Transcripts For KQED PBS NewsHour 20140923

Whats working and whats not in west africa . Sierra leone an line beria both have come out of civil wars so infrastructure is weak. Systems are weak. For any country. An outbreak like this would be a challenge. But for these countries its very ifill those are just some of the stories were covering on tonights pbs newshour. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by moving our economy for 160 years. Bnsf, the engine that connects us. Charles schwab, proud supporter of the pbs newshour. And the william and flora hewlett foundation, helping people build immeasurably better lives. And with the ongoing support of these institutions and. This program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff the white house today ruled out accepting irans help against Islamic State forces if it means easing curbs on the Iranian Nuclear program. Reuters and others reported senior officials in tehran had floated the idea. But, a spokesman for president obama rejected military cooperation, sharing intelligence or any sort of nuclear trade. Ifill the man who allegedly jumped the white house fence and made it inside the front door with a knife had more than 800 rounds of ammunition in his car. That word came today as Omar Gonzalez made his First Court Appearance since the friday night incident. A federal prosecutor also said gonzalez was arrested in july with a sniper rifle and a map marking the white house. Separately, White House Press secretary josh earnest confirmed today that security upgrades are under review. There will be a pretty broad look at a wide range of White House Security procedures to ensure that the secret service is accomplishing their mission of protecting the president and the first family but also protecting the status of the white house as the peoples house. Ifill earnest would not say if the secret service might expand the security zone around the white house. Woodruff three Afghan Army Officers who disappeared in massachusetts have been found at the canadian border. Massachusetts state police said today the men were detained at the Niagara Falls crossing. They were last seen saturday near a military base in cape cod where they were training. Authorities said they did not believe the afghans posed any threat. Ifill in eastern ukraine, there were signs of progress as Government Troops and pro russian rebels began pulling heavy artillery from frontline positions. Its part of an agreement reached early saturday. Despite the deal, shelling continued through the weekend near the airport in donetsk, and several more ukrainian troops were killed. Woodruff firefighters in Northern California braced today for the weather to take a turn for the worse. Hotter temperatures and higher winds favored the king fire, burning 60 miles east of sacramento, near pollock pines. Its just 18 contained. The fire has scorched 137 square miles and destroyed more than 30 buildings, but sundays wet weather slowed its advance. A federal bank found guilty for suicide bombings. A jury will decide damages. The first targeted actions of tax benefits for socalled corporate inversion, the practice of moving corporate control overseas to avoid u. S. Taxes. And on wall street, stocks were weighed down by worries over chinas growth and a weak housing report the Dow Jones Industrial average lost 107 points to close at 17,172; the nasdaq fell 52 points to close at 4,527; the s p 500 dropped 16 points to finish at 1,994. Woodruff still to come on the newshour as fears of Climate Change rise, investors move away from fossil fuels. A conversation with the head of the syrian opposition. Money pours in to the race for floridas governor. Afghan leaders reach a power sharing deal. And whats working and not in the fight to combat ebola in west afirca. Ifill more than 100 World Leaders are gathering at the u. N. Tomorrow to discuss the impact of Climate Change and to try to move toward new agreement. But potential action from governments or even a lack of it is only part of the story. Major voices in business, philanthropy, science and the Environmental Movement are announcing their own initiatives this week hoping to mobilize public attention. Hundreds of activists poured onto the streets of new yorks financial district, snarling downtown traffic to protest capitalisms role in Climate Change. Wall street invests in all the polluting, wasteful, toxic, destructive and Disruptive Industries that are causing this crisis. Wall street itself is profiting from the destruction of this planet and its human and natural resources. So we have to stop them. Ifill a short distance away, secretary of state john kerry lent his weight to the cause, opening what organizers are calling climate week. He underlined findings that 2013 saw the largest singleyear increase in Carbon Pollution in 20 years. It doesnt cost more to deal with Climate Change. It costs more to ignore it and to put our head in the sand and continue down this road of obfuscation and avoidance. And we need to make that clear to people in this country. Ifill all of this followed a much larger, worldwide protest on sunday. Hundreds of thousands of activists took to the streets of manhattan. They were joined by hollywood celebrities and by former Vice President al gore, new york city mayor bill de blasio, and United Nations secretary general ban kimoon. If we do not take action now, we will have to pay much more. They have raised their voice, they have shown their power to change the mindset of people. Ifill there were also marches in london, paris, berlin, rio de janeiro, and melbourne, australia. The protests coincide with tomorrows u. N. Climate summit. At the same time, activists got a boost from philanthropists who vowed to stop investing in climate warming fossil fuels like coal and oil. The Rockefeller