

September 12, 2023 - PBS NewsHour full episode
9/12/2023 | 57m 46sVideo has Closed Captions
September 12, 2023 - PBS NewsHour full episode
September 12, 2023 - PBS NewsHour full episode
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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September 12, 2023 - PBS NewsHour full episode
9/12/2023 | 57m 46sVideo has Closed Captions
September 12, 2023 - PBS NewsHour full episode
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipAMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.
I'm Amna Nawaz.
Geoff Bennett is away.
On the "NewsHour" tonight: Relief workers respond to dual disasters in North Africa, the devastating earthquake in Morocco and now catastrophic flooding in Libya.
House Republicans move to open an impeachment inquiry into President Biden over his family's business dealings.
An updated COVID booster vaccine gets the green light, as infections from a variant are rising nationwide.
And a shortage of mental health services for teenagers forces parents to make previously unthinkable decisions.
LISA NORRIS, Mother of Hannah Norris: I had to try to sell to her that we're doing this because you have to get help.
We're doing this because mom's trying to keep you alive.
(BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "NewsHour."
Two major headlines share the spotlight tonight.
In the U.S. Congress, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has ordered an impeachment inquiry into President Biden.
And, abroad, the Interior Ministry for Eastern Libya now says more than 5,300 people have been killed in catastrophic flooding.
Plus, the death toll in the Morocco earthquake has topped 2,900.
We begin with the North African disasters and special correspondent Alex Cadier.
ALEX CADIER: There's water as far as the eye can see in parts of Eastern Libya, and out there as many as 10,000 missing people.
Heavy rainfall and flooding from a Mediterranean storm late Sunday washed away entire towns and communities.
This is the city of Derna, declared a disaster zone after two nearby dams collapsed, wiping out about a quarter of the city.
IBRAHIM KHATRA, Municipality Official (through translator): Derna is literally facing a crisis.
Areas have been completely cut off.
It's a disastrous situation with the flooding and the loss of lives.
ALEX CADIER: The city streets are filled with thick mud and piles of mangled debris, the coastline littered with cars stacked atop one another like toys from the force of the deluge.
The dead are laid out in the open, shrouded with plastic tarps.
DAX ROQUE, Norwegian Refugee Council: The reports that we are getting from our teams on the ground is that the situation is disastrous.
Entire villages have been overwhelmed by the floods and the collapsed dams.
ALEX CADIER: Dax Roque is the Libya country director for the Norwegian Refugee Council.
His team is providing lifesaving aid, including food and shelter, but the affected areas are hard to reach.
DAX ROQUE: Roads have been washed away.
The telecommunication is down.
Internet is down.
I just want to urge the international community to mobilize resources immediately, so we can get those resources to our teams on the ground, so they can support the people and their most dire need at the moment.
ALEX CADIER: Drone footage captured this sprawling apartment complex in the city of Al-Marj surrounded by reddish muddy floodwaters.
Elsewhere, the Libyan Red Crescent workers struggled to rescue people from their cars in near-waist-deep water.
Amateur video showed the damage to roads around the town of Al Bayda, further complicating rescue and recovery efforts.
And the hurdles are not only physical, but also political.
For years, Libya has been divided between two administrations, the United Nations-backed government in the West and the Libyan National Army in the East, including Derna, led by General Khalifa Haftar.
FREDERIC WEHREY, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: This is a military, militia-run regime that does not have the interests of its citizens at heart.
ALEX CADIER: Frederic Wehrey is a senior fellow in the Middle East program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
FREDERIC WEHREY: How do you allocate funds for disaster preparedness?
How do you empower towns like Derna to prepare themselves for these kinds of weather-related events?
All of that has become incredibly politicized, and it's fallen victim to this political split.
ALEX CADIER: There are small glimmers of hope, as humanitarian assistance starts to arrive.
Turkey and the United Arab Emirates have sent planes carrying much-needed aid along with search-and-rescue workers.
Meanwhile, Morocco is still reeling from a 6.8-magnitude earthquake on Friday night.
Its epicenter was in the Al Haouz province south of Marrakesh.
The United Nations estimate the quake impacted some 300,000 people.
WOMAN (through translator): We have escaped death.
No matter how much we tell you what happened, you cannot imagine what really happened.
We have seen death with our own eyes.
ALEX CADIER: The death toll continues to climb as rescue crews dig through the rubble of collapsed homes in what's left of remote villages high in the Atlas Mountains.
Many were mud brick structures unable to withstand the country's most powerful earthquake in more than a century.
But, amazingly, rescuers are still pulling out survivors days later.
PATRICK VILLARDRY, Volunteer (through translator): What we are doing here is using rescue dogs to locate the victims.
We found the kitchen where the person went missing, so we started digging in order to release them.
ALEX CADIER: Military helicopters are starting to evacuate some of the wounded left stranded in remote areas.
The province's only military field hospital also opened today to treat quake victims.
MAN (through translator): Now we are fine.
My wife's mother had a fracture, and I brought her and my children here.
We thank God that we are still alive.
But I lost my house, which completely collapsed.
I lost all my things.
ALEX CADIER: Aid is slowly starting to trickle in, but it's not nearly enough to match the massive scale of the disaster.
Anger is mounting over the government's delayed response, especially as aid groups say the Moroccan authorities are accepting only limited foreign assistance.
Frederic Wehrey: FREDERIC WEHREY: These types of governments on the surface appear to deliver stability, security.
I mean, these are not systems that are able to address the needs of their populations, especially in these rural areas, like the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and like Eastern Libya, like the town of Derna.
