Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20240712

Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. With fidelity wealth management, a dedicated advisor can tailor advice and recommendations to your life. Thats fidelity wealth management. The william and flora hewlett foundation. For more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. At www. Hewlett. Org. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Nawaz california tonight is home to a recordshattering heat wave, and about two dozen wildfires currently burning across the state. Nearly 15,000 firefighters are battling steep terrain and tinder dry conditions, as they fight to control the raging infernos. Temporarily closed forest in central and southern regions of the state beuse of the fire risk. More than 2 million acres already scorched this year in california. Recordbreaking swaths of recordbreaking swaths of land, burning under recordbreaking temperatures. Governor gavin newsom last night declared a state of emergency in five counties, as some 20 fire conglomerates smolder across the state. The largest fire alone, fresnos creek fire, has burned over 73,000 acres. A caravan of Labor Day Weekend campers were surrounded by flames, and forced to flee to a nearby lake. Sisters katelyn and mckenzie meek escaped the fires path. One minute youre just sitting in that camp, and the next youre driving through flames to save everything. Nawaz backpacker juliana park documented her drive out of Sierra National forest, the road lined with flames. Rescue teams deployed to fresno, have already airlifted out more than 200 trapped campers. The crews were absolutely ecstatic when they came off the helicopters. Nawaz colonel david hall, of the California Army National Guard all of the individuals that they rescued were greeting the crew members with hugs as they were boarding onto the helicopter and then as they were getting off the helicopter aot of high fives. Nawaz several fires still burn completely uncontained, and state excessive heat warnings are in effect until tonight. Officials warn, the worst may be yet to come. Nawaz temperatures in Los Angeles County reached a record high of 121 degrees yesterday. While its cooler there today, temperatures inland are expected to top 100. For a closer look at whats behind that heat wave and whats fueling these fires, im joined by leah stokes, shes a professor and researcher on climate, energy and political policy at the university of california, Santa Barbara. She joins us this holiday from ontario, canada. Leah stokes, welcome to the newshour. Lets start with that warning, why is it that authorities believe that this fire season could get even worse soon . Well, unfortunately, Climate Change is hopping right now in california, and weve been lengthening the fire season quite considerably as we warm up the planet. In california, our fire season is now two and a half months longer than it used to be, which means that people are at risk all the time, and, as you mentioned, were seeing record heat waves not just in Los Angeles County but also in Santa Barbara county, san la san labisbo county and that is increasing risk of fires. Nawaz we should mention some of the activities that spark the fire are related to human behavior. One fire w was starred by a gender reveal party in which someone used a smoke machine that parked a fire. So explain that connection to us. It is true we make decisions in our daily lives such as people who decided to have the gender reveal party, but, you know, it becomes so much more risky to actually have that spark light a fire under Climate Change. So we know because of research from scientists that we have 500 more risk for wildfires during this Climate Changed world than we would have before, and thats because its really hot and dry, because we have had droughts, and because the drought caused by Climate Change led to a lot of vegetation dying, meaning a lot of brush is lying around that could easily light up, and a little spark from a gender reveal party or whatever it is can end up being a massive inferno very quickly. So people need to be careful and held accountable when they light fires, but the fact is Climate Change is the real cprit behind that were seeing right now. Nawaz we should mention californias fire record goes back to 1932, but the ten biggest fires have all happened after 2000. Should we expect that trend to continue . Ever unfortunately, we should. Ive only lived in california five years and ive already been evacuated from my home for weeks on end and what scientists are telling us is that we are end enter ago period of mega fires where the scale of burning is beyond what weve seen before. As you mentioned, were seeing really large fires and there isnt my reason to believe that will stop because we are not taking the Climate Crisis seriously and we are not reducing fossil fuel emissions around the world. So california is really the canary in the coal mine here and we need to be waking up and just as the bird was dying from coal, we, too, are dying from burning coal, oil and fossil gas. Nawaz were amid fire season now. Are there steps residents and state and local authorities can take to mitigate the damage this season and to prepare for next year is this. Absolutely, our firefighters and our cities are doing the best they can. Tha they do all kinds of things like suggest residents make small retrofits to their homes to reduce fire risk. They do fuel breaks which are sometimes controversial for good reason. So people are trying. The big solution is taking on the Climate Crisis, and that means that we need new leadership, particularly in washington, we need somebody who actually believes that Climate Change is real and, unfortunately, we dont have that right now. Nawaz leah stokes from the university of california intasha barra, thanks for joining us tonight. Thanks for having me on. Nawaz in the days other news, hopes are fading for another round of pandemic relief funding, as Congress Returns to work tomorrow. Prident trump today accused democratic leadership of not wanting to make a deal, and said he would not meet with them. Meanwhile, in geneva, the World Health Organization warned against governments politicizing the virus. If communities perceive that theyre getting information that is being politically manipulated or that its been managed in a way that is distorting evidence, then unfortunately that comes back to roost. That comes back at a government politically at a later stage. I think that has been the case around the world. Nawaz also today, india surpassed brazil to become the country with the second highest number of coronavirus cases in the world, more than 4. 