mammography. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ >> collette. celebrating 100 years of travel, together. >> babbel. a language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language. >> bnsf railway. >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security. at carnegie.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. >> woodruff: republicans in the house released their plan for overhauling the tax code today, the most sweeping proposal to do so in more than three decades. it was embraced quickly by president trump and lawmakers say they are aiming to pass it before year's end. but the bill proposes big changes and some will be the subject of big political fights. lisa desjardins reports from capitol hill on what's in this package. >> good morning! >> desjardins: the speaker of the house. >> i said good morning! >> desjardins: serving as cheerleader in chief. paul ryan and house republicans unveiled a sweeping plan to affect nearly every american's taxes and simplify them, they say, down to a postcard-sized form. >> with this plan we are making pro-growth reforms so that yes america can compete with the rest of the world. but we are also making it so that families like these that are here can have more take home pay. >> desjardins: the 400 page bill is dense. it would reduce most individual income tax rates, and permanently cut the corporate tax rate from 35 to 20%. the alternative minimum tax for wealthier americans would end, but so would a slew of tax breaks, including a deduction for most state and local taxes. that could hit the wallets of high-tax states and cities, like new york and new jersey. to help offset that blow, the g.o.p. bill would still allow deduction of property taxes. democrat and house minority leader nancy pelosi slammed the proposal. >> republicans have unveiled a bill that raises taxes on the >> desjardins: what does the bill mean for individuals? republicans would double the standard deduction for each taxpayer to $12,000. ould collapse the seven current tax rates to just four tax rates from 12% to nearly 40%. who would pay what? looking at married couples, filing jointly. those earning under 24,000, would pay no taxes due to the new standard deduction. the largest two groups are couples making up to $90,000, who would face a 12% rate, and those making between 90,000 and 260,000, taxed at 25%. the g.o.p. plan keeps the highest rate in the tax code at 39.6% but applies it to fewer people so what's that mean? it would be a rate decrease for everyone earning up to one million dollars. and for millionaires, no change. president trump, meeting with republicans after lunch, was enthusiastic, saying the bill could get to him by christmas. >> we have a great team and it's a team that loves what they are doing, they love the american people, they love this country and they are going to get it done. >> desjardins: but some other republicans, like arizona senator jeff flake, who sharply criticized the president last week, were uncomfortable, especially with how the tax cuts would add to the deficit. >> rate reductions have to be accompanied by real reform. we cannot simply rely on rosy economic assumptions, rosy growth rates to fill in the gap. we have got to make tough decisions. >> desjardins: other highly- debated features? the plan would phase out the estate tax on large-scale, inherited wealth. republicans say that tax hits family farms, others say ending it is a giveaway to the rich. and there is also a change to one of the biggest deductions of them all-- the home mortgage deduction. that would stay for current homeowners, but for anyone buying a new home, there would be a $500,000 limit. and there are dozens of smaller pieces, including like a the concerns of from some small businesses, that mean however much republicans want tax cuts. passage is not yet certain. >> for every member this could really become the most significant bill they ever make a decision in their term in congress. >> desjardins: significant and soon, a full house vote is expected in the next two weeks. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa desjardins at the u.s. capitol. >> woodruff: there are some other important changes in this bill. it would create a minimum tax on corporate earnings overseas, but one that may be lower for some businesses than the u.s. corporate rate here. we'll talk with the bill's lead author, after the news summary. in the day's other news, president trump nominated jerome powell to be the next chair of the federal reserve. he's a republican, and a member of the fed's board for the past five years. if confirmed by the senate, he'd replace janet yellen, a democrat who served one term as chair. later in the program, we'll look at the change in greater detail. former trump campaign official sam clovis has withdrawn as the nominee for chief scientist at the department of agriculture. he wrote to the president today, saying the political climate "has made it impossible... to receive balanced and fair consideration." clovis faced criticism for a lack of science credentials, and for ties to george papadopoulos. he's admitted lying about contacts