Brothers fund, built on the familys oil fortune, was the Largest Organization to announce its dropping such investments from its portfolio. Ifill in all, 50 foundations with 50 billion in assets pledged today to divest over the next five years. Advising those foundations was divestinvest philanthropy. Its director, jenna nicholas, joins me now. Welcome. So explain to our viewers what exactly it means to divest . What it means to divest is were seeing this as endowments an individuals that are coming on board to do this is to remove ones holdings from fossil fuel companies. There is an initiative called the carbon tracker 200. For many institutions and individuals are starting with the carbon tracker 200, the 200 of the worst fossil fuel companies in the world. And then many are going much further. So this is coal, oil, gas. And then what were doing is parallelling this side with the invest side. And it is investing in Clean Energy Solutions whether its energy efficiency, renewable energy, ago ago, Water Purification technology and such like. Well, lets focus on the divest side for a moment. Is goal here to incur economic costs on the companies you are divesting from or just shame . Well, a big part of it, and the big motivation for a number of the individuals and endowments that are coming on board here is really this case being made around strand add sets which is really there is an overvaluation of the price of these fossil fuel companies. And that really if we were to burn all the fossil fuels in the world, that the impact that that would have on temperature rises is so much that it doesnt make sense from a financial perspective to continue to invest. So a big part of it is the financial case thats being made for divestment, and another part of it is that shaming piece. And to really try to put pressure on the fossil fuel companies to invest in reserb and development for alternatives and to really move in another direction for the future we have search campaigns involving apartheid across south africa, the company and looking back on them now, its unclear whether they didnt kill those individuals, they didnt stop those industries from producing those products but in the case of appear advertise, youre talking about freedom and in the case of tobacco, were talking about health. What are we talking about here . What is the immediate benefit . A number of things. Just on that point about macking the parallel to appear advertise, south africa, its been really powerful, desmond tutu has spoken out really drawing the parallels between divesting from appear advertise and fossil fuels. And is a great spokesperson for the divest invest campaign. A big part of it here is social justice, climate justice, Economic Justice and really seeing the interconnectedness of all of the issues that arise. This isnt just an environmental campaign, but really seeing the ramifications that this has on a systemic level across the whole of society. So and not really being just about Environmental Justice but really the systems that play at large. And so a big part of this is saying that business is usual, no longer the way that we can be operating moving forward. And yet, universities like harvard, for instance, have said this is not the way that they want to affect their endowment. They figure it would cost them. And thats really not what endowments exist for. And theyve resisted during this movement. What do you say to them . Well, it has been a fascinating few months in term of this. On the other hand we have Standford University, my alma mater that has come on board and can taking a step and starting with divesting from coal and so i think there is a lot of debate going on here. And i think that harvards statement to not engage in this has lead to a lot of engagement from students and alumni and many leaders and financial leaders saying that actually the financial argument is saying around not divesting is not as strong as the financial argument for divesting. So i think its going to be a really interesting process to see how the next few months play out. And our hope that the 50 billion announcement made today and having leaders like Standford University and the Rockefeller Brothers fund on board will really help to drive more of these conversations happening in other institutions and universities. How do we know that socalled Sustainable Investing is not just a fad . So a big part of this, and really weve been seeing this, this isnt just a recent initiative there have been institutions that have been doing Sustainable Investing for a while, the calvert fund in the late 1970s started one of the pioneering Sustainable Investment funds. And many others over the years that have joined the i anybodiative for around Sustainable Investing. And now a lot of banks jpmorgan, goldman sachs, ups, Credit Suisse are developing Sustainable Investing practices. A lot of clients of these banks are coming to them and saying that they want to have more Sustainable Investing options. This really seems to be something thats here to stay. And a big part of that. And a big part of the emphasis that weve been making with this movement of it not just being institutions but really individuals in general is that really the opportunity to be able to have an alignment between values and the investments that these individuals and institutions are making is something that cuts down to the really core essence for a lot of individuals and institutions, so it seems to be weve reached a Tipping Point and this really is a movement that is here to stay. Thank you very much. Thank you, woodruff as president obama readies to make the case against the Islamic State group later this week at the United Nations. The situation on the ground appears more desperate. By the thousands, Syrian Refugees kept pouring over the border into turkey