2 million. The u. S. Still leads the worldwide count with more than six million confirmed infections. In saudi arabia, eight people were sentenced to prison for their roles in the murder of journalist jamal khashoggi. Three were given sentences between seven and 10 years. Five were sentenced to 20 years, after khashoggis family agreed to spare them from execution. Khashoggi was killed in 2018 at the saudi consulate in istanbul, turkey. A United Nations investigator criticized the trial, which did not find any senior saudi officials guilty. In belarus, two members of an opposition council, calling for a transfer of power, have gone missing, as well as a leading opposition activist. Maria kolesnikova was reportedly kidnapped off the street in minsk, by masked individuals, and driven away in a minibus. Their colleagues fear its part of a government crackdown after weeks of protests, including a massive rally on sunday in the capital, all in response to last months disputed election. Doctors in germany today said russian Opposition Leader Alexei Navalny has been taken out of an induced coma and is now responsive. He fell ill last month after being poisoned, and was airlifted to a hospital in berlin. German authorities said he tested positive for the soviet era nerve agent novichok. Russia has denied any involvement. And, the u. S. Navy continued to search today for an american sailor who went missing from one of its aircraft carriers. U. S. S. Nimitz was patrolling the northern arabian sea sunday evening when crew members sounded a man overboard alert after being unable to find the sailor aboard. The sailor has yet to be identified. Still to come on the newshour how the patchwork of covid19 testing in the us continues to fall short. The race for the white house hits the final phase after labor day. A grandfather and grandson on different sides of the political divide. Plus much more. Nawaz as the summer comes to a close, and fall begins, experts worry flu season could further complicate the pandemic response. In the u. S. Today, there are about 830 covid19 deaths a day, and nearly 20,000 more cases per day than when the memorial day weekend started. Since then, the overall death toll has grown by nearly 85,000. Testing has improved, but problems with access and delays continue. Dr. Atul gawande, of brigham and Womens Hospital, examines our countrytesting system in his new piece for the new yorker, and he offers a plan for how he says it can be fixed. Dr. Gawande, welcome back to the newshour. You deliver a message a lot of people want to hear right now, which is that we can contr the pandemic soon before the flu season if we want to. And it will take a nationwide commitme, you say, and you focus in on one thing called assurance testing. You say that is crucial to making this happen. What is assurance testing . Well, what it is, is the kind of testing that you see that the n. B. A. Idoing. Its being able to screen people to say, are you safe to work with in environments where we cant wear our masks . We cant socially distance. Assurance testing is testing to assure that we can live together and Work Together. And thats gonna be an important part of what we have to be able to do. Nawaz so its really regular, a much more widespread testing than we have right now, because right now the process is you make an appointment. Sometimes you wait days for that and maybe have to pay the provider you wait days for the results. Theres problems at each step along the way. I want to ask you about start with how were testing. And right now there is sort of a patchwork of testing technology. Theres the nasal swabs we have all seen. Theres antigen tests. Theres these at home test collection kits hitting the market. Now, is that patchwork going to work if were going to get our arms around this very soon, as you say we can . Well, what is cool is that American Innovation is bringing a whole emporium of different kinds of capabilities to the table. And we have a lot of Laboratory Capacity that has grown up. But it is so much of it is untapped. Its not being delivered to the places that we need. So i think the technology is great, but we dont have a technology problem. We have an implementation problem. I name a number of labs that would double the amount of capacity we have today for just making sure that, you know, forget being able to test whether everybody is safe for working together. We cant even test people to make sure that the sick people are getting tested in a consistent, timely and easy way. And thats the dysfunction of our Health System and our implementation system. We can there is enough capacity. We can bring it to the people who need it and we can make it work. But it depends on understanding that this is the problem we have to tackle. And then we have to want to we need our leaders to want to take that on. Nawaz you mentioned the labs and the processing of those tests. That is a major choke point in the process right now. Theres basically four big commercial labs that kind of dominate all of this. Quest diagnostics lab, core bio reference laboratories and sonic healthcare. You mentioned there are a bunch of available labs that arent brought online as part of this process. How does that happen . The majority of u. S. Testing is by a very small number of labs that have not just the Laboratory Capacity, they have the logistics. They can they can do the billing in our crazy system that has different people paying for different this insurer and that