with russian intermediaries last year. the president's former campaign chair, paul manafort, attacked the evidence against him today in a probe of russian campaign meddling. his lawyers said the case is "embellished." manafort appeared in federal court in washington with associate rick gates. they face a 12-count indictment including conspiracy and money laundering charges. the president is pressing for the death penalty, for the attacker in tuesday's truck rampage in new york. overnight, and again today, mr. trump tweeted that sayfullo saipov should get the death penalty for killing eight people. but in manhattan, mayor bill de blasio said he does not believe the attacker should be executed. he spoke near the scene of the crime. >> i'm not clear on all the legalities and i'm not a lawyer. i'm not someone who believes in the death penalty in general. i just don't. i believe this is an individual who should rot in prison for the rest of his life. >> woodruff: saipov, an uzbek immigrant, now faces federal terrorism charges. the president initially said he should be sent to guantanamo bay. today, he reversed himself and said: there's "something appropriate about keeping him in the home of the horrible crime he committed." a jury in newark, new jersey heard closing arguments today in the federal bribery case against senator bob menendez. prosecutors called menendez the "personal senator" of a wealthy eye doctor, accepting cash and lavish gifts in exchange for favors. defense attorneys have denied the allegations. in myanmar, de facto leader aung san suu kyi visited the scene of a crackdown on rohingya muslims. the nobel peace prize winner had been criticized for the violence by myanmar's army and buddhist militants. today, she met with local officials amid tight security. rohingya activists say she urged them to "live peacefully" and "not quarrel." scientists say they've discovered a hidden space deep inside egypt's great pyramid of giza. the royal burial monument is 4,500 years old. this would be the first new discovery inside the pyramid since the 19th century. the journal "nature" reports researchers found the empty space by using cosmic-ray imaging. its purpose remains unclear. back in this country, they broke ground today for a memorial to president dwight eisenhower, in washington. it followed years of disputes over the design. final plans call for columns and statues near the national mall in washington. they depict eisenhower as world war ii commander in europe, and later, as the 34th president, in the 1950's. the monument is set to be finished in 2020. on wall street, the dow jones industrial average gained 81 points to close at 23,516. the nasdaq fell one point, and the s&p 500 added a fraction. and, the houston astros are baseball's world champions, for the first time since their founding in 1962. they scored a game seven victory over the los angeles dodgers last night, five to one. it was a boost for the city of houston, still dealing with the aftermath of hurricane "harvey." still to come on the newshour: we speak to the texas congressman behind the tax overhaul. a new leader for the nation's central bank. a partnership that's transforming one of pakistan's oldest health care facilities, and much more. >> woodruff: let's take a closer look at the ambitious tax overhaul plan unveiled by house republicans today and hear from both sides of the isle. we start with representative kevin brady of texas, who chairs the tax-writing ways and means committee and is the lead author of the bill. we spoke earlier and i began by asking if americans will, in fact, keep more of what they earn under the republican's proposal. >> yeah, i'm convinced, one, people are going to see much lower taxes and keep more of their paychecks. but, secondly, we're not stopping there. you know, we-- we want higher paycomengz we get this economy going. it's been stagnant for a decade. most families are living on less than they've had before, so that's what this tax reform is all about. and, judy, i never forget to remind people, we're proposing a code so fair and simple, nine out of 10 americans will be able to file using a simple postcard-style system. boy, that benefits in time and hassle and headaches for every family. >> woodruff: i ask you that because you're also, of course, capping the mortgage deduction, doing away with the student loan deduction, and also state and local taxes deductions. so isn't that going to hurt some people? >> you be, i don't believe it will, and here's why. we keep the mortgage interest deductions and property tax. we enlarge the child tax credit for families, make sure twice as many americans will be able to use it. then we lower the rates. we protect more of the first dollars. so when you add all of that up, you see that americans get to keep more of what they earn, including in high-tax states. and so, look, i think this is the tax reform americans have pyears.st starved for, for 31 now we get a chance as a country to weigh this and take action. >> woodruff: what do you say to those critics, chairman brady, who say the bigger tax cuts, though, are going to go to wealthier americans by doing away