I think there are very much similarities in the sense that these authoritarian governments do not adequately enable local actors to prepare for disasters like that.
ALEX CADIER: All this comes as survivors are living in makeshift shelters after spending a fourth straight night outside, uncertain of what the future holds.
MALIKA OUABELLA, Morocco (through translator): We don't know what we will do afterwards.
We have nothing, because our money, our furniture, everything was destroyed.
ALEX CADIER: For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Alex Cadier in Marrakesh, Morocco.
AMNA NAWAZ: Now to our other lead story.
Months of Republican allegations and investigations into President Joe Biden have led to this.
The GOP-controlled House of Representatives has launched an impeachment inquiry into the president.
It's just the fifth time in American history an incumbent has faced a formal inquiry.
Laura Barron-Lopez begins our coverage.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): House Republicans have uncovered serious and credible allegations into President Biden's conduct.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Within hours of returning from recess, Speaker Kevin McCarthy bypasses a floor vote and directs Republicans to turn their months-long investigations into President Biden and his son Hunter's business dealings into a formal impeachment inquiry.
REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY: These are allegations of abuse of power, obstruction and corruption.
And they warrant further investigation by the House of Representatives.
That's why today I am directing our House committee to open a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Republicans have lobbed unsubstantiated allegations against President Biden since taking over the House in January, but have so far turned up no evidence of wrongdoing.
Now three committees, Oversight led by Chairman James Comer, Judiciary led by Jim Jordan and Ways and Means led by Jason Smith, will continue their dive into money members of Joe Biden's family made overseas, allegations of selling access and whether the president arranged - - quote -- "special treatment" for his son in ongoing criminal investigations.
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Extreme MAGA Republicans have launched an illegitimate impeachment inquiry that is a kangaroo court, fishing expedition and conspiracy theater rolled into one.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Congressional Democrats and the White House dismissed the new investigation as politically motivated.
White House spokesman Ian Sams said: "House Republicans have been investigating the president for nine months, and they have turned up no evidence of wrongdoing.
His own Republican members have said so.
This is extreme politics at its worst."
McCarthy called the designation a -- quote - - "logical next step" that will give GOP committees stronger investigative powers to access bank records and other documents.
But his announcement also comes as Congress faces an end-of-September deadline to prevent a government shutdown.
REP. MATT GAETZ (R-FL): The rushed and somewhat rattled performance you just saw from the speaker isn't real.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: And far right Republicans have threatened a shutdown and McCarthy's gavel if their list of demands, including an impeachment inquiry, go unmet.
REP. MATT GAETZ: I rise today to serve notice.
Mr. Speaker, you are out of compliance with the agreement that allowed you to assume this role.
The path forward for the House of Representatives is to either bring you into immediate, total compliance or remove you, pursuant to a motion to vacate the chair.
AMNA NAWAZ: And our White House correspondent, Laura Barron-Lopez, joins me now for more, along with Heather Caygle.
She's a managing editor at Punchbowl News, which covers Congress.
She joins us from Capitol Hill.
Welcome to you both.
Heather, I want to start with you.
Just share your reporting with us, if you can.
What is behind that announcement from Speaker McCarthy today?
HEATHER CAYGLE, Managing Editor, Punchbowl News: Well, Amna, Speaker McCarthy was facing significant pressure from the right to move forward on this impeachment inquiry.
And I think, from what we have been told privately today, he had hoped that moving ahead with this week would give him a little breathing room in the government funding negotiations, that these hard-line conservatives would be more likely to support a short-term deal at the end of the month, which McCarthy thinks is needed to give him a stronger negotiating hand with Senate Democrats and the White House.
Now, all of that being said, conservatives have since come out and said an impeachment inquiry is not enough.
And they have an entire investigation list of demands that they want, everything from defunding the FBI, to cutting billions of more dollars from federal agencies.
As we're speaking right now, McCarthy is actually meeting with a group of Republican moderates.
Several of these moderates are in districts that President Biden won in the last election, and he's privately trying to convince them of the necessity of this inquiry, which several of them had pushed back against over the August recess.
AMNA NAWAZ: Laura, you have been talking to your White House sources.
What are they saying in reaction to this impeachment inquiry.
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: The White House is again saying that there is no evidence, that this is -- quote -- "extreme politics."
And to Heather's point about the list of demands that these far right conservatives are issuing in exchange for funding the government, the White House is very eager to latch on to that and say that this is extreme Republicans trying to potentially cause a government shutdown in exchange for an impeachment inquiry, in exchange for these -- a host of all these other demands.
And so they had already started highlighting that, Amna, heading into this September session, and they're going to be focused on it again.
Also, the Biden campaign told me that they're going to be zeroing in on the Trump connection and essentially saying that this attempt to pursue an impeachment inquiry just further demonstrates that House Republicans are trying to help former President Trump and are trying to follow his bidding.
AMNA NAWAZ: Heather, we heard Representative Matt Gaetz there threatening basically to force a vote to remove McCarthy.
We know the concessions Speaker McCarthy made to secure the gavel with many of those far right members of his conference.
Is his speakership in peril?
HEATHER CAYGLE: I would say, if you asked Matt Gaetz, he would say yes.
He said today that McCarthy wasn't living up to the contours of that deal.
Now, we know several of the agreements that he made with conservatives back in January after those 15 votes, but the full deal was never released.
And depending on who you ask, if you ask McCarthy's office or if you ask some of these conservative hard-liners like Gaetz, they will say that they agreed to different things.
But because no one has seen actual paper, we don't know what this handshake agreement that they made was.