insurer, medicaid, paying for each part of it. They can do the make sure that theres the right barcodes on the samples. They have the software systems, but there are dozens, really hundreds of labs that have capacity that would be willing to bring that to bear. You know, think about it. Korea, in the first week of approving capacity for labs, had 47 labs online. We have three or four National Labs that are the dominant source of u. S. Testing. When we actually have scores to hundreds that are ready to bring it, bring that capacity forward. And the problem is that, again, its not technology. You have to make sure that all of the connection points are there. Its basic Public Health match the need to the capacity thats there and create the interlinks between them. Weve had a few places that have done that for the most part, that weve not taken that on nationally. Nawaz you mentioned insurance, which has also been a major source of confusion for a lot of americans because most people arent clear on whether or not they should be paying or have to pay to get tested in the first place without completely revamping the insurance system. How doeshat part of this get solved quickly . Well, ill get ill point to the example of San Francisco. San francisco was one of the first hit, and then they stood up a Rapid Testing capacity. They opened nine sites that were ones where the city would pay for it. They didnt try to do all the complex and very expensive billing process. They negotiated lower prices. They made sure that they were able to get great service. And they got, you know, turnaround times that were on average overnight results back. And the result was that two thirds of all the testing in the city ended up coming through this public option. And its been a key to the fact that San Francisco has had some of the lowest rates of transmission across the United States and consistently have been able to keep it that way. Nawaz dr. Gawande i mentioned at the beginning of our conversation, the message is one, a lot of people need to hear that there is a way to get our arms around this a not have the flu season make the pandemic even worse for millions of americans. But you mentioned the leadership that it will take a kind of National Leadership to pull this off that we havent seen so far in the pandemic. So is there a way this plan gets put into place in the absence of federal leadership . It is very hard, but i am encouraged by things like there is a compact of 10 states that have committed to Work Together to access low cost rapid tests and buy together, Work Together. Basically, you know, a confederation of states to make sure that theyre serving the common interests. Thats what the federal government is here for. But in the absence of that leadership, theyre building those connections so that this fall theyre not ending try and trying to outbid one another for ventilators and tests and masks, et cetera, but instead are working together to make it happen. And i hope that we were able to get all of the states working together to join that kind of confederation. Its what the National Government needs to be doing. Nawaz the message i think a lot of people would welcome right now, that is dr. Atul gawande from brigham and Womens Hospital in boston, massachusetts. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you. Nawaz so, what will this final stretch of campaigning the president ial and Vice President ial nominees were out and about on this labor day holiday. William brangham begins there. Brangham its perhaps the most normal campaigning that this unconventional election has seen so far both parties candidates made public pitches today, mixing labor day messages with talk of the pandemic, and of racand policing. Joe biden was in pennsylvania for a backyard stop with local labor leaders. Later he was asked about the development of a coronavirus vaccine, which the president has said might be ready for use as soon as next month. One of the problems is the way hes playing with politics. Hes said so many things tha arent tru and im worried if we do have a really good vaccine, people will be reluctant to take it. So he is undermining public confidence. Brangham at a white house event today, President Trump called joe biden a stupid person, and separately criticized those vaccine doubts, saying the democrats were anti science and misguided. We are an absolute leader in every way. Under my leadership, we will produce a vaccine in record time. Brangham the president also again denied reports from last week that hed denigrated dead and wounded members of the military. Im not saying the military is in love with me, the soldiers are. The top people in the pentagon probably arent because they want to do nothing but fight wars so that all of those Wonderful Companies that make the bombs, who make the planes, and make Everything Else stay happy. Brangham meanwhile, the two Vice President ial nominees spent today in wisconsin. In the city of la crosse, Vice President mike pence stressed the republican tickets support for Law Enforcement. I promise you we will always stand with those who serve on the thin blue line of Law Enforcement. Were not going to defund the police, not now, not ever. Brangham in milwaukee, senator Kamala Harris met in private today with the family of jacob blake, the young black man shot in the backeven times by police in kenosha two weeks ago. She followed that with two other stops, including a roundtable with black business owners. One of the attributes of Healthy Communities is access to capital for the Small Businesses that are the heart beat of those communities. Reporter for the pbs newshour, im William Brangham for the pbs newshour, im William Brangham. Nawaz labor day marks the traditional start of the president ial campaigns final stretch, but one family in a battleground county, has been paying close attention for a while. Ohio residents fred harris and his grandson Darius Harris first spoke ten months ago with Steve Goldbloom, the creator of the brief but spectacular series. Here now is his conversation with them, about how