these folks speaking to us through our -- their attorneys but we will talk directly to them, find out exactly what they were told and what was done with them and to them while they were here, and then we make that determination. beyond that, anything that may have occurred with them in florida or in martha's vineyard may be heartbreaking for us to hear, but i can't necessarily say that i have purview, or that was illegal in bexar county. stephanie: i have heard you say earlier this week that you heard

the allegation that these migrants were lured. he used that word, lured under false pretenses onto a flight. is there evidence of that? >> that is the allegation. right now the allegations are coming to us through attorneys that represent these folks. i have preliminarily seen some partial written affidavit that would indicate the same thing but until we physically hear it from the business, the alleged victims and witnesses, we have to go off second half and for -- secondhand information from an attorney. we have no reason to doubt with the attorneys are telling us but we need to hear it directly from the person affected. stephanie: i recall you describing the action of sending them to martha's vineyard on this flight as disgusting. you have given your opinion on that. the governors of texas, florida, arizona have been bussing

migrants out of their states to cities likwashington, d.c., new york and chicago for months. some republicans have pointed out that the biden the honest ration itself relocates migrants at times. -- administration itself relocates migrants at times. why is this different? >> if you tell somebody you are going to point to this place on the map and you were going to be treated this way and this way once you get here, and it is full disclosure and they go willingly, that is one thing. whether i agree with the politics behind that are not is immaterial. when you like to them to get them -- lie to them to get them to that point and what is premise doesn't come to fruition, that could be problematic and could be criminal. stephanie: authorities have stopped more than 2 million migrants at the southern border is fiscal year.

it may be political theater, but this whole martha's vineyard flight has drawn attention to what many would say is a broken immigration system. is there good that could come out of this? >> to make a point, you put together a presentation or a powerpoint, or you produce a video. you don't use real people to illustrate a point. you don't use real people, and as i mentioned, this is what the allegations are, you don't take real people in a country they are unfamiliar with, to a part of the country they have never heard of and drop them on an island that they have no idea about. that is not what you do to make a point. these are human beings. whether somebody agrees or disagrees with the fact that they have certain rights because of where they happen to be born on the globe is immaterial.

they are human beings and in my opinion they shouldn't be treated in such a manner, especially in light ofhe fact that the allegations we are hearing is that they were lied to to get them there. stephanie: shot for -- sheriff hovey or salazar, thank you for joining me. judy: and on our website, a year after hurricane ida hit louisiana, many are still trying to recover, especially those who work in the fishing industry, which saw more than a half billion dollars in damages. read more about what that's meant for fishermen's livelihoods and the future of the industry on our website. that is pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us on-line and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by what black for 25 years,

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