Now Congressman Gaetz says McCarthy is not living up to this, even after the speaker agreed and moved ahead with this impeachment inquiry.
I think the question now is, would McCarthy have the votes if this were launched to survive a challenge to his speakership?
Before this, we would have seen Democrats possibly help him out.
Now they're privately saying there's no way we're doing that when you're trying to impeach the Democratic president.
AMNA NAWAZ: Laura, you shared with us what the White House sources are saying, but what about other Democrats?
Are they at all concerned that this could hurt the political future of the Biden reelection campaign?
LAURA BARRON-LOPEZ: Democrats I have talked to Amna across the House, Senate, campaign said that they're not concerned at this point, due to the lack of evidence.
I spoke to one Republican pollster today who actually was conducting a focus group as they were texting me of Trump-to-Biden voters.
And they said that only one voter in that group knew about the impeachment inquiry announcement, despite the fact that it happened hours prior in the day, that no one cared about Hunter Biden, they cared about the economy.
And pollsters like that have told me that swing voters generally see this as a personal matter, a personal family problem, and that they don't hold it against President Biden.
Now, another important piece of final context, Amna, on the motivation for House Republicans is that Republican members were saying as early as September of 2022 that they were going to launch an impeachment inquiry even before they won the House.
And I spoke to former House Republican Charlie Dent, a moderate that was ostracized by his party and essentially pushed out.
And he said that the motivation for Republicans here is to muddy the waters and to try to draw a false equivalency, all as people are delivering under-oath testimony in the alleged criminal -- alleged criminality against Trump in those trials, and that Republicans are trying essentially to hurt Biden politically.
AMNA NAWAZ: Another historic day here in Washington.
I have a feeling we're going to be covering this quite a bit in the weeks and months ahead.
Thanks for joining me here in the studio, our White House correspondent, Laura Barron-Lopez, and, from Capitol Hill, Heather Caygle of Punchbowl News.
Thank you to you both.
HEATHER CAYGLE: Thank you.
AMNA NAWAZ: The House Oversight Committee is one of several on tap to lead the Republican impeachment inquiry.
Joining me now is a member of the committee, Republican Congresswoman from Michigan Lisa McClain.
Congresswoman McClain, welcome back.
Thanks for joining us.
REP. LISA MCCLAIN (R-MI): Thanks for having me.
AMNA NAWAZ: So, a number of your fellow Republicans have already said they have not yet seen enough facts or any evidence that warrants an impeachment inquiry into the president right now.
Have you seen those facts or evidence?
You believe this is warranted right now?
REP. LISA MCCLAIN: I do.
I do.
From the 1023s, from the SARs reports, from the witness testimony, I think there is enough evidence that would warrant an impeachment inquiry.
And I think the other thing that we have to understand about this is, with this, this allows us to work in conjunction, as opposed to silos, with the different committees.
And it will enable us to actually get the evidence that we haven't been able to get from these three-letter agencies.
That's been kind of our frustration is, we have gotten stonewalled and delayed, which seems to be a tactic.
And this hopefully will enable a quicker process to have some transparency to really show the facts.
Is there enough evidence to go forward with an impeachment or is there just not any evidence there?
But we have to be able to get the evidence to see what's out there before we make a determination of actual impeachment or not.
AMNA NAWAZ: So, Congresswoman, the White House says they have provided a lot of information.
The Treasury Department, the Department of Justice, the FBI have all handed over documents that have been requested over the last nine months that House Republicans have been looking into these issues.
And your fellow Republicans, among them, Ken Buck, Dave Joyce, Dusty Johnson, Mike Lawler, all say you're not there yet on impeachment.
Have you seen evidence they haven't?
REP. LISA MCCLAIN: Well, we might not be there on impeachment, which I would maybe disagree, but I believe in due process, and I believe in following the facts.
That's why we're opening this inquiry, so whatever we ask for, we are able to get, so the FBI, for example, can't just pick and choose when and what they send to us, right?
I believe the American people want transparency, and that's exactly what we're after here.
So that's where I'm at personally.
AMNA NAWAZ: So we know that you're against a deadline when it comes to funding the government as well.
The House has essentially, what, 11 working days now to pass 12 funding bills and avoid that shutdown.
How much of that do you think informed Speaker McCarthy's decision to announce this inquiry today, knowing this is something that the Freedom Caucus has been asking for?
REP. LISA MCCLAIN: Well, I think there are two separate issues.
I think, one, we need to pay attention to our fiscal house.
That is, in and of itself, extremely important.
Listen, the government spends way too much money.
We have got to get our spending under control.
You have heard me talk about that time and time again.
I don't truly see these going hand in hand.
They're two separate issues.
We can move forward with one and without the other, but we're back in session.
I'm ready to go back to work.
I know my colleagues are ready to go back to work.
So let's get this done.
AMNA NAWAZ: But are these two separate issues, to be fair?
I mean, we know those far right Freedom Caucus members have been demanding an impeachment inquiry, and we know that they are -- have a number of conditions on moving forward with funding bills.
REP. LISA MCCLAIN: Well, I can share with you this.
I don't want to speak for the Freedom Caucus, but I can tell you this.
They're not looking for one or the other.
I believe they're looking for an and.
I believe the Freedom Caucus, which I agree with, we need to rein in government spending and we need to expose this culture of corruption.
So whether they're integrated or not, I think we need to look at both of them.
AMNA NAWAZ: A number of Republicans during the Trump impeachment processes said that those were a distraction from Congress doing the work it needed to do.
Do you think this inquiry could also be a distraction?
REP. LISA MCCLAIN: I believe in my colleagues, I believe in myself, that we're pretty good.