with the estate tax, by doing away with the alternative minimum tax? >> as you know, the top rate remains at 39.6% as it is today. the a.m.t. is really a double tax wha that can cost taxpayersn the $200,000, $300,000 level a year, $75,000 a year. when you remove the-- the death tax hits the family-owned farms and business hard. that's who really has the damage from it. look, there is tax relief at every level here because we want the growth. we want you, again, to have control of your paycheck. that's all. >> woodruff: the other argument we're hearing, chairman brady, is that the business tax cuts really do add up to be the biggest part of this between the corp rate cut from 35% to 20%, and then, in addition the so-called s-corngz the pass-through businesses. they are going to get a significant tax cut. so businesses is really the big beneficiary? >> well, i don't agree. i think it is middle class families and here's why it's smallest paycheck in america today is the one whose job has moved overseases. and that's the problem for now more than a decade we're continuing to see our jobs and headquarters and research and manufacturing leave. this is all about bringing those jobs back. and for main street business, you know, look that family-owned donut shop makes $62,000 a year work day and night and weekends. they'll get a $3,000 tax cut that they'll use to plow back into the community. so, look, i think the big winners are workers who want to see higher paychecks, middle-class families who just want to keep more of what they earn. >> woodruff: how do you know that cutting taxes on these employers is going to lead to more jobs, more hiring, and higher wages? i ask, again, because the studies that have been done, the vast majority of them show, that has not happened in the past. >> well, i respectfully disagree, but here we can just look ourselves. look at the last 10 years. if you think high tax rates on families and businesses work, you think the current status quo tax code worldwide is working for america, we all know it's not, that america has fallen far behind our competitors. our jobs are leaving, our local businesses can't compete here or around the world. so we are taking a fresh approach, leapfrogging america from nearly dead last into the lead pack. the best place on the planet for that next new company and jobs. we can change the direction of the economy. but have to act. the status quo, leaving things as they are, i don't think that's an option for families. >> woodruff: the other comment we hear, chairman brady, is the conservatives, fiscal conservatives who are worried about the deficit, worried about the debt. they're saying this adds another $1.5 triion in coming years on top of the $10 trillion that's already forecast. have republicans just stopped making the deficit a focus and the debt? >> yeah, yeah, no. here's what we know. if we want to continue these high deficits and debt, just keep things as they are. keep the economy slow as it has been for a decade. it's picking up now. just allow that to continue. this is all about generating growth, jobs, paychecks. but guess what? state and local ref niewrs government increase when you get peeng pooesm back to work. it does the same for washz well. i'm convinced, judy, that tax reform done right helps moves us towards a balanced budget, gets us out of the doldrums we are in today. >> woodruff: when you say "balanced wj" you believe this the bring the debt now. >> this will help us move towards it in two ways. one, because we get so much of a stronger economy. but that alone isn't enough, so we eliminated, as you know, dozens and dozens and dozens of special interest provisions for business and families so we can lower the tax rate, get the economy booming. you have to do both, and that's what this tax reform does. >> woodruff: and finally, president trump said he expects to see this done before christmas. >> we're on that timetable. so we've introduced today the ways and means committee will begin to take action next week. we expect to send to the floor shortly afterwards. and then, of course, the senate will have their version. we'll work together to find common ground. right now, we are on track to get this to the president's desk at the end of the year. >> woodruff: so massive complex legislation gets done in less than six jeeks well, we are working-- we have worked very hard and here's probably the difference. unlike health care, the president, the house and senate have come together this fall earlier on where we want to go. we worked, some of us, for more than six years to be ready for this moment. yes, we'll be looking to make improvements. we'll get input going forward. but i'm convinced we can do this. >> woodruff: chairman kevin brady of the house taxing committee. thank you very much. >> thank you, judy. >> woodruff: now for a democratic response to the tax bill. senator elizabeth warren of massachusetts sits on the senate banking, housing and urban affairs committee. i asked her to respond to the claims by president trump and republicans' that the bill would lead to the largest tax cut in modern history. >> well, it is the biggest tax