today. Trying to escape fighting near a key border town. Some estimates said more than 130,000 people, mostly kurds, have crossed in the last four days. In their wake, Islamic State militants and Syrian Kurdish militia battled for control of kobane, known also by its arabic name aynalarab. Separately, turkish kurds clashed with Turkish Security forces yesterday and again today, as they sought to enter syria to help their fellow kurds. And, some Syrian Kurdish men who had brought their families to safety queued up to go back to syria. translated we are returning back to fight. We will fight there until the last drop of our blood. If we lose kobani it means we lose the region. Woodruff amid the panicked exodus, a Turkish Deputy Prime Minister said more than a quarter of the regions people have already fled, he expected many more. translated the total population in the area is around 400,000 and we think that some of those people moved to other places inside syria but we still expect an influx of hundreds of thousands of people. Woodruff the weekend also brought news that 49 turkish hostages held by Islamic State militants had been freed. Turkish Officials Say no ransom was paid, nor was it a military operation, but president Recep Tayyip Erdogan did not rule out that a prisoner swap occurred. translated a swap might have taken place or not. 49 citizens have returned to turkey. We wouldnt trade this for the world. This is not an issue that we discuss. Even if there was a swap, as a president , i would think, the lives of 49 citizens are irreplaceable. Woodruff up to now, turkey has rejected a major role in the coalition against the Islamic State group in iraq and, potentially, syria. This morning, secretary of state john kerry suggested ankaras attitude should change. Their border is threatened. Their security is threatened. And they are committed to doing this, but they first needed to deal with their hostage situation. Now the proof will be in the pudding, as i said, and we will work with them very closely in the days ahead. Woodruff but the Islamic States chief spokesman came a call for militants to target western nations who join the fight. translated if you can kill a disbelieving american or european, especially the spiteful and filthy french, or an australian, or a canadian, or any other disbeliever, including citizens of the countries that have waged a coalition against the Islamic State, then rely upon god, and kill them in any manner you can. Woodruff within hours, a Splinter Group in algeria posted video of a kidnapped frenchman. He said hell be killed unless france quits the u. S. Led air campaign in iraq. As for the ground war, president obama signed a bill friday, including 500 million to train and arm a rebel faction the Free Syrian Army to fight Islamic State forces. Senior u. S. Military leaders have said it could take up to one year to train the first 5,000 fighters; and some lawmakers, including republican senator john mccain have questioned the practicality of having the f. S. A. Focus solely on the islamic extremists, and not on the assad government. The chief of the principal political Opposition Group the Syrian National coalition is hadi albahra. He took over in early july and will address the United Nations General Assembly on wednesday. This morning, albahra sat down with chief Foreign Affairs correspondent Margaret Warner in new york. Mr. Al barra, thank you for joining us. President obama, the u. S. Congress have now committed to train and equip the rebels you represent and assist in other ways including air strikes, what do you need most immediately and how soon. We need a clear strategy, clear planning on how to start this program as fast as possible. When we have equipment needed to fight this war, so actually this is one of the main purpose of our visit to the u. S. Right now, to have a program. We need Weapons Systems which can compete with whatever are in the hands of isil forces not to be supplied with inferior Weapons Systems am so we need to fight a war where really we are in equal with weapons and training. Warner how soon dow want to see u. S. Air strikes employed. They should be employed as soon as possiblement because as you will see in the past week, there are thousands of refugees who have fled from kurdish villages towards turkey. This morning i had a call, more than 130,000 refugees. Warner you are really engaged in a two front war. Youre fighting not only the ice im Islamic State or isis, youre fighting the assad government. Once you get this new training and equipping and weapons and you have the benefit of u. S. Air strikes are you going to focus all of that against the extremist forces or are you also going to use that new capability against the assad government. We dont have the freedom of choice or options. We will be fighting and defending yourself against whoever really is having offensive against you. So we will be for sure fighting the two fronts at the same thing. But more resources will be given right now on isis front because really it is a real threat and creating a humanitarian crisis. Warner but given the u. S. Desire to stay out of the civil war between your forces and the assad government, youre not making any commitment to not use some of this increased capable against the government forces. You need to go back to the root of the issue. The root of the issue, that you have a dictatorship in syria which built up a strategy of using terrorist organizations and terrorism in order to stay in power. So they are the main cause of this issue. If we put them on the side and view only the symptoms you will have the cause already in place which will produce more terrorist organizations in time. Warner are your forces positioned to move in and seize isil, isis held territory if u. S. Air strikes are employed to weaken them . Sure. As we speak now there is a whole front in aleppo near my town where isil forces turn in front of the Free Syrian Army units so we are fighting them already on the ground. Warner now there is concern in the United States that right now the Free Syrian Army, your forces, are fighting along side the alnusra front which has as its target u. S. And western interests. What do you say to that . The Free Syrian Army are by themselves standing alone under one command and control while alnusra forces are separate from these command and control. Are you denying that you all are cooperating, coordinating in some fashion with alnusra at this moment . It is a fact on the ground, if alnusra has one area, and we have advances within other areas, there is no but fight from the ground, either they dont hit these forces or this force doesnt hit them. You make decision on the battle according to the urgency of the matter. Warner how likely the u. S. Air strikes against the islamic front will also benefit assad forces. Assad forces tries to fill the gap, isil forces, they try to go and fight these areas. But i dont think they will have a chance because we have prepared our own forces to defend these gaps. This we will make sure by our own forces while dow the air attacks that our Ground Forces will be advancing on the ground and doing the groundwork. But this would be social and economical program to govern the areas which isil will withdraw from. Warner after pleading with the International Community for two to three years for help, how confident are you you now have it . I think now that the whole world and the International Community has realized the real threat that extremist organizations submit to isil will be on the International Community, so the way we look at it, that we are not joining the coalition, the coalition is joining our war against extremists and terrorist organizations. Warner how long will you need the active support of the kbroonted states and members of the coalition to finish the job . I expect if they do it right, one year you see immediate results. You see a degrading of isis and within two years more stabilization and i expect if we do it correctly, within three years we will forget about the organization of isil. As you know, we fought against it 15 years ago but still they exist until now because the approach was wrong. We need to have the right approach from now from the start. Mr. Al barra, thank you al bahra, thank you so much. Thank you. Ifill we turn now to the Midterm Elections and a campaign that could wind up being the most expensive in the country the florida governors race. Its already one of the most complicated. Charlie crist, the former republican governor is now running as a democrat and trying to defeat incumbent rick scott, a tea partybacked republican. Tonights story was produced in collaboration with wucf orlando. The reporter is steve mort. Reporter at a Campaign Stop at an orlando barbeque restaurant, democratic candidate Charlie Crist looked hungry for support in the race for florida governor. This is great. Reporter it was a typical Campaign Stop, complete with signs, hobnobbing local politicians and plenty of Southern Hospitality but all for a candidate who is far from typical. Just four years ago, crist served as the states republican governor. Now, hes trying to pull off something thats never been done before in florida history serve another term as governor after switching parties. Crist left the gop after losing a primary battle for the u. S. Senate to marco rubio in 2010. It was the tea party that launched rubio into office and its the tea party crist blames for what he sees as the decline of the once grand old party. The Republican Party in america has changed dramatically over the past four or five years. The tea party advent really brought about a hard right shift to the party. And jeb bush, my predecessor said it better than i can. He said todays Republican Party is perceived to be antiwomen, antiminority, antiimmigrant, antieducation, anti environment. I mean the list goes on and on. applause reporter the tea party also helped propel republican governor rick scott to victory in 2010 in a state which president obama won twice. Scott campaigned on a platform of Smaller Government and tax cuts. But this time around hes switched the emphasis to how his administration is spending more. We have the highest Education Funding in the history of the state. Weve stopped Charlie Crists 15 yearafteryear tuition increase. You know we have a program in the state where you can buy a prepaid plan for a newborn. It went from 100 a month to 300 a month under charlie. Weve cut that price in half from its high. So thats what this election is about. Both Charlie Crist and rick scott have faced criticism for flipflopping on key issues in an effort to win voter support. Rick scott has been attacked by some in the tea party, who say hes moved to the center on issues like education and Medicaid Expansion. He has had a total image makeover and policy makeover over the last couple of years. Reporter Aubrey Jewett is a Political Science professor at the university of central florida. When he got into office, his Approval Ratings were the lowest in the country at one point. It was about 28 and so i think he realized and his team realized that if we want a shot at getting reelected, we have to try Something Different so they began to become more moderate on some policy issues. Reporter Everett Wilkinson is both a state and National Leader in the tea party movement. Hes sharply critical of scotts move to the center hes had some substantial increases in the budget, and his support of the Medicaid Expansion and some other Critical Issues i think have caused many of us pause and reservation on the tea party. Reporter but wilkinson says hell vote for rick scott