I think we can handle both.
AMNA NAWAZ: Congresswoman, if I may briefly, we know some members are threatening to move to remove Speaker McCarthy from his speakership for not granting the Freedom Caucus some of the things they have demanded.
Do you think that he is in peril?
REP. LISA MCCLAIN: Leader McCarthy has done an excellent job, I think, of navigating the waters up until this point.
I don't -- I don't have a sense that he is in peril.
I don't know.
I don't sit in on those Freedom Caucus meetings.
But I do know this.
Democracy is messy.
And where I think we are stronger together as a conference is, we are very diverse.
We come from very diverse districts.
And one thing that Leader McCarthy has, I think, done an excellent job of is actually listening to all different factions of our conference.
We have R-33 districts and then we have Biden-14 districts in our caucus.
That's a very, very diverse caucus.
And my hat off to Speaker McCarthy that has been able to at least listen and get input from all of these different representative governments that we have.
AMNA NAWAZ: That is Congresswoman Lisa McClain, Republican from Michigan, joining us tonight.
Congresswoman, thank you.
Always great to have you on.
REP. LISA MCCLAIN: You too.
AMNA NAWAZ: In the day's other headlines: The stage is set for North Korea's Kim Jong-un and Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet and discuss a major arms deal.
Kim arrived today in Russia's far east on his armored train greeted by officials and a brass band.
It's his first foreign trip since the pandemic.
The initial stop was at Khasan, near the city of Vladivostok.
Russian reports suggested Kim is headed for the Vostochny spaceport, where the meeting with Putin could take place.
The Russian president declared today that the criminal cases against former President Trump have exposed all that's wrong with the U.S. political system.
Putin spoke at an economic forum in Vladivostok.
He said Russia will benefit from the attacks on Mr. Trump.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, Russian President (through translator): As for the prosecution of Trump, for us, what's happening in today's conditions, in my opinion, is good, because it shows the rottenness of the American political system, which cannot pretend to teach others democracy.
Everything that is happening with Trump is the persecution of a political rival for political reasons.
AMNA NAWAZ: The Russian leader also said it's unlikely that Moscow's relations with Washington will improve much, no matter who wins the 2024 U.S. presidential election.
Iran today publicly identified five prisoners in the U.S. that it wants freed for five Iranian Americans held in Tehran.
That came a day after the Biden administration allowed Tehran to draw on $6 billion in frozen funds for humanitarian aid.
The State Department rejected criticism that the move amounts to paying ransom.
MATTHEW MILLER, State Department Spokesman: Iran is not going to release these American citizens out of the goodness of their heart.
That is not real life.
That is not how this works.
That was never going to happen.
We have to make tough choices and engage in tough negotiations to bring these American citizens home.
AMNA NAWAZ: The frozen funds are to be transferred from South Korea to Qatar.
The State Department said they can be frozen again if Iran violates the agreement.
The beating death of Tyre Nichols in Memphis has sparked federal civil rights charges against five former police officers.
Today's announcement came nine months after that fatal traffic stop.
Like Nichols, the defendants are Black.
They have already pleaded not guilty to state charges of second-degree murder.
The biggest federal antitrust trial in a generation kicked off today, pitting the government against Google.
This morning, attorneys for the tech giant and the Justice Department arrived at federal court in Washington.
It's expected that the trial will last 10 weeks.
Federal prosecutors say Google uses the dominance of its search engine to stifle competition.
The company denies that.
Advisers to the FDA say the leading ingredient in many over-the-counter cold medicines is essentially useless.
They reported that finding today about the decongestant phenylephrine after new studies showed it's no better than a placebo.
The compound is found in Sudafed, DayQuil, and other products.
The FDA must now decide whether to order those versions off the market.
And on Wall Street, stocks headed lower, as investors waited for the August inflation report.
The Dow Jones industrial average lost 17 points to close just below 34646.
The Nasdaq fell 144 points, or 1 percent.
The S&P 500 gave up 25 points.
Still to come on the "NewsHour": we report from on the ground in Ukraine, where a counteroffensive is slowly regaining territory from Russian forces; child poverty increases sharply following the expiration of an expanded tax credit; plus much more.
A new round of COVID-19 boosters will be available within days, as COVID cases and hospitalizations continue to rise across the country.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the new shots yesterday, and now the CDC recommended this evening that all Americans 6 months and older should get a new booster.
Dr. Mandy Cohen is the director of the CDC.
She joins me now to discuss.
Dr. Cohen, welcome.
Thanks for joining us.
DR. MANDY COHEN, Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Well, thanks for having me.
AMNA NAWAZ: Let's talk about where we are as a nation right now.
COVID deaths and hospitalizations are far below where they once were.
Only about 20 percent of Americans got the last booster, and life, as you know, in much of the country has reverted to pre-COVID behavior for most.
So, what is your best argument for why people should go get this new booster?
DR. MANDY COHEN: Well, I think we all wish COVID would be fully in the rearview mirror, but the reality is, it's still here with us, it's still circulating, and it's still making some people very sick.
But the good news is, is, we have more tools to protect ourselves.
We just have to use those tools.
That's why, today, the CDC did recommend that everyone over the age of 6 months get an updated COVID-19 vaccine.
AMNA NAWAZ: And should people who got the bivalent booster last fall assume that their immunity and protection has waned?
DR. MANDY COHEN: So, I think it's important for folks to know that your immunity does decrease over time.
These vaccines are very good at preventing the severe illness that COVID can cause, but that protection does decrease over time.
And it's important to know that this virus changes.