giveaway to giant corporations in modern memory. i mean, cause because that's what this is. let's not kid ourselves. it's got lots of moving parts, but the key, the part that's the whole central issue here is $2 trillion in giveaways to giant corporations. and you know who the biggest recipients of it are going to be-- number one recipient is estimated to be wells fargo, who will away with billions of dollars. you do remember wells father oh, the company that opened the fake accounts to cheat its own customers. another big recipient will be the wealthy foreign investors who are estimated to make about $700 billion out of this deal. and the third big group is going to be the multinational companies who are going to get an even better break for investing in jobs overseas, instead of investing in jobs here at home. this thing is really horrible. >> woodruff: senate, let me ask you about a couple of points you just made. >> sure. >> woodruff: as you know, the republicans are saying, yes, we're giving a break to corporations and small businesses because we believe that is going to lead to more jobs and higher wages, that we are going to grow the economy, and americans are going to be better off. >> you know, this is the big lie that the republicans have been selling now for decades. and we have evidence about it-- let's just be clear-- when the george w. bush tax cuts went through in the early 2000s, what happened? corporations walked out with sacks and sacks of money and wages stayed flat for american workers. oh, over in great britain they lowered the corporate tax rate by 11 points, and what happened? the wages went down for most workers. but here's the deal-- look at it this way: right now, corporate profits are at an all-time high. these corporations are rolling in money. if they wanted money to be able to invest in the american economy, they got it. the idea that somehow if we give them a couple of trillion dollars that they're gog come invest in america, particularly when we give it to them in a form so that they get more incentives for investing outside america. i'm telling you today, given the evidence, given what this tax bill looks like, that is an insult to working families across america. >> woodruff: well, senator, what they are saying-- we just talked to chairman kevin brady, of course, the house taxing committee, the ways and means committee, saying by putting a minimum tax on profits corporation earn overseas, that it's going to be-- it means that money is going to come back to the united states, and they're going to be able to invest it here. my question to you, is that not an approach that makes sense? >> let me just-- can i just slightly rephrase what he's saying that's a little more factual. by taxing corporation less on what they earn from their investments overseas, then we tax them on what they earn from their investments here in the united states, we're going to grow the american economy. no, that's not going to happen. it makes no sense. and, of course, they've got no evidence to back it up, because it just doesn't work that way. >> woodruff: let me ask you about the other part of this tax proposal, and that is what they say is a significant tax cut for middle-income americans. and they talk about the average family is going to bring home at least a $1200 a year more than they have today. they talk about other breaks. they're doing away with the alternative minimum tax. and they list other breaks that would exist for many, many american families. >> so, look, i have been workin, as you know, for decades now on trying to get some economic fairness and economic relief for working families, for paycheck-to-paycheck families, for middle-class families. and if what the republicans really wanted to do was sit down and do a tax plan that would really help middle-class families, i would be all in. but that's not what they're talking about here. in fact, they're going to raise taxes on a whole lot of people. but the key starts with that $2 trillion giveaway. as soon as they give away $2 trillion-- i just want you think for a minute about what they might have done with that money. they could have spent that money on infrastructure right here in the united states, created good jobs right here, and built us a 21st century infrastructure that would give our businesses a com50 advantage all around the world. they could have taken that $2 trillion and said, "let's forgive the outstanding student loan debt for lots of our young people. let's get them into this economy, working hard, starting their own businesses." that would work. or they could have said, "i know, let's write a check for $17,000 to every single family in america making less than $200,000. and they still would have had money left over. there are a lot of ways that we could have spent $2 trillion on building a stronger economy for work families. but the republicans chose none of that. they want to give that money away to their biggest corporate donors. >> woodruff: senator, is there any part of this tax proposal that you could work with. >> oh, look, there are bits and pieces. and like i said, if we really were about the business of trