nick schifrin looks at her trip, and what comes next. : in taipei's presidential office building today, the second in line to the u.s. presidency received taiwan's highest civilian honor. and presented u.s. support, as part of a global struggle. >> today, the world faces a choice between democracy and autocracy. america's determination to preserve democracy here in taiwan and around the world remains ironclad. nick: speaker of the house nancy pelosi's trip to taiwan lasted 19 hours. she leco delegation to meet president tsai ing-wen. >> thank you so much for your presence. nick: taiwanese lawmakers, in a speech broadcast on local tv. and visited the national human rights museum, which acknowledgesaiwan's past history of martial law. pelosi also met with famous pro-democracy advocates who've been jailed by beijing, and who helped lead the 1989 tiananmen square protests. >> chinese police abruptly a tiananmen square ceremony by three members of us congress today. nick: her trip culminates more than three decades of criticizing chinese human

nick schifrin, hello. remind us who he was and how important is al qaeda today?k: as president biden said, he was important on 9/11, and the inspiration to the ideology behind al qaeda that terrorist could target fellow muslims because as they saw it, they supported the infidel west. he was responsible not only for helping with 9/11, but also attacks before that, american soldiers in 1993 and embassy bombing attacks in the 1990's in east africa, the uss cole attack in yemen in 2000, and he was really responsible for some of the aspirations of al qaeda to go after the u.s. inside the u.s. and its targets. we focus on isis quite a lot these days. but al qaeda has franchises around the world that are still active, and in addition to the inspirations that others from al qaeda central continue to provide to isis, he himself was still true tediously involved in al qaeda worldwide and was still currently trying to attack the u.s.. judy: tell us what we know about this attack, about how it took place. nick: as far as we know, according to multiple officials i talk to, a

nick schifrin is back now wi this story, produced by dan sagalyn, that takes a deeper look at what ising law and the heavy price veterans and their families have paid. nick: in decades of war, american mares and soldiers faced an enemy willing to kill. >> that is what we live next to. nick: but the fog of war included actual oke and toxic fumes, that could be just as deadly. >> there she burns, every day, twice a day. nick: many of the 3.5 million americans who served in uniform since 9/11 breathed in fumes from the garbage the military burned, everything from plastic water bottles to styrofoam, batteries, paint cans, tires, even ammunition. >> we've got a burn pit down here. wanted to get a good shot at it. nick: the toxic smoke filled the sky, and bases where service members lived. it's believed to be one reason why veterans contracted higher rates of lung disease, cancer, and other serious illnesses, including jennifer howard's husband, 44-year-old jason. >> when theyame back, they lked a bit about how everything was on fire. they burned everything. nick: howard was the son of a so

nick schifrin reports on zawahri's background and where this leaves al qaeda and the taliban that harboredtoday in what used to be kabul's most exclusive elite neighborhood, with some of the country's most wanted houses -- this was as close as journalists could get to an area now known for housing the world's most wanted terrorist. in the heart of the capital on sunday morning a cia drone launched dropped two hellfire missiles that u.s. officials say destroyed the patio where ayman al-zawahiri was standing. these photos taken by a neighbor of the house that u.s. officials say zawahiri's family moved to this year. the intelligence community built a model of the house, kept in a box in front of president biden during a key meeting last month, before he authorized the strike on al qaeda's leader. for three decades ayman al-zawahiri provided al qaeda's organizational and inspirational backbone. he never had osama bin laden's wealth or charisma. but he gave bin laden the vision of targeting not only what they considered pro-western muslims, but what they called "the far enemy," the u.s. that le

judy: nick schifrin, thank you very much. nick: thank you.y: from president biden's recent legislative victories, to the overwhelming victory for abortion rights in kansas and the fbi's search of mar-a-lago, august so far has been full of surprises. and with some 90 days to go before the november midterm elections, it is not clear if such events will influence how americans cast their votes this fall. senator tim scott, a republican from south carolina, is up for re-election in november. his new book, "america: a redemption story" is out this week and he joins me now. senator scott, congratulations on the book, and welcome to the newshour. sen. scott: good to be with you. judy: i want to ask you about the book. i also want to ask you a couple questions about former president trump. he is very much in the news. this search by the fbi and his home in palm beach. your comments, you said, let's see how the facts play out. i have been looking at social media and some supporters of the former president are saying you should be more aggressively sup