There are different types of this virus that are circulating right now.
And this updated vaccine is mapped and matched to those new circulating viruses, so, again, something we wanted to recommend for everyone.
But, importantly, those over 65 are certainly at highest risk for the worst outcomes of COVID.
We're still seeing folks in the hospital and dying from COVID.
More than 80 percent of those deaths are from people who are over 65.
So, getting a COVID shot and an updated one is really protecting you, particularly if you're older.
AMNA NAWAZ: So, age clearly plays a role there.
And we should note, because we don't get to say this number a lot, we're still seeing around 650 deaths a week due to COVID.
Does the data show that the majority of those are among unvaccinated or are many of those vaccinated too?
DR. MANDY COHEN: So, right now, we know that most folks have gotten some sort of exposure to the COVID virus, either through having COVID before or through getting a vaccination.
But, importantly, we know that protection decreases over time.
And so that's why we want to make sure folks are getting an updated vaccine, again, to boost up their immunity to make sure that they have all the protection they can going into the fall and winter.
AMNA NAWAZ: So the U.S. government had previously been buying hundreds of millions of doses, so those shots could be free to the American public.
That's no longer the case.
So, if you're one of the 22 million American adults who don't have insurance, what is this going to cost you?
DR. MANDY COHEN: Well, I want to say, there is an opportunity for everyone to get access to a free COVID vaccine this season.
It is going to be a little bit different than in the past.
So we are outside of the emergency time.
So it is more like getting your flu shot that you have done before.
So if you're used to getting your flu shot in a pharmacy or a doctor's office, that's likely where you will -- can go and access a COVID vaccine as well.
But it will be free, either covered by your insurance or through a program the CDC runs that allows you to get access to get a free vaccine if you don't have insurance.
You can access those free vaccines at pharmacies like CVS or Walgreens or at local health departments or community health centers.
AMNA NAWAZ: So, you're saying no one should have to pay for this updated booster if they choose to get it?
DR. MANDY COHEN: We don't want costs to be a barrier for anyone.
But, again, this is something we're just able to do during this period of time, but it's important that folks do make a plan to go get vaccinated.
AMNA NAWAZ: So there's another concern, Dr. Cohen.
We have been hearing a lot from medical professionals about this so-called tripledemic or tridemic of COVID and RSV and flu.
How likely are we to see a surge of all three this year?
DR. MANDY COHEN: Well, we know, every fall and winter, we see lots of viruses that circulate.
We just have to add COVID to the mix.
So we know flu is going to be increasing.
We know RSV is going to be increasing.
But the good news is, is that we have more tools than ever and, for the first time ever, have vaccines against all three of the major viruses that spread this fall and winter.
And so not only do we want folks to get this updated COVID booster, but it's a great time to go out and get your flu vaccine as well.
And, for older adults, we have a vaccine against RSV.
And for our little kids, again, RSV can often affect the youngest among us, that we want to make sure they can get an immunization as well.
So that is coming in the next number of weeks.
AMNA NAWAZ: Speaking of the little kids, we know many of them are now back in school.
And we have seen reports of a few schools beginning to require masking once again when they do see an uptick in the number of COVID cases in particular.
Do you recommend that schools and workplaces take those steps right now?
DR. MANDY COHEN: So, again, there are many ways that folks can protect themselves against all of the viruses that we know they're going to be circulating.
Today, we're wanting to make sure folks know to get vaccinated, vaccinated against COVID and flu and RSV if it's available for you.
But there are other tools we can use to protect ourselves.
Testing and treatment is an important tool, and, of course, as you mentioned, washing your hands, wearing a mask when there's more circulating virus, staying home when you're sick, improving ventilation.
These are all layers of tools that we can use to protect ourselves.
We're in a better place than we have ever been to be able to do that.
We just need to use these tools.
AMNA NAWAZ: That is the director of the CDC, Dr. Mandy Cohen, joining us tonight.
Dr. Cohen, thank you.
Good to talk to you.
DR. MANDY COHEN: Thank you.
Thanks for having me.
AMNA NAWAZ: Kim Jong-un's rare trip outside of North Korea for an expected meeting with Vladimir Putin will focus in part on ammunition sales for Russia's war in Ukraine.
Fighting remains fierce, especially in Southern Ukraine, where Ukrainian forces are trying to recapture occupied territory.
Nick Schifrin has returned to Ukraine, and he joins me now from the south.
Nick, it's good to see you.
You're in Zaporizhzhia, which is one of the largest cities in Southern Ukraine.
What is the state of that counteroffensive there?
NICK SCHIFRIN: We have come here to Zaporizhzhia to really see the epicenter of the counteroffensive.
Russia still occupies about 20 percent of all of Ukraine.
You can see that territory in pink there.
Ukraine is focused on two axes.
The main one is just south of here through occupied territory to the key city of Melitopol on the way to Crimea.
And the second one is in the east in Bakhmut, where the war's largest battle continues.
And the challenge is great.
Those dots that you see right there, those are Russian defenses built over many months, tens of thousands of mines, rows upon rows of concrete barriers, and vehicle traps.
Now, soldiers have broken through minefields just south of here in Robotyne, giving them high ground, and Verbove.
But they have not breached the second line.
It cannot be overstated how important this moment is.
U.S. officials tell me that getting money through Congress that is key for Ukraine in the next few weeks and maintaining American and European support will largely depend on whether Ukraine can prove it can make goals, it can achieve its goals in this counteroffensive, really in the next month before the winter sets in.
As one official put it to me, Amna, the clock is not Ukraine's friend.