anyway because he views Charlie Crist as a political opportunist. Aubrey jewett says Many Democrats share that concern too. Even in the Democratic Base theres some worry that they are trying to elect as a democrat someone who just three years ago said, im prolife, im pro family, im progun, im pro business. Im a conservative reagan republican. What else do you want from me republicans . Reporter but lifelong democrat Geraldine Thompson a state lawmaker who worked with republican crist on voting expansion and education bills says she is convinced his values havent changed. Regardless of whether hes had an r or a d behind his name, his behavior has demonstrated that he is in touch with the people and hes someone who cares about people. And thats why im supporting Charlie Crist. Reporter while both candidates are out shaking hands at local restaurants and forums. The bigmoney campaign is being waged on television. The election is expected to be one of the most expensive and nastiest races in the country. Already more than 40 million has been spent by the candidates and outside Interest Groups and that number is expected to climb to 150 million. So far, the scott side is outspending crist threetoone. Even though polls show a tight race, scott has seen his numbers improve since he began the ad campaign. The proscott ads beat up on crist for plunging the state into an economic crisis during his tenure as governor. The numbers tell the story. Floridas Unemployment Rate tripled. 800,000 jobs gone. Property values down. Which governor took florida to the bottom . Charlie crist. Whats worse, he didnt stay to fix the mess, he ran away. Reporter for his part, crist tries to remind voters of the scandal that surrounded scotts tenure as head of the Hospital Group columbia h. C. A. , which was fined 1. 7 billion for medicare fraud. In every job hes ever had, rick scott has ducked the truth. While his company was committing medicare fraud, he pled the fifth, 75 times. And wouldnt even confirm his signature. It looks like my signature, but whats your question . Rick scott. Too shady for the sunshine state. Reporter on the campaign trail, they have equally harsh words about the other. Charlie crist is a slick politician. Hes a smooth talker. I think the reason my opponent runs negative ads is to try to suppress the vote. Because thats what rick scott does. Reporter and both are making a big play for the rapidly growing and influential latino vote. Nearly a quarter of floridas population is hispanic or latino and latinos make up nearly 14 of the states registered voters. Traditionally, cuban americans have voted for republicans, while other latino groups voted democratic. Political analysts say those divisions are starting to soften. Although they still held true for voters we talked to. Reporter vivian rodriguez, of puerto rican descent, is the president of the Florida Democratic partys hispanic caucus. She says crist is the best choice for latinos since he supports comprehensive immigration reform, expanding medicaid and increased Education Funding. Charlie crist is 100 on board in putting forward programs that would add money to these programs. When we look at sick pay and labor union rights and rights for the working class. These are all interests for the hispanic community. Reporter berta bravo came to this country from cuba when she was a small child. She now owns a Small Business that sells highend versions of the traditional cuban guyabera shirt. It originated in my hometown in the late 1800s. Reporter she recently held a Campaign Event for rick scott at her store because she says she believes hes been good for florida businesses. Over the last four years my business has grown. Ive acquired a business partner. I hired two more people. You see the growth, especially over the past two years. Business has been much better than before. Reporter although turnout in a Midterm Election is typically low, a medical Marijuana Ballot Initiative could spur increased participation from both supporters and opponents. One things for sure, neither side is taking any voting group for granted with florida, once again, living up to its reputation as the nations largest swing state. Woodruff the entire process took more than a year, two elections, a bitterly contested audit of votes and hand holding by the United States but afghanistan finally a has a new leader to replace hamid karzai. President elect ashraf ghani will lead the nation after entering a power sharing agreement over the weekend with his opponent, Abdullah Abdullah. Sean carberry of npr has been covering the drawn out drama throughout, i spoke to him a short ago about how the deal came about and what it means for afghanistan and the United States. Woodruff Sean Carberry, well come first of all, is this real . We were told once before they had a deal and it turned out they didnt. And if it is, what made the difference . Well, yes, this one is real, they did sit down yesterday and signed the documents together. So its finalized. After that the Election Commission did announce that ashraf ghani will be the next president. And it is not entirely clear what finally broke through, there had been increasing pressure by the u. S. Over the last couple of weeks saying that if they did not reach a deal it was putting u. S. Support in jeopardy. That was certainly one element of pressure but the two candidates had been continuing negotiations and it is down to a few key details and within the last week seemed to finally break through, get those details sorted out. They signed a deal and this is Going Forward at this point. So what is the arrangement . What responsibilities will each of them have . Well, ashraf ghani will be the president. This new agreement, this National Unity government agreement creates a new position of executive c. E. O. Its not quite