nick schifrin and producer valerie plesch spoke with two refugees whose lives are hanging in the balances they face uncertainty over their immigration status one year on. nick: in suburban virginia, every brushstroke illustrates irreplaceable loss, red paint for danger, a painting for a one-year anniversary, one year of fear and silence. jahan: it was a day that vanished the hopes of all afghan women. so the colors i chose are based on the current situation in afghanistan. nick: the artists, jahan ara rafi, is a refugee 7000 miles from home. can you show me some of the art? jahan: yes. nick: her new series of paintings is called women in red, girls and women whose lives, like her own, were shattered after last year's taliban takeover. one group faces the horizon united in prayer. jahan: you can see a woman around a dry tree. they tied fabrics in the tree, as is their cultural tradition, because all the doors of hope are closed for afghan women now. they don't have any option, other than to pray. nick: today, rafi is one of the lucky ones. her niece and nephew, twins, already lived in the

here's nick schifrin. nick: for two decades, hundreds of thousands of afghans worked with the u.s.and military. many remain in afghanistan, at risk of being persecuted by the taliban. they are eligible for special immigrant visas, or sib's, if they worked by or on behalf of of the u.s. for at least one year and face ongoing serious threats. the u.s. says 17,000 afghans submitted applications, but more than 74,000 are working their way through the process. the state department and advocacy groups say including family members, the number is likely four times that. i will speak to a veteran leading an advocacy group. first, the story of a former translator trapped in afghanistan one year on. before the fall, before the taliban came in, he begged to come out. he and other interpreters for the u.s. military protested in kabul in june, 2021. they wanted the u.s. to fulfill its promise, to evacuate afghans who'd served alongside u.s. troops. but many were left behind. one day after the taliban takeover, he burned the evidence of his service, and wrote on twitter, "breathing my last days o

the president fled kabul in a helicopter and he is in the united arab emirates and he spoke with nick schifrinay. nick: it has been one year since the taliban took over afghanistan amid the government collapse and the chaotic u.s. withdrawal. to get some perspective return -- we turn to the former president of afghanistan. mr. president, thank you very much and welcome back to the "newshour." let's start with your departure. last may you said, i will not abandon my people, my forces and i'm willing to die for my country. three months later on august 15 , you left and you said you left because you did not want to give the taliban the pleasure of humiliating an afghan president. was avoiding humiliation worth abandoning the country? >> i firmly committed to defending my people, our armed forces. at the last minute, i could not. i left as the last person in the chain of command because our forces could no longer sustain. i had no one to fight with me. it was not the situation where sacrificing myself would have saved the republic. on the contrary, it would have created another trauma. nick: you j

nick schifrin reports. inian soldier filming called it beautiful fireworks -- a russian ammunition depot, destroyed in multiple explosions. another explosion hit an electricity substation. thick, dark plumes of smoke billowed for hours. it disrupted power and rail traffic in a part of crimea that russia has used to attk the rest of southern ukraine. at least 3000 people had to evacuate. russia's appointed crimea governor admitted it was sabotage. mr. aksyonov: the detonation is quite strong, there are scattered shells in the field, unfortunately. therefore, there will be work for the bomb squad. now we are waiting for the detonation of ammunition to stop. you can hear again another explosion now. nick: ukraine didn't claim official responsibility, but on twitter, minutes after the explosion, presidential chief of staff andrii yermak quipped, "the ukrainian armed forces continue the 'demilitarization' operation to fully rid our land of russian invaders. our soldiers are the best sponsors of a good mood. crime

nick schifrin reports. the images are grainy, but the message is clear: ukraine is trying to liberate russian-held territory. ukrainian officials said troops broke through russia's first line of defense, and seized abandoned russian ammunition. spokeswoman natalia humeniuk spoke through an interpreter. >> our preliminary activities were successful. we destroyed many of their warehouses of the ammunition, destroyed lots of their air defenses. nick: ukraine's targets are russian forces who currently occupy nearly 20% of the country's south and east. today's offensive appears to focus on the kherson region, especially west of the dnipro river, and the city of kherson. kherson city was captured during the initial invasion, with the help of russian tanks that left occupied crimea. early on, kherson residents demonstrated and even stopped russian military vehicles with the power of their protest. but russian forces silenced all dissent and launched what ukrainian officials call a campaign of terror. many residents

nick schifrin reports. nick: the images are grainy but the message is clear.ne is trying to liberate russian held territory. ukraine official said troops broke through russia's first-line of defense and seized abandoned russian ammunition. a spokeswoman spoke through an interpreter. >> our preliminary activities were successfully destroyed. -- successfully destroyed many of their work houses, lots of their air defense. amy: ukraine's targets are russian forces which occupy 20% of the country's seven east. today's offensive appears to be focused on a region west of the nipper river. the city was captured during the initial invasion with the help of russian tanks that left occupied crimea. early on, hercog residents demonstrated and stopped at russian military vehicles with the power of their protest. but russian forces silenced all dissent and launched what ukrainian officials called a campaign of terror. many residents fled and became internally displaced people or idp's. as the mayor of a nearby area told us inmate. >> idp's who come here are running from hel