AMNA NAWAZ: Nick, when it comes to that strategy and the way forward, are there disagreements, especially between Washington and Kyiv?
NICK SCHIFRIN: I would say there were disagreements between Washington and Kyiv, especially last month.
Ukraine's strategy has been to deploy troops and Western tanks equally between the south and the east.
The idea was to see if they could find different weaknesses in the Russian line to exploit.
But some American officials told Ukraine that that would spread Ukrainian troops too thin, that, instead, they should focus on one axis.
As one official put it to me, there was a - - quote -- "fundamental difference of opinion."
Whatever disagreement there was behind the scenes, American officials have pledged public support for Ukraine's military decisions.
And it does seem that now Ukraine is massing in the territory to the south of me in Zaporizhzhia, trying to exploit that breach that we talked about before to drive tanks through that they have really been keeping in reserve.
And the goal, of course, is not only to reseize land, but to hold Russian command-and-control outposts and Crimea at risk within range of Ukrainian missiles.
But, of course, Russia also sees that, Amna.
And defense officials confirmed to me that Russia is reinforcing along the same axis right now.
AMNA NAWAZ: So, as we reported earlier, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
What kind of impact could that meeting have on Russia's war in Ukraine?
NICK SCHIFRIN: A Western military official tells me that the biggest fear is artillery.
It's not clear how much artillery North Korea has or what quality it is, but it will help fuel Russia's insatiable appetite for artillery.
The official tells me that Russia fired 10 to 11 million rounds inside Ukraine last year and that now, despite sanctions, Russia is increasing its production capacity of both artillery and tanks.
And U.S. officials are concerned that Putin can keep a conflict sustained.
And that is exactly what he indicated today at an event.
He said Russia would not stop fighting.
He rejected any talk of negotiations with Ukraine.
And he said the U.S. would continue to target Russia no matter who won the 2024 elections.
Putin's strategy seems to be to wait the West out, which is why, Amna, the United States and more than two dozen countries have just begun to negotiate with Ukraine over long-term security guarantees to try and prove Putin wrong.
AMNA NAWAZ: Nick, as you're there talking to folks on the ground, obviously, the war dominates headlines, but what else are Ukrainians focused on right now?
NICK SCHIFRIN: They're focused on whether the lights and the heat can stay on when Russia begins to hit the electricity grid as winter begins, and they're focused on corruption.
Last week, Oleksii Reznikov, the defense minister resigned.
He had been dogged by claims of corruption over procurement and supplies for soldiers.
The new defense minister, this man, Rustem Umerov.
He has promised an audit of the Ministry of Defense, a new digitized register of conscripts to reduce corruption.
And corruption, Amna, as you know, is really Ukraine's other enemy.
And whether the top official and Kyiv or the front-line soldier, they all know, if they don't fight corruption, that morale that has held the country together could really be sacked.
AMNA NAWAZ: That is Nick Schifrin reporting from Zaporizhzhia in Southern Ukraine.
Nick, thank you to you and the team.
Please travel safely.
NICK SCHIFRIN: Thanks, Amna.
AMNA NAWAZ: The child poverty rate in the U.S. has more than doubled just a year after dropping to historic lows.
Stephanie Sy takes a look at new census data out today and what led to this increase.
STEPHANIE SY: Back in 2021, as the economy reeled from the pandemic, a one-year expansion of the child tax credit led to a historic 46 percent decline in the U.S. child poverty rate.
It dropped from 9.7 percent to 5.2 percent.
New census data out today shows a dramatic reversal, with the rate of children in poverty skyrocketing to 12.4 percent in 2022.
That's higher than pre-pandemic levels.
To help us understand what's behind the numbers, I'm joined by Catherine Rampell, a "NewsHour" special correspondent and columnist at The Washington Post.
Catherine, it's good to see you.
We are talking about the largest one-year jump on record for what's called the supplemental poverty rate.
That includes the value of government benefits.
Were you expecting this big of a spike?
And what kind of hardships does this translate into for the five million more children now in this category?
CATHERINE RAMPELL: I think most people who follow this issue were expecting some increase in the number of children who had fallen into poverty or maybe were pushed into poverty, depending on how you look at it.
But these numbers are astounding, I think, more than double the child poverty rate in 2022 that we saw in 2021, a result partly, of course, of the fact that cost of living has gone up.
Some of the expenses that are taken into account in that measure, work expenses, medical expenses, et cetera, have gone up.
But, primarily, it is due to a policy choice that lawmakers made, which was to basically let a number of pandemic-era programs lapse, chiefly the child tax credit, as you mentioned, but some others as well.
STEPHANIE SY: What does this mean for families and children?
I know that some food pantries are -- reported last year that they did see a rise in the number of people, for example, seeking food assistance.
CATHERINE RAMPELL: Absolutely.
So, if you look at a number of surveys collected by the Census Bureau, as well as other government institutions, the implementation of that expanded child tax credit or child allowance was associated with a significant decline in measures of food insecurity, financial insecurity, whether people could pay sudden bills, for example.
And, as you might expect, when that support disappeared, you saw the reverse.
You saw greater need for food assistance, whether it's from food pantries or otherwise.
Other signs of financial hardship rose as a result of that program being taken away.
And if you look, in fact, at the surveys conducted over how people had been spending those funds, because the Census Bureau had been collecting data on that, it showed that parents primarily reported using the child tax credit dollars on things like basic household necessities, rent, childcare, school supplies, groceries.
So, again, when that support was taken away, you saw those kinds of hardships return to what they had been before the pandemic, in fact, higher than they had been before the pandemic.