as powerful as a Prime Minister but it still has a fair amount of executive powers. The c. E. O. Will sit on the National Security council, will chair a cabinet of ministers meet on a weekly basis, will have other powers. So it is a significantly empowered position. Now Abdullah Abdullah presumably will take that position but its up to him to nominate someone for that position. Hes yet to make an announcement who he will nominate for that position. In addition, this deal does divide up some of the National Security posts, some of the key cabinet positions, so it is a significant sharing of power between the abdullah and ghani camps. Woodruff what about their respective political coalitions, the powerful figure supporting each one of them. Are they on board with this . Apparently they are at this point because that seemed to be one of the main sticking points over the last month or so was that powerful backers of both candidates were resisting to some of the terms of the agreement, particularly on an bullas side he had some very vocal supporters who were threatening to go outside the deal that were threatening to launch protests, occupy government buildings if the terms were not met. And one of the most powerful backers of abdullah did release a statement since the deal was signed saying that he supports it. So it does appear that they have brought on board all of their backers. Now the question remains, will they stay on board. Because there is still a lot of internal rivalries here. Abdullah and ghani dont necessarily have the greatest history of working relationship. There have been tension and animosities between them over the years. Certainly some of their backers dont get along with each other. So this is one of the main concerns. Theyve signed a deal for now but how long will this deal last . Will there be splintering in the future once they get not real nuts and bolts of putting this government together and trying to govern. Woodruff and sean, that was forequestion i had. Is will it last . I saw a taliban Statement Today or yesterday calling it a sham. And finally, importantly, effect of this on the United States which still has troops in afghanistan. Right. The taliban have said that they will continue to fight. They will oppose this new government. Both abdullah and ghani have said they want to try to reach out to the taliban. They do recognize that there will not be a military solution here. There has to be a political solution. But again t does get back to this question of whether or not this National Unity government can move forward, can govern, can reform or will it spend a lot of its time dealing with political infighting and ongoing power struggles among these two camps that are coming together now. And what about the effect on the u. S. . Well, the u. S. Has said that they are happy with this deal. They say its a new chapter for u. S. Afghan relations. And they expect that within 48 hours of the inauguration of president ghani, he will sign a Security Agreement with the u. S. That will allow troops to stay beyond the end of this year. So the u. The u. S. Is praising this and looking forward to a new chapter in relations to afghanistan. Woodruff Sean Carberry reporting for us from afghanistan, thank you. Youre welcome, judy. Ifill the World Health Organization reported today that the ebola virus has now killed more than 2,800 people in west africa. The majority of deaths have been in liberia, guinea and sierra leone. But the deadly illness has been relatively contained in nearby, and much larger, nigeria, which counts 21 cases and only nine deaths. Tonight, special correspondent fred de sam lazaro takes a look at how nigeria has controlled ebolas spread. Freds reporting is a partnership with the undertold stories project at Saint Marys University of minnesota. Reporter not much moves in a hurry in nigerias commercial capital, lagos; also africas most populous city. And basic services, like roads and covered sewers, have yet to reach slums like otumara. But the ebola message has. What it is, where to report it, how to prevent it. Wash your hands all the time reporter nigerias Ebola Response has been comprehensive in communities and the media. Theres temperature screening at all the countrys entry and exit points, fever is an Early Warning sign, and extensive surveillance by Public Health workers. Its driven by sound epidemiology and, the american consul in lagos, Jeffrey Hawkins says, fear. One thing that people really dont want to hear is ebola and lagos in the same sentence. This is a city of 20 Million People, and a major urban outbreak here would have been apocalyptic. But the response was quick. Reporter one early leader of that response was babangida fashola, governor of lagos state, which includes the city. Fear is a very good thing to get people to act fast. Reporter they got on it right after the first confirmed case of ebola, in late july. A liberian American Traveler fell ill at the lagos airport. His circle of contacts was limited Health Workers who treated him and their contacts. One of them carried the infection to the Southern City of Port Harcourt, causing a second outbreak. Within a question of just a few days we had as many as 500 contacts that were being traced, just to cast a wide net and to ensure that anybody who had contact with a case is under our purview, taking temperatures, asking if they had any symptoms. Reporter dr faisal shuiab, of nigerias health ministry, heads the ebola command center. Does everyone have a copy of the action tracker . Reporter the Response Team includes several International Agencies that have been in nigeria for years fighting other diseases, like malaria, h. I. V. And polio. They quickly redeployed. Dr. Nancy knight, with the u. S centers for Disease Control and prevention, says the c. D. C. Had earlier trained