theyre viewing this critical choice. Im sitting next to my grandfather, frederick harris. Im sitting next to my dear grandson, Darius Harris. I grew up in the 50s and 60s we fought, we fought the civil rights movement, mississippi, alabama, georgia, the deep south. When i was a little boy, eight, nine, 10 years old, when we would go downtown and my mother wanted to use the bathroom, she had to go downstairs in the courthouse in a dungeon in the basement. And i couldnt understand why cant my mother use the bathroom . See, these are the kinds of things that made me angry. And when i did go into the military and i had time to spend in mississippi and alabama and georgia, i seen a different type of racism and that racism was right in your face. I seen people get beat. I seen him get dogs sicked on him and i said, why . I was angry, i was embarrassed, i was hurt. I still carry that hurt with me today because ill never forget it. It definitely does make me angry that the world was actually like that a point in time. I couldnt imagine living like that. I would be angry every day. That anger and that hurt never goes away. And thatll be with me for the rest of my life. The people are angry. Theyre tired of the democrats and theyre tired of the republicans. I tell people all the time, he had the Democratic Party over here. You had a Republican Party over here and you had a people in the middle. Politics needs to be given back to the people, not these parties, and thats what happened here in trumbull county. Thats why a traditionally democratic county went for donald trump. The key to the Democratic Party in the state of ohio is the black vote in the unions. Dont take our vote for granted. Let them w it without us. Thats the power of the black vote. My first vote actually was president obama back in 2012. I was just graduating high school. I felt proud when ama got elected because he actually gave me hope that actually a black man could actually get that high up. I kind of dont see that happening for another hundred years. This is where we disagree a little bit. It can happen if you make it happen. And its called leadership. You have to step forward. My grandson tells me, hes not interested in politics. And i explained to him everything that takes place in the United States of america is under a politician. Since 2012, every single politician basically, yeah, they say one thing and were waiting, were waiting, were waiting, you see this is where we disagree. I hear what youre saying. So you know what you do . You go out and you make them change. The current president , i mean hes, the way he acts is nuts. But the way he acts is nuts. But me personally, i like the way he acts because its like hes not afraid i feel hes the best candidate because to me the Democratic Party, they dont have anybody in my eyes really thats going to really push anybody. He doesnt understand the effect that the stuff that comes out of his mouth. And if were not careful, hes going to destroy the United States of america. I think we got a political turmoil now and i think this is a very important time in history and the history will look back on us in this time and say, wow, what happened . What do i derive the most pleasure from . Debating. I hate to say it, but i liked to debate. I like to talk to people like my grandson and them and i like to go back and forth my name is Darius Harris. My name is fred harris. And this is our brief but spectacular take on the old and the new. Nawaz since the world has changed dramatically in the ten months since that conversation, Steve Goldbloom recently followed up with fred and darius to see if their politics had shifted. Fred and Darius Harris, thank you so much for being here. We appreciate it. Thank you. You know, its hard to believe that its been 10 months since we last spoke. It feels like its been longer than that. And i wanted to follow up with you, starting with you, darius. Has your perspective on President Trump changed nce we last spoke . Back then he was, he was fine, but during in the whole pandemic and how everythings been unfolding, i kind of, kind of dont agree with the way how hes proceeding with things. Darius, i just want to be clear. Are you planning on voting for President Trump this november . No, sir. Right now, iont see anybody that i would vote for. What was it about trumps behavior in the past 10 months that pushed you away from him . I disagree with basically 85 95, pretty much 100 of everything that hes been doing. What do you make of President Trump referring to black lives matter as a symbol of hate . Well to me he just doesnt understand the real meaning of what it is, the whole movement, what its about. Mr. Harris, the video we just played, you described brutal images of violence, where police sicced dogs on black people. Since the killing of george floyd, President Trump has said he would sicc the most vicious dogs on protesters. How does that kind of language and imagery make you feel . Hes just mouthing off for the public. He thinks itll get him votes. He doesnt understand the impact that that has on peoples lives, and its dividing the country. Mr. Harris, you described the black vote as being a crucial in winning the state of ohio for the president ial election. Vice President Biden was not the democratic nominee when we last spoke, he is today. How do you feel about his chances of winning in your state . The reason why donald trump outpolled hillary four years ago is because she could not turn out the black vote. Not that biden is going to turn the black vote out, because hes not that great either. Whats going to turn the black vote out is donald trump. And darius, how do you feel about Vice President biden as a candidate . Me personally, dont i dont like joe biden as candidate, or he did all right as Vice President , but to me, joe biden really isnt on my list, Vice President joe biden announced that senator Kamala Harris would be his running mate. Shes a woman of color how do you feel about her addition to the ticket . I felt likees just doing that to get the vote. Mr. Harris . That will rally the