STEPHANIE SY: Yes, and not to mention that we had 9 percent inflation in certain months last year for basic essentials.
As you write in your Washington Post column today, Catherine, the reason the Biden policy packed such a -- quote -- "powerful poverty-fighting punch" is that it was not conditional on any minimal level of income or earnings.
Why does unconditional cash assistance have a different impact, in your view?
CATHERINE RAMPELL: So this was among the ways that this version of the child tax credit differed from prior iterations of it, which, to be clear, had been around for many years, had been expanded under Democratic and Republican administrations alike.
But this was the first time that it became available to families with little or even no earnings.
So, let's say you're a kid and you're being cared for by an elderly grandparent who cannot work.
Your household got that funding too and was able to use it to pay for those necessities to be lifted out of poverty.
However, this aspect of the child tax credits design, the child allowances design has been controversial, right?
There have been fears that maybe giving money to households not conditional on work or any sort of earnings could discourage employment.
Based on the research to date, it does not look as if this expansion of the child tax credit had that effect.
There are certainly models out there that suggest that it could have some sort of depressing effect on labor supply, on employment.
Those are endlessly debated, those kinds of models.
But that's part of the reason why this version of the child tax credit has been controversial, why no Republicans support it.
However, there have been a number of Republicans who have gingerly put forward their own alternative versions of an expanded child tax credit, maybe with some kind of modest work requirements in there or a look-back, suggesting that the parents or guardians had prior years of earnings.
So it does seem like there might be room for compromise here potentially later this year, as lawmakers are hashing out some other negotiations over tax breaks and whether they should be extended, that there might be some room for a version that looks not quite like Biden's version, not quite like what Republicans are putting forth, but potentially somewhere in the middle.
STEPHANIE SY: Well, certainly, millions of American families watching to see if there's a revival of some sort of this COVID-era policy.
Catherine Rampell with The Washington Post, thanks so much.
CATHERINE RAMPELL: Thank you.
AMNA NAWAZ: Turning now to another major issue facing young people in America, the COVID-19 pandemic revealed the enormous strain on the mental health care system.
And, as Christopher Booker reports, parents whose children have complex mental and behavioral health needs have had to take desperate measures to get their kids treatment.
It's part of our series Early Warnings: America's Youth Mental Health crisis.
And a note: This report includes discussions of suicide and depression.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Every night, 14.5-year-old Hannah Norris calls her mom, Lisa, at their home in Hilliard, Ohio.
LISA NORRIS, Mother of Hannah Norris: Did you eat today?
HANNAH NORRIS: I ate a little bit, yes.
We had (INAUDIBLE) balls for lunch.
LISA NORRIS: That's a good lunch.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Hannah has been a patient at a residential psychiatric hospital in Central Oklahoma since January.
When did you start to notice that she may have had some struggles with her mental health?
LISA NORRIS: Almost immediately.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: After Lisa adopted Hannah out of the foster care system as a toddler, Hannah was diagnosed with PTSD, anxiety, depression, and ADHD.
LISA NORRIS: Looks like every other kid in the yearbook.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Those conditions were manageable, Lisa says, but got worse when puberty hit.
LISA NORRIS: The end of fifth grade over the summer was when she fell apart, and we have not had any school pictures since.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: In recent years, Hannah has made multiple suicide attempts and experienced psychotic breaks.
LISA NORRIS: The older she's gotten, the bigger she's gotten, the stronger she's gotten, the harder that is for us to mitigate in the house and to keep everybody safe.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: So her behaviors became violent?
LISA NORRIS: Very much so.
The most heartbreaking thing is, 20 minutes afterwards, an hour afterwards, once you get her back calm and regulated, like, she's horrified that she did that to people that she loves.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Lisa says Hannah is, for now, safe.
LISA NORRIS: She can't access really anything to hurt herself.
It's staffed 24/7.
All the sharps are removed.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: The goal of inpatient residential programs is to provide intensive treatment so that kids can return home.
A 2007 study found the average length of stay varies by program, from less than two months to more than two years.
Lisa says Hannah has made progress with daily therapy and new medications.
LISA NORRIS: I'm hearing light in her voice for the first time in a long time.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: But it's been an extraordinarily difficult journey to get the specialized treatment her daughter needs.
Like many kids with severe mental health needs, Hannah cycled in and out of emergency rooms and psychiatric units, meant to stabilize kids in crisis.
DR. PURVA GROVER, Cleveland Clinic: Children are children.
They are developmentally, physiologically, psychologically very different.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Dr. Purva Grover chairs pediatric emergency medicine at Cleveland Clinic.
She says more families are showing up in E.R.s because the supply of specialized mental health services has not kept up with demand.
DR. PURVA GROVER: We are not psychiatrists.
We are not the specialists of mental health and the long-term consequences treatment diagnoses.
We are simply what we call crisis management.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Last year, 42 states had a severe shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists.
Nationwide, the number of residential treatment facilities for children fell 30 percent from 2012 to 2020.
CELESTE FERGUSON, Mother of Shabbo: She definitely overstayed her welcome in an acute facility.
They're not designed for long-term care.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Celeste Ferguson's 17-year-old daughter, Shabbo, known as Shabbi (ph), has been diagnosed with depression, anxiety, and a mild intellectual disability.
She's struggled with self-destructive behavior for years.
CELESTE FERGUSON: She would find things to wrap her on her neck to get that, like, sensation and feeling.
She would eat things that aren't food items.
And this sort of thing was happening any moment.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Shabbi has been in a holding pattern at a Columbus children's hospital for more than 60 days as her mom and care team search for long-term treatment.