many field epidemiologists here. One of the things that has really helped keep the fear in check and to keep it from turning into widespread panic has been the number of boots on the ground. Weve had between lagos and Port Harcourt more than 1000 people that have been working on containing the epidemic. Reporter despite nigerias many problems sectarian violence, boko haram insurgents kidnapping schoolgirls, the country has a more developed Public Health system than its smaller neighbors reeling from ebola. Having International Experts on hand also helped reassure key political leaders like lagos governor. Reporter the Aid Group Doctors Without Borders has trained Health Workers on handling patients, on using the airtight personal protective equipment. The group has built Isolation Centers in lagos and Port Harcourt that would handle a fresh outbreak. For now, theres just one suspected case left. There may not be panic but theres still a lot of stigma surrounding ebola. As outsiders and a camera crew we were not allowed to go near the contact tracers. The Public Health workers who keep tabs on anyone who came in contact with anyone infected with ebola. Dennis akaga knows first hand about stigma. I lost my job while i was taking care of justina. Reporter and he lost justina, his fiance who was two months pregnant. On her first day at a new job, the 32 year old nurses first patient just happened to be that first ebola case, the liberian american. Akaga too became infected, but he pulled through. Survivors of ebola become immune and are no longer contagious. But that hasnt helped dennis akaga. Ebola is not a death threat, i would not have lost my job if there was the right information out there. Reporter Early Detection has helped the survival rate in nigeria. Fewer than half the cases resulted in death. But the stigma only worsens the Public Health threat, says dr. Ndadilnasiya waziri, who heads the Contact Tracing effort. A lot of contacts couldnt even come out to get food in their communities because they were being stigmatized. Thats a big worry because that will make people to hide, not to come out and report being suspects or contacts to suspects because they fear being stigmatized. Reporter nigerias influential Film Industry has stepped in to help. This is like a u. F. O. , you know, suddenly descended on nigeria, you know, and we had to do something about it. Reporter tunde kelani, a top director, says nollywoods leading lights came together in record time, responding he says to the biggest existential threat anyone here has felt. I think they responded very well. We put together a list of about 18 of these celebrities. Reporter now, hes thinking, why not expand the idea beyond this lens on ebola effort . I think the partnership lens on ebola is already thinking about lens on anything that can come along, for instance we can do lens on polio, lens on malaria. Reporter in the distressed otumara neighborhood alaja jatto is also thinking beyond ebola. She has something to tell the government. They dont have piped water, that the roads are bad, theres no drainage, they need development. Reporter whether the government delivers on those improvements is unclear. But the Ebola Campaign will continue and on high alert thats even the number of contacts being tracked is now down to about 300. Each day more people cross the critical 21 days since their exposure to the virus. The window in which symptoms can occur. Ironically, this success is a worry. Dr. Faisal shuaib fears nigeria could attract ebola patients from nearby countries like sierra leone, liberia and guinea. Some of these cases might feel that well nigeria has good control, weve had record levels of people surviving ebola viral disease and they might start feeling well, this is the place to come reporter the u. N. Has called ebola a threat to Global Security and many people here say nigeria, the Regional Economic hub, a nation of 170 million, will remain the most vulnerable frontier. Woodruff the prospect of an even greater ebola epidemic is keeping Health Officials all over africa awake at night. Dr. Kevin decock, an american, is country director for the centers for Disease Control in kenya. He and members of his team have been in liberia and the other affected countries in recent weeks. Jeffrey brown spoke to him this weekend in nairobi, kenya. Brown dr. Kevin decock, thanks for talking with us am there is a report that a new estimate is in the works that may i have a worst Case Scenario scenario as high as half a Million People am you can comment on that . Yes. The doubling time of new cases of ebola virus disease in liberia is about every 20 days. So there is a total number of cases doubling about every three weeks. Were now up to 3, 4,000 cases, reported cases which may be a slight underestimate. So a very rapidly we do expect to see some tens of thousands of cases, and quite possibly by the end of the year, early next year, some hundreds of thousands unless this is unless this is slowed down. Brown this is exponential growth. So at this point this is out of control . At the moment, the increase in cases has been described as exponential, yes. And yes, clearly the epidemic in west africa in the three most affected countries, liberia, sierra leone and guinea, i do think its out of control and many Senior Leaders have said that. Brown you know liberia and these countries well. And you were there fairly recently. These are countries that have Little Health infrastructure to begin with, right . What did you see . What did you see there . I think it needs to be emphasized that these are amongst the weakest states in the world. If you look at percapita income, liberia percapita income is less than 500 dollars per year. The literacy rates in liberia is about 60 . These are very fragile countries. Sierra leone and liberia