black people. Like youve never seen any United States of america to vote in the republicans. Theres no way they can suppress that black vote, its history, no different than when barack obama was elected. Okay, well i recognize you two have different opinions on this but one thing that does come through is the overwhelming respect and warmth thayou two have for each other as family. We appreciate that and we appreciate you taking the time with us today. Thanks a lot. Thanks for having us. Nawaz and you can find all of our brief but spectacular stories online at pbs. Org newshour brief. Nawaz that brings us to politics monday with amy walter of the Cook Political Report and host of public radios politics with amy walter. And tamara keith of npr. She also cohosts the npr politics podcast. Welcome to you both, and thanks for being with us on this labor day. Guys, we just heard from that one family in the midwest. We heard william report earlier both campaigns were in other states but in the midwest focusing some of their messaging. Tam, tell us abouthat messaging. In this final stretch leading up to the election, whats standing out the you about how the campaigns are messaging to those crucial voters right now . One thing that really stood out from today as was evident in williams report was about the virus and the vaccine. You know, in a way, President Trump has tried to keep the focus on Law Enforcement issues, but, today, he put a real focus on the vaccine, said, as he has many times before, that he thought there could be a vaccine right before the election. He also said that there could be great economic numbers right before the election. Vice president former Vice President biden has accused him of politicizing the vaccine, and then President Trump accused former Vice President biden of politicizing the vaccine. I think this is something were going to want to keep an eye on this as this develops. Science and Vaccine Development isnt necessarily the kind of thing you want to hang your campaign on, and its also not the kind of thing that really benefits from being involved with politics because convincing the public that a vaccine is safe and effective is not something that, in a polarized society, is going to be particularly easy if the messenger is someone whos running for president or is president. Nawaz amy, tell us abthe voters on the ground there. How ch is this message, this fight over the vaccine and how its being rolled out and the messaging around that, how much of that is resonating with those voters . Its a good question and i think what tam brings up is really important which is how much this virus, this pandemic has been politicized, everything from whether you are going to wear a mask or not, who youre going to trust, whether you trust the news media, Public Health officials or the president. I think its very dangerous, when were talking about a season that could have a tremendous impact on the health of this country, to pu put that, also, in the political context. Its difficult enough in everything that we know about getting people vaccinated to get the number of people we need to get vaccinated to stop this virus from spreading. So i dont think this is a particularly good idea, and it may be whatever the politics, are i think that this is very dangerous to Start Playing this is really playing with Peoples Health and safety. As for the messages that are going on, i do think that what seems pretty clear is the president is hoping what voters will focus on is whats happening now. The trend line is going in the right direction in the economy. Sure, we dont have all the jobs we lost in the pandemic but were halfway there and well keep Getting Better. No, we havent gotten rid of the coronavirus, but were kind of getting back to normalcy and hopefully there will be a vaccine soon enough. The biden and harris campaign, their message to voters is you cant forget what happened before. As Vice President , former Vice President biden said today, it didnt have to be this bad. In other words, yeah, things are Getting Better, but we shoulden have had to dig out this much in the way that we are, and, second, that, as the economy is improving, its improving only for one group of people. If youre invested in the stock market, youre doing great. If youre in the high earner category and you can work from home, youre doing pretty well. If youre anybody else, youre still struggling. Nawaz let me stick with you on a related question about some of the groups theyre speaking, to speaking about the message of the Harris Family earlier. In elections were often talking about white voters and communities but theres a significant umber of white voters. When you lookt aththe elections in 2016 that were decided by a less than 6 margin in six states total, could black voters make the difference in 2020 . Absolutely. I loved that segment and especially, i think that fred harris hit it right on the nose when he said whats getting black voters out isnt necessarily joe biden, its probably not going to be joe biden, its donald trump, and he is the best motivator for every single constituency that joe biden needs, but i do think that, you know, the difference between now and, say, 2012, there was historic black turnout in 2012 where unlikely maybe we will see it, but to get to the numbers we saw in 2012 for joe biden, i dont know thats possible. More aicanamerican voters voted as a percent of the electorate than white voters. Their turnout was higher than white voters. I dont know well get to that point. Its not necessary joe biden does that because hes going better with other groups than obama did. Nawaz let me ask you about the economy. We heard from Vice President , theyre leaning towards things Getting Better if you continue with the administration. When youre talking about an election, who is motivated to vote, is that message going to mobilize people to get out . Dwrowrntion real question about the economy, the president says that the economy is now in a super v, like a vshaped recovery. Its not clear that that is what is really happening or whether