nick schifrin reports on how uyghurs end up as forced laborers, and the larger campaign that has rippedd families apart. nick: within a government campaign the u.s. calls "close to genocide," one man is chained to a bed. he can't talk because of a guard outside his door. but his video speaks loudly about the conditions of his captivity, and the fate of muslim uhurs. merdan ghappar was a 31-year-old uyghur model in southern china. his flashy ads targeted han chinese, the country's majority ethnic group. but in january chinese authorities detained him in a xinjiang detention facility full of ethnic minority uyghurs, whom the chinese government calls disloyal. pro-beijing messages play from a loudspeaker. he secretly filmed and sent the video to his uncle, ablikim ghappar, who now lives in amsterdam. >> when i saw the video clip, i really felt sorrow for my nephew. nick: merdan sent text messages describing the conditions of his initial detention in a police station. he wrote, "the cop just shouted fiercely at me, if you lift that hood again i will beat you to death!" merdan adds, "i don't

but now they will ve to do that mission from elsewhere, and as nick schifrin rep somalis fear that will leave them vulnerable. >> schifrin: along africa's east coast somali forces are learning to lead the fight. their trainers are american, equipping them to defend their own country, from al shabab. the early 2000s, al-qaed linked shabab, or "youth," has killed thousands across somalia, and sought to createn islamist government. they've also attacked over the border in kenya, including killing two u.s. soldiers earlier this year on manda bay base, as seen in these propaganda photos. >> this morning we will recognize the soldiers of the danab special forces. >> schifrin: the somali troops trained by u.s. special operations forces, were somalia's own elite unit, the danab.he >>.s., everybody knows their capabilities in the military and they bring really the best to train and advise our forces. and it has been very beneficial. >> schifrin: 37-year-old col. ahmed abdullahi sheikhto command the danab. he says he grew close to his u.s. officers through training, meoring, and advising. >> you

here's nick schifrin. nick: l for 40 yearyd austin was a barrier-breaking soldier.he first black officer to eammand a division in combat, and command a thr of war. had some of the most difficult commands including iraq before the 2011 u.s. withdrawal. >> it is going to take the iraqi nt, the iraqi people to continue to make the right decisions, work together. nick: president elect biden worked with austin in iraq, attending the ceremony where and the vice president's late son, beau biden, who died in 2015, served on austin's staff. in an article today, biden cal austin calm under pressure and praised austin's logistical success in withdrawing from iraq. biden says austin will use those skills to quarterback covid vaccine logistics. biden wrote they align strategically, and austin's nomination was a "milestone." >> this ally is historic. african-americans have served in higher numbers than theirf percentagee population in the united states. nick: dana pittard is a retired two-star general who served with austin in iraq when they fought isis. he's the author of the bo

for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: stay with us for a moving story of a mother anddaughter. but first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. it's a chance to offer your support, which helps keep programs like ours on the air. >> woodruff: if you are a healer, where do you find comfort? in the case of a number of doctors across the u.s., the answer is music. as part of a new series focusing on the connection between arts and health, jeffrey brown went to newton, massachusetts this summer to see how medical professionals are regenerating their spirits, and becoming this encore presentation is part of our arts and culture series, canvas. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> brown: it's called the "national virtual medical orchestra"-- 60 medical professionals and students from around the country, musicians all, who come together to perform in the way that is suddenly the new normal: in the digital world. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ but on a recent day, eight of them, led by conductor john masko, were live and in person for us, playing parts of works by several composers at a socially-distanced backyar

here's nick schifrin. eeplessness, headaches inability to walk, memory loss, cognitive difficulties. across two years and three continents, dozens of intelligence officials and sdi suffered medical conditions that derailed assignments and their careers. last weekend, the national academies ofciences released the first authoritative government report concluding the victims were mostly hit by directed pulsed radiofrequency energy. the author was professor david wellman. >> that form of microwave radiation is not terribly common. is sometimes used, for example, in radar systems. it sometimes is used in clinical memedicine for tre of certain elements, but it is not common around us or in the world we normally frequent, and that is what makeit unusual. >> the message, someone may have pointed a nonlethal weapon at u.s. government employees inar order to them, and some former intelligence officials say the perpetrator was likely russia. to talk about this, we talked to mark, a former clandestine oicer in moscow w

nick schifrin report nick: judy, the victims include the very agency designed to protect the countryrom cyber attacks. e department of homelandri se, treasury, and commerced were breactween march and may when they downloaded an update two n software called solar wind, thatbe ownst to them was infected with malicious code but the . but the hacks were only scovered recently. in the last few days, government agencies and companies around the world have rouhed to figure whether they were victims, as well. th suspect russian intelligence. to discuss this we turn to dmitri alpeerovich, co-founded of silverado policy accelerator, a washington based think tank. welcome back to the newshour. how widespread is this and hope did it h >> this could be one of the most consequential cyber espionage events to date. this vendor is used by hundreds thousands of organizations globally including some of the most securegeies. some of the biggest fortune 500 the fact that russian intelligence may have had access izations over th course of the last nine months is very troubling. we believe fewer than a fe