both have come out of civil wars, so infrastructure is weak, systems are weak, and its a very difficult working environment. And for any country, an outbreak like this would be a challenge. But for these countries its very serious. Brown can you give me an example of what you saw there, to exempt few the kind of challenge for Health Workers . The Health Workers have paid a very heavy toll in this outbreak. In liberia about at least 15 of cases of ebola virus disease have been in Health Workers. And liberia of course has not many Health Workers to start with. Less than 200 doctors, for example, well under 200 doctors and quite a few have died. The epidemic has really had a major effect on the Healthcare System, with many hospitals abandoned. But its the secondary affect were also beginning to see. The economy grinding down, the Healthcare System halted. The fear in society, and so on and so forth. So the secondary affects of all of this are very, very serious as well. Brown what about the legal of level of distrust among people there, a fear that this is a western plot, or that it doesnt really exist. How much is that a concern . How much is that an impediment to getting things done . It is an impediment. I think were all aware of the tragic deaths of colleagues in guinea just a few days ago. People who were kidnapped and ended up being killed. It is a tremendous obstacle. Its gotten better in many places. But it remains a problem, particularly in some of the rural areas, in the three border areas. And then its sort of it also is accompanied by a sort of opposite reaction which is tremendous impatience that more is not being done. Brown you can understand that. Which you can understand so its a difficult working environment. Brown were sitting here in nairobi far away, how much of a sense of fear, concern, even psychological concern do you sense here . Theres a low level of concern. And i think the government is doing the right things. They certainly are investing in preparedness, in screening of the airport, of incoming travelers, particularly from west africa, in strengthening surveillance and preparedness in hospitals. Having an isolation facility ready and so on. So the right things are being done. I think what this whole experience demonstrates is that we really are an interconnected world and the, you know, we have to Pay Attention to the weakest links in the chain. Because vulnerability is shared between us all because of that. Brown because the government in kenya has stopped flights between here and the west african countries. But people can still go via other countries, right. Yes. And the stopping of flights is something that needs to be discussed, actually. Brown discussed or changed. Changed. The World Health Organization and cdc and other Public Health authorities, you know, says thats probably not the best thing to do. Its understandable because it gives a false sense of security. We, you know, we cannot close our borders and live like an island. Plus the fact, actually, this is now, if the flights do stop or if those that have stopped dont recommence t actually complicated the response to the epidemic because we have to get people and supplies into these countries. Brown the worst, i guess, a truly worstCase Scenario that some people look at would be a spread to other major cities outside that region, to places like this, nairobi. I think the worstCase Scenario would be exporetation of infection into some other urban center, that is not well equipped to address the epidemic. I think kenya is trying to assure the appropriate preparedness. But there, of course, many vulnerable cities across the continent or even other parts of the world. As we sit here how concerned are about the ability to control this or its spread . I think we can control this. But i think were in this for quite a long time. Were in this for a long haul and i think a lot more needs to be done. All right, dr. Kevin decock of the cdc in kenya, thank you. Thank you ifill again, the major developments of the day. Thousands more syrian kurds streamed across the border into turkey, fleeing Islamic State fighters. A federal prosecutor said the man who allegedly jumped the white house fence friday night, and made it to the front door with a knife, had more than 800 rounds of ammunition in his car. Woodruff on the newshour online right now, terminally ill patients in new york and new jersey can expect to spend longer hospital stays than just about anywhere else in the country. Whats behind this disparity . And how can doctors make endof life more comfortable for their patients . Read a new report from Kaiser Health news and wnyc, on our rundown. All that and more is on our web site, newshour. Pbs. Org. Ifill and thats the newshour for tonight. On tuesday, World Leaders converge on new york for the United Nations General Assembly. Our own Margaret Warner is there. Plus, well examine the central topic of the first day Climate Change. Im gwen ifill. Woodruff and im judy woodruff. Well see you online and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us here at the pbs newshour, thank you and good night. Major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by ive been around long enough to recognize the people who are out there owning it. The ones getting involved, staying engaged. 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If you build it, they may not come. Whats behind the slump in existing home sales. And what does it say about the strength of the Housing Market . Commodities crushed from the oil patch to the metals pit. Why are Commodity Prices sinking . All that and more tonight on nightly Business Report for monday, september 22nd. Good evening, everyone. Red arrows across the board for the major averages today. Not what youd expect after two recordshattering events that would