this was this bounce and now its plateauing. So, the thing that is going to be a real question leading into this is how do people feel . Absolutely 8 unemployment is bert than 10 unemployment, more people working is absolutely better, but as people go about their lives, are they going to see closed store fronts . Are they going to think about themselves or their friends who are not doing as well as they were in february, for instance . And if President Trump is sort of focused on cheerleading the economy and saying its all back, its all better, is that going to hit voters . Are they going to feel like, well, he understands me, he hears me, or are they going to feel like they have been skipped over . Er former Vice President joe biden is putting a lot of emphasis on, you know, sort of we continue to feel the pain, youre feeling the pain, is that going to be seen as negativity or is that going to be seen as a reflection of reality . I think a lot of it depends on what peoples reality feels like, you know, 60 days from now or because voting is already starting very soon by mail in some places, how people are feeling, you know, two weeks from now. Nawaz tam, you mentioned voting starting by mail. This week, some of the first ballots by mail could start to come in. North carolina was some of the first to start mailing them out friday. When you look at the misinformation swirling around the issue and doubt seeded in the process, briefly, i want to ask each of you, what do you think voters should be doing to prepare for this election in these last few crucial weeks . Tam . Starting with you. President trump last few weeks spread a bit of misinformation about the process in North Carolina about betting the absentee ballots and making sure they count. But make t message make sure you get the ballot, turn it in and check with the Registrars Office to make sure it was received, that message, voting advocates are saying voting by mail is not error proof,eth not the same as voting in person, and people need to be proactive about the process is what voting advocates would say. Nawaz amy, whats your message . As someone in school who was often criticized for not reading the directions fully, im terrible about that, read the directions. At lot of ballots that were thrown out in this primary were because people didnt follow the directions, as tam said, when to request then, when they need to be turned in. And many are thrown out simply because you forgot to sign where you needed to sign on the envelope, so read the directions the secretaries of states put on. Read them on the web site. If you still have question, call them up. Nawaz i love the look into the young life of amy walter. Amy walter, tamera keith, politics monday, thank you so much for joining us. Yek. Youre welcome. Nawaz the United Kingdom is bracing for a new surge in covid cases, partially locking down 20 towns to contain the spread. The city of leicester is hoping to have some restrictions eased tomorrow after more than two months as britains most notorious covid hotspot. Leicesters problems sprang from a district containing garment factories whersome unscrupulous owners have been accused of running sweatshops during the pandemic. Special correspondent Malcolm Brabant has this report. Reporter theres been outrage that conditions common in asian slums have been found in this street in leicester. Rudimentary screens have been erected to thwart prying eyes. These are some of the factories now under scrutiny after an undercover newspaper reporter was hired for 4. 40 an hour, less than half britains minimum wage of 11. The overcrowded factory was operating illicitly during lockdown and there was no social distancing. The scandal is exploitation of labor. But theres also complicity as well where workers will opt to be paid for cash in hand so they can evade tax and National Insurance contributions. Reporter raj mann is a prominent member of leicesters sikh community. Sikhs and muslims dominate the garment trade, employing about 10,000 people in leicester. Its endemic so i dont accept the narrative from the authorities that this is a few factories. Were talking about an industry thats employing largely african asian and minority ethnic communities. Were talking about british citizens. Reporter Opposition Labour Party lawmaker Claudia Webbe has been inundated with pleas for help from factory workers. They were too scared talk publicly and accused some owners of forcing staff to work, even though they were sick with covid. Its modern slavery in the sense that people are being paid such low wages working in conditions that are unthinkable in todays age. Reporter over the past two decades there have been several exposes of the leicester garment trade, but the latest revelations stood out because the factories were portrayed as incubators for the virus. Covid 19 has exposed leicesters dirty little secret. The british equivalent of the f. B. I. Is now investigating allegations of slave labour across this city. Its become a matr of life and death. Ive had phone calls myself saying now, you know, im compelled to work in these conditions. Reporter northeast leicester, which contains the factories, was identified by Health Officials as a covid hot spot. An unexpected consequence of the governments lock down measures were that we shut down all non essential retail which includes clothes shops. That forced people to buy off the internet and its internet retailers who are sourcing from leicester. Reporter lawmaker andrew bridgen represents a leicestershire district for the conservative party hows this happened . Its a systemic failure of all the protection agencies, the police, the fire service, the local council, health and safety, factory inspectors. Reporter the scandal has had severe consequences for boohoo, previously britains most Popular Online clothesompany. It took flak because the factory which hired the undercover reporter, supplied stock to nasty gal, one of boohoos labels. At its peak last year, boohoo was worth 6. 5 billion, but its value plummeted by a billion in a single day. The driving forces behind boohoo are Mahmud Kamani and carol kane, who founded the company in 2006. They rejected an interview request but issued a statement promising an independent investigation into the supply chain. The statement said, the group will not tolerate any incidence of noncompliance with its code of conduct or any mistreatment of workers, and will not hesitate to terminate relationships with any supplier who does not comply. In parliament, the home secretary priti patel promised to crack down on what she call a modern scourge. we have established a cross Government Task force that will be on the ground in leicester that absolutely asks the difficult questions of all institutions and all organizations across leicester with regard to this scourge that is taking place in the textile sector. Reporter theres support across the aisle. More inspectors, more resources, more energy put into these inspections. Theres no point just taking out a few factories, all that will do is to create a pull factor for people trafficking and illegal migration, so youve got to take down the whole organization. Reporter but in this deprived area of leicester, veteran Community Worker Priya Thamotheram is skeptical about government promises because of previous failures to end malpractices. Their reports were considered by a Parliament Select committee but in terms of the actions that arose from that pretty much zilch. Its very difficult to have any confidence in the top down approach that seems to be adopted again. Reporter worldwide demand for cheap fast fashion contributed to the scandal. Tiarra monet is an American Fashion influencer with almost a million followers across social media. Boohoo is notorious for having these last minute 50 off sales and thats when i usually do the most damage because im like, it was 20 and now its ten and i have to buy it. It really is a time to make sure we get some meaningful change. Reporter labour behind the label is a small non profit striving to end garment workers exploitation. Campaign manager meg lewis in the coming weeks and months were going to be putting pressure on the government and on big brands to make sure that this is a turning point because we cant go back to the situation we had before. Reporter that means convincing artists like british pop band little mix to be more selective about the brands they promote. Here theyre touting the pretty little thing collection, another boohoo label. Consumers need to be informed. They need to know where the garment is coming from and what the cost is in terms of exploitation. And they can vote with their pound and spend it on who they think is the most ethical clothes retailer. Reporter law agencies have conducted raids and sweeps throughout leicester, but only a handful of factories have been punished for health and safety breaches. Activists fear that unscrupulous bosses are being tipped off in advance and are simply moving their operations to new premises. So the exploitation, and risk of the virus spreading continue. For the pbs newshour, im Malcolm Brabant in leicester. Nawaz finally tonight, like much of the world, superstar Gloria Estefan has been under quarantine at home in vero beach, florida with her husband emilio. As part of our beyond the canvas series, i caught up with her to talk about life in isolation, wading into political debates, and why she decided to take an old hit song, and turn into a Public Service announcement, to get more people to mask up. You know, i wanted to use get on your feet because in peoples minds, its an empowerment song. So i knew there was when they heard the music, i was gonna make them happy. And i figure, you know, like a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. Put on your mask put on your mask my idea was to capture poor kids because theres a loof feed that is involved witthis. I know my own grandson literally said to my son, daddy, i dont want to die. When this was starting, because they just hear and see everything. And i wanted to do a funny spin on a very serious subject matter was a little early, you know, in knew that the really the only tool we have as a Public Health tool is to wear masks. If we all would wear masks, wed be much more protected. Nawaz i mean, since you put that song out, masks themselves have become political, right . Theres a huge debate over whether people should wear them, should be forced to wear them where they can be required. Why do you have been like for you to watch that debate unfold . Curious because i think to myself, you know how do we get to that point where something that is so simple to help to protect other people because literally youre protecting other people more than yourself. And if everybody wears it, you know, its like people ask me, how does emilios and my relationship work . And i say, well, he takes care of me and i take care of him. That means that were both taken care of. Nawaz can i ask you, because ive noticed you and emilio both been hesitant to really do you feel more strongly about some of those things than you did before . Well, i feel strongly about it, but im still not going to share the views only because i have friends on both sides of the aisle and its kind of sad that theres only two sides of the aisle. I dont think that my own personal political views, just because im a singer and somebody likes my music, that i should try to convince them otherwise. I think that everyone has to look at whats happening. We all have eyes. We all these, well, brains. And i love this country. And i believe very much in its freedoms. And it pains me. It really hurts me to see what were all going through here because its so unnecessary. Our i havent been able to hug my family members for five months. I mean, its like it hurts. But we got to do whatever we got to do to make the world safer for our kids, for my grandson, you know. But i stayed away from politics in my song because i was a victim of politics. We lost our country to well, you know, my dad gave up his life for both countries, for cuba and for the u. S. When you went to vietnam, he was in the bay of pigs. He