CELESTE FERGUSON: So we're hopeful that soon a bed will open at -- there's a couple spots that I think they might be willing to accept her.
And, hopefully, she will be stable and ready to make that transition.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: On top of limited services, parents also have to reckon with high costs.
CELESTE FERGUSON: We're still paying off the debt from when we couldn't get a diagnosis and we were just private paying everything.
LISA NORRIS: The insurance costs, I don't even want to try to estimate, other than it's probably in the millions at this point.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: In 2020, when doctors recommended residential treatment for Hannah, the Medicaid funding she received as an adoptee covered medical care, but not the facility's room and board.
They had used up her state funding for treatment.
And Lisa, a public school special ed coordinator, couldn't afford the $40,000 she says was required up front.
LISA NORRIS: There's no way, and there's no way that most people could do that.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Out of options, she says she had to accept an unthinkable alternative, surrender Hannah to the state, which, by law, would be obligated to cover the costs.
LISA NORRIS: I had to try to sell to her that we're doing this because you have to get help.
We're doing this because mom's trying to keep you alive.
Kellijo Jeffries has seen other parents make this bargain.
A licensed social worker, she is the head of job and family services in Portage County, east of Akron.
KELLIJO JEFFRIES, Portage County, Ohio, Job and Family Services: I have not seen in nine years that I have been here the frequency that I'm seeing now, where those type of tough choices are having to be made from parents.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: In 2021, 12 percent of children who came into Ohio state custody entered primarily because of behavioral health needs.
Is what you are currently doing what you were set up to do?
KELLIJO JEFFRIES: Absolutely not.
We are supposed to investigate child abuse and neglect, not be the ones to try to foster and create placement opportunities.
We're not the right professionals to work in that space.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Even with funding, she says child protection agencies are struggling to find appropriate treatment for kids in need.
KELLIJO JEFFRIES: We're failing children.
And so that's the most heartbreaking part of this behavioral health and placement crisis issue.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Back in Hilliard, Hannah received six months of residential treatment when she was in the custody of Franklin County Child Services.
But Lisa says her mental health quickly regressed when she was discharged and placed in foster care and then a group home.
LISA NORRIS: My naive thought was, by turning her over to the system, they were going to help me put her behind a locked facility, where she couldn't get ahold of things to hurt herself, hopefully help her at the same time.
It didn't go that way.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: With help from an attorney, Lisa regained custody of Hannah, but she says was back to square one.
With the shortage of mental health care workers, coupled with high costs, families often face a series of difficult and complicated decisions when seeking care.
In response, states like Ohio have begun to restructure their state services, hoping they can reach more kids and spare families some of the anguish.
GOV.
MIKE DEWINE (R-OH): We know that serving this group well not only results in better lives for the tens of thousands of these children and adults with multiple challenges, but also improves the lives of their families.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Last July, Republican Governor Mike DeWine launched a new program known as OhioRISE.
HABEEBAH RASHEED GRIMES, Positive Education Program: This program is focused on young people with complex developmental and mental health needs, helping them find resources and receive coordination of care that allows them to stay in their home, in the community, in the schools where they live.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Habeebah Rasheed Grimes heads Positive Education Program, a Cleveland nonprofit that has served inner-city youth for decades, and now runs OhioRISE in Central Cuyahoga County.
WOMAN: Do you guys have school stuff set up yet?
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: If a child's needs can't be met through in-community support like this, the program funds inpatient treatment.
Youth under the age of 21 who are eligible for Medicaid and require significant behavioral health treatment qualify for the program.
Children whose families earn more than the Medicaid threshold are eligible too through a federal waiver if they have acute needs.
What is the reality on the ground from a staffing perspective?
We hear again and again that there's not enough therapists.
There's not enough infrastructure out there to support these kids.
HABEEBAH RASHEED GRIMES: This is true.
There is not a big enough work force to address all of the clinical needs that exist on the continuum of care.
And that's going to take time to get folks into that work force pipeline.
It is indeed a crisis.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: For now, families like Celeste Ferguson's continue to grapple with that shortage.
OhioRISE is working with her county's disability family and children's agencies to cover Shabbi's cost once they find long-term treatment.
Where does the funding come into the conversation as we sit right now?
Do you have to think about that as you're trying to find these facilities?
CELESTE FERGUSON: I don't.
I was talking with someone the other day, and I don't even think twice about it now, which is a godsend.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: And this financial relief means she hasn't had to consider giving up custody of Shabbi.
CELESTE FERGUSON: It's also opened us up to a team of people who are incredibly supportive that we just didn't have before.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: The new support has provided tremendous relief for Hannah Norris' family.
Last year, a care coordinator helped Lisa apply to more than 100 treatment facilities.
When a fully funded spot in Oklahoma opened up, she didn't hesitate to drive Hannah the more than 900 miles.
LISA NORRIS: We stopped for fast food.
I had the first normal meal with my daughter in months.
And then I had to drop her off 14.5 hours away from home.
So I left Oklahoma with her being carted behind the scenes to a place I had never seen, trusting those staff to take care of her and keep her safe.
And God bless them, they did.
CHRISTOPHER BOOKER: Now that Hannah is safe and getting treatment, Lisa can focus on what comes next, finding care closer to home.
For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm Christopher Booker in Hilliard, Ohio.
AMNA NAWAZ: And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.
Remember, there's a lot more online at PBS.org/NewsHour, including a story about what's behind a sharp rise in deaths in Louisiana prisons.
That's at PBS.org/NewsHour.
I'm Amna Nawaz.
On behalf of the entire "NewsHour" team, thank you for joining us.
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