here's nick schifrin.e sudden and sh:the symptoms sleeplessness, headaches, inability to walk, memore loss, across two years aleast three continents, dozens of intelligence officials and diplomats suffered medical conditions that derailed assignments and their careers. last weekend, the national academies of sciences released the first authoritative government report, concluding the victims were most likely hdi by "rected, pulsed radio- frequency energy." the lead author s stanford microbiology and immunology professor david relman.mi >> that form oowave radiation is really not terribly common in the world around it. it's sometimes used, example, in radar systems. it sometimes is used in clinical medicine for tatment of certain ailments. but it's not common in the home around us or in the in the world that we normally frequent. ald that's what makes it a little bit unuand the, sort of, the message behind it a little bit different. >> schifrin: the message? someone may have pointed a non-lethal weapon at u.

here's nick schifrin. >> schifrin: brexit, iran, u.s.- european relations, it's all on the agenda in brusselsere in washington. and someone at the censsr of that disn is philippe etienne, the ambassador of frce to the united states. ambassador, welcome to the newshour. let's talk about brexit, for a second. the three majoissues preventing a deal: fishing rights, legal oversight, aned th so-called fair play the u.k. need to meet. has france taken a maximalist position preventing a deal? >> well, thanks, nic for having me. indeed, as far as the negotiation, brexist negotiation is concerned, we are in race against the clock. france is all united among the 27 member states. we have one negotiator for the.. whole of e as you said, we have three issues, which are still to be settled. those are both tec technical and politically quite sensitive. the most important one in temsr of economic effect is what you call-- what we can call the vel playing field so that competition is fair in access to rkets. but also, we have the governance. what can we do? what could we do? what should we do if we

nick schifrin has the details. >> schifrin: it's a report the secretary of the army says, goes beyond base and one person. >> this report, without a doubt, will cause the army to change our cultur >> schifrin: the independent panel found fort hood's command ineffectively implemented the military's sexual harassment/assault response and prevention program, or sharp, left serious crimes unaddressed and ran an inefficient criminal investigations division response, the army relieved or suspended more than a dozen commanders, including major general scott efflandt, fort hood's now-former commander. it took a murder for ty to investigate and admit its problems. vanessa guillen was a 20-year- old ivate who'd wanted to join the military since she was young. guillen told her family she was harassed by a higher ranking soldier, but fort hood had a culture of retrition, so she was too scared to report it. she went missing in april. two months later her body was b founned and partially dismembered. >> schifrin: earlier today i spoke to army under secretary james mcpherson. >> we have failed. lead

nick schifrin reports. >> schifrin: judy, the victims include the very agency designed to protect the country from cyber attacks. the department of homeland security, as well as treasurymm and ce, were breached in the spring. but the hacks were only fescovered recently. and over the lasdays government departments, and thousands of companies around the world, have rushed to figure out whether they were victims, as wel u.s. officials tl pbs newshour, they suspect russian intelligence. to discuss this we turn toit alpeerovich, co-founded of silverado policy accelerator, a washington based think tank.we ome back to the newshour, how wide spread is this and how >> nick, this can be one of the most consequential we have seen to today. this is used by hundrs of thousands of organizations globally including some of the most secure agencies in the u.s. government and governments globally, some of the biggest fortune 500 companies and the fact that the russian intelligence may have had access to those organizations over the course of then last nine mths since last march is very troubling. now w

. >> schifn: for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. >> woodruff: it's been fivesi weeke election day, but president trump and many of his allies continue to question state election results, despite there being zero evidence of irregularities.r fraud or william brangham reports on other milestone day in t 2020 election. >> brangham: judy, nexmonday, members of the electoral college ll meet in state capital across the country to officially cast their votesor president. but most of those electors, and how they'll vote, are already known, because todays what's called the "safe harbor" deadline for those appointments. to look at where we are in the transition, and at the president's ongoing sistance to it, i'm joined by trevor potter. he is the president of the campaign legal center. he served as general counsel for john mccain's presidential campaign and as chair of the federal election commission. trevor potter, great to have you back on the "newshour". issues that i was describingdar before, we still are seeing continued legal efforts by the trump campaign to stop different states from

as nick schifrin reports, this vote could ripplacross the region. >> schifrin: overnight there wa noiadistancing, only, jubilation. grmbers of argentina's pro- abortion rights n wave movement celebrated in a sea of green-- the color that symbolizes the pro-choice campaign a women's rights across the region. >> ( translated ): this decision changes everything forlions of women. it is noa question of ethics. it is a question of public health. and now thousands of will be saved.e >> and as you e green scarf, this one that i have l of, which is the sym abortion in our country. >> schifrin: mariela bntski is the ara executive director of amnesty international, which campaigned for the law. >> it means that we have a me democratic country. my daughter is going to have diffcountry, a country that allow her to decide what to do with her body. the right to autonomy for us is so important. and in this country, until now, it has not been respected. >> schifrin: the bill decriminalizes abortion in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. after 14 weeks, abortion will continue to be legal only in cases o