was in the u. S. Army. So to me, music was an escape from those kinds of things. Thats why ive stayed away from politics in my music. Nawaz you really havent come to your family in five months. You seem like a hugger to me. Ive hugged him ive hugged trees. Ive loved my animals. I hugged my grandson for his birthday because i was able to convince my son and his wife, convinced him to let me host something in my backyard. All of us was mask. Only eight of us. And i got my grandson a gigantic water slide. I ordered hazmat suits because i was not going to let my son tell me that i could not hug my grandson. Nawaz you wore a hazmat suit to hug your grandson . I did, i did. And he hugged me, so i will never forget that hug. He wouldnt let go. We wouldnt. He was holding on to me, like squeezing me. That hug lasted off. It was the best thing the entire day. It was beautiful. Tears are always on the edge during this time. Nawaz buwere all feeling that, right . Everyones feeling that right now. And you know whats funny about these kinds of things . I mean, you know, weve been in the business forever. Theres something much more real. I think that gets said and talked about in this. I could never be this close to you physically like we are right now. No, literally two. Youre literally like is your face from mine . So you learn a lot more about people through these, you know, venues when youre speaking on a screen because youre looking at their face the whole time and youre at home in a setting. And its just a lot more, i think, conducive to actual real conversations. Nawaz conversations estefan says shell continue to have, including through her music. Her latest album, brazil 305, is out now. For the pbs newshour, im amna nawaz. Nawaz as schools across the country reopen, parents and educators are debating the relative merits of athome and inclass learning. But what do students think . Our student reporting labs program teamed up with Detroit Public Television for a series of video diaries to document this very Unusual School year as it unfolds. Here is the first installment. The start of school is going to be very chaotic just because no one really knows whats going on. Detroit Public Schools is having students take a survey about whether they want to take inperson learning or virtual learning. I chose Online Learning because i thought it was the safest. Im a little sad that were nna start online. And i just think the thought of doing things online in my own room by myself. Its a very isolating feeling. For me, im going to be going into school. Im a little bit nervous, but im also excited too, like, get back to school because its been a really long time sinceve actually physically been in school. Everything is still online, but you can go to the school, which i need because if im at home, i just feel like ill go to sleep or i wont take it as seriouy as i should. When you go into a public building, you dont know where these people have been. You dont know what theyve been touching. You dont know who theyve been around. And theres just no way that you can say, yeah, im completely clean and free of the virus so. I think that going online is the best course of action right now given the state of the pandemic. Its going to be weird the way teachers have to teach as some of their students are going to be online. Some of them are going to meet face to face. But i am kind of sad and skeptical about how this is gonna work. Im not really going to get that seni experience. You know, the senior sunset, homecoming, our Football Games in the beginning of the year, i think its gonna be really hard for me. What im most worried about isnt me, its my younger siblings. I have a very hyperactive eightyearold brother and a tenyearold brother with learning disabilities. I know they probably wont be able to sit in front of a computer for eight hours. What are exams or just basic tests going to look like . Also the fact that i have yet to take the s. A. T. Im preparing for school by just keeping myself educated on the state of our country right now, which is very disappointing. Ive been riding my bike around the neighborhood a lot. It helps me clear my mind. Same thing with roller skating. Drawing and playing the guitar are two of my biggest stress relievers, especially if im feeling really like just down and under the weather. This year is just going to be really different. Its going to be a lot to get used to. But i think once we start and once the first week or two goes by, i think everybody will feel a lot more comfortable. Ill have more time during my break to do my homework. So i feel like thats a huge advantage. I also dont have to eat school lunch everyday anymore. Im going to honestly just work as hard as i can online and look for upcoming collegesnd, you know, just trying my best so. Well see how it goes. September 8th. Im ready. Im gonna treat it like any regular school day and i hope its the best year yet. Nawaz and on the pbs newshour online, some labor day reading from author steven greenhouse, whose book beaten down, worked up the past, present, and future american labor, is the september selection for the pbs newshour New York Times now read this book club. You can check out his list of favorite books about americas Labor Movement and read more about his own reporting on our website right now, pbs. Org newshour. And thats the newshour for tonight. Im amna nawaz. Join us online and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and see you soon. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by the kendeda fund. Committed to advancing Restorative Justice and meaningful work through investments in transformative leaders and ideas. More at kendedafund. Org. Supported by the john d. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at 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. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org today on americas test kitchen, becky makes bridget perfect panseared pork tenderloin steaks, adam reveals his top pick for air fryers, and dan makes julia the ultimate, crispy, slowroasted pork belly