nick schifrin is back with more on the humanitarian crisis. re than 6 million pakistanis are in dire need of humanitarian aid, and unicef says some 3 million children, are at risk. to discuss what they're facing, we turn to abdullah fadil, the unicef representative in pakistan. he's just back in islamabad from the flood-hit regions. thank you very much, welcome to the newshour. more than 1000 people have been killed by these floods, and more than one third of those have been children. our pakistani children particularly vulnerable? >> absolutely. they are vulnerable because they are more susceptible to diseases, diarrhea, malnutrition. this is a devastating climate for entire communities. the most hardest hit provinces are the most deprived provinces in the country. and the ones who have the least infrastructure to withstand floods. their crops and animals have been decimated. millions are also impacted. nick: the scale is unprecedented. many victims have described receiving no assistance from the government or from ngos. is that what you are s

here's nick schifrin with the top pakistani official trying to manage the climate crisis. the toll is staggering -- a million homes damaged or destroyed. 2 million acres of agricultural land submerged. and 33 million people affected. to discuss the enormity of what confronts pakistan, we turn to sherry rehman, pakistan's minister of climate change. welcome back to "the newshour." just explain the crisis and the size of the calamity. min. rehman: the scale of the crisis is unprecedented, a magnitude never seen before in living history in pakistan. it is affecting more than 33 million people, the size of a small country. right now as we speak, more than one third of pakistan is underwater. nick: many people say they haven't received assistance from the government or ngo's. how difficult is it to reach everyone? min. rehman: we have not been able to reach people at least in the first week of the deluge, and it has been eight weeks of unrelenting rain which pakistan has never seen. the way to rescue people in floods and disasters always are helicopter cover, and they haven't be

nick schifrin talks ukraine and iran, with a man at the center of both issues. ternational atomic energy agency is responsible for monitoring nuclear plants and countries' nuclear programs, to ensure they stay peaceful, and are safely operated. to discuss both the zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, and the ongoing negotiations to over iran's nuclear program, i'm joined by rafael mariano grossi, the iaea's director general. welcome to "the newshour." in zaporizhia, what are you most worried about and how worried are you? dir. grossi: there are a number of things we are worried, we are worried about. we are confronted here with a completely unprecedented situation. you have this cohabitation, if you want, of of the operators, the ukrainian operators with the russian force. there have been allegations of confrontations, arguments or even violence. the shelling which has en taking place intermittently. this culmination of factors is an absolute unthinkable situation for any normal nuclear power plants. nick: you said about a week ago that one reactor unit had been disconnec

nick schifrin has the story. reporter: the u.n.of hope, one of the worlds bread baskets once again able to export. for three weeks ukrainian ships have left ukrainian ports through a russian blockade. today, three of the guarantors of the deal met in ukraine's west to assess howar they have come and how far they still had to go. >> there is a global need for more ships that can export ukrainian produce in a secure way. our country will be a guarantor for global food security. reporter: for years, ukraine helped provide that guarantee. with russia, it exported one quarter of the world wheat but the war combined with a drought in the horn of africa and covid created a global food crisis. the u.n. brokered deal is designed to allow ukraine export 22 million tons of grain. the first africa bound ship left yesterday. the brave commander carried his cargo destined for ethiopia. 23 metric tons of what we'd will go to a nation with 20 million people facing hunger. so far most exports are not going to those with the most neat. of 25 ships,

nick schifrin has more with one of the administration's most senior officials, who's trying to tackle a worldwide challenge. nick: the u.s. says 40 million people have become hungry since russia invaded ukraine. the war has combined with covid, rising food prices, and a drought in east africa. a senegalese minister recently warned more people could die from the food crisis than died from covid. among the most acutely affected, afghanistan, where 20 million people, more than half the country, are experiencing high levels of acute food insecurity. yemen and the horn of africa, where the u.n. says 30 million people suffer from acute hunger. that is where usaid administrator samantha pow recently visited to give a major speech about food insecurity, and she joins us in the studio. welcome back to the newshour. ukraine and russia, there is a new deal to allow ukraine to export once again. ukraine and russia combined make up a quarter of the world's wheat exports. how big of a difference will that new u.n. brokered deal make? samantha: even since the deal was brokered, you saw an impact on

now we turn to nick schifrin who picks up a reporting on the global food crisis. more on the challenges not only in south sudan, but all of east africa and a larger look at the issues coming out of ukraine, i am joined by executive director of the world food program, david beasley. welcome back to the newshour. we just heard in that story that wf p has less than half of the money it needs in south sudan. and fred reported some people will go hungry at the end of the month. if the money does not come in. how acute is that problem? david: it is a very serious problem. it is a very serious problem all over the world. we are facing an unprecedented food crisis globally, south sudan is no exception to the rule right now. the republicans and democrats have been fighting over everything, agreeing on nothing. but they did come together, they came up with an additional $5 billion of food security around the world. that will have a major impact. we have to get more nations to step up. south sudan, we don't have enough money. the u.s. can't do it alone. other countries need t

nick schifrin has that story, and sits down with taiwan's most senior official in the u.s. ing is forcing taiwan to pay the heaviest cost for pelosi's visit. but today, china targeted washington and announced it would suspend dialogue on climate change, what a senior u.s. official characterized as punishing the whole world. militarily, it is cancelling talks between regional commanders and defense policy officials, as well as meetings to discuss operations, which a u.s. official warned could lead to misperceptions and miscalculations. and today, beijing sanctioned pelosi and her family. as for taiwan, china has launched the largest military exercises around the island in 25 years. the chinese are firing missiles into blocks that surround the island, some within taiwan's territorial waters. and to discuss this, we are joined by the top taiwanese official in the united states, representative bi-khim hsiao. thank you very much. welcome to the newshour. you pushed for this visit. given today what we have seen, chinese missiles flying over taipei, chinese missiles landing inside

nick schifrin is following this and joins me here. what do we know about this plot? nick: u.s.icials say beginning in october, 2021, an iranian began to take steps to assassinate bolton. you can see they are both on the left and right. he is in uniform. that, doj, says is part of the evidence that he was a member of the iranian revolutionary guard corps' kuds force, the unit that oversees operations. really the military wing of the regime. the doj says he hid a person in the u.s. that doj identifies as a confidential human source to the u.s., offered him $250,000, and after negotiation, $300,000 in digital currency to hire someone to assassinate john bolton. the person in the u.s. said yes, he had hired someone, a member of a mexican cartel. the iranian said he wanted bolton to be killed by the end of 2021. at one point, he even messaged this person in the u.s. a photo of the cash he was offering. the fbi was able to get inside of the iranian's messaging apps. here is how matt olson, the assistant attorney general for national security, described it earlier today. >> this is no

as nick schifrin reports, it's a culmination of a diplomatic and humanitarian push at a time when russiae its own influence in africa. nick: three weeks and africa, three cabinet secretaries. in kenya, suffering from drought, usaid administrator samantha powell. >> we are putting financial -- providing financial support to our partners. >> africans have the right to decide their foreign policy positions. free of pressure of manipulation. nick: and in south africa, secretary of state antony blinken. >> is a major geopolitical force. nick: not just americans. the russian foreign minister also recently launched a charm offensive across four african countries in egypt. russia provides much of the continent's food and is an arms supplier. nearly half of african countries do not condemn russia's invasion of ukraine. the s. strategy presents diplomacy and partnership. >> what we will do with african nations, not for african nations. nick: to discuss u.s. and russian, as well as chinese efforts to gain stronger sway in africa, we're joined by kholood khair, the founding director of confluence ad

for the pbs newshour, i'm nick schifrin. a posthumous memoir out this week tells of the life and legacy of actor michael k. williams who died of a drug overdose last fall. he's known for his powerful performances on screen but the memoir reveals his struggles and the impact he made through social justice and community activism. jeffrey brown explores the roles and man as part of our arts and culture series, canvas. jeffrey: the whistle, the walk, the way of being of omar, the stick up and man killer who only takes on drug dealers. and a gay man in a violent, homophobic world. he was an indelible character on one of the most highly regarded series in television history "the wire." the actor who brought him to life, michael k. williams. >> he played powerful figures, pioneering characters in terms of the portraitsf black men we've seen on television. jeffrey: eric is the television critics for npr. >> michael was constantly sort of reinventing our vision of what black maleness could be, what black masculinity could be. jeffrey

as nick schifrin reports, it's a culmination of a diplomatic and humanitarian push - at a time when russiaenhance its own influence in africa. >> 3 weeks in africa, 3 cabinet secretaries. in kenya suffering from drought, usaid administrator samantha power. >> we are providing 1.6 billion dollars in financial support to our partners >> in ghana, us ambassador to the un linda-thomas greenfield. >> africans have the right to decide their foreign policy positions free of pressure and manipulation. >> and in south africa, secretary of state antony blinken. >> sub-saharan africa is a major geopolitical force. >> but it's not just americans. russian foreign minister sergey lavrov recently launched his own charm offensive across 4 african countries, ending in egypt. russia provides much of the continent's food, and is africa's largest arms supplier. earlier this year at the u-n, nearly half of african countries didn't condemn russia's invasion of ukraine. the new us strategy promotes democracy and presents african countries as partners. >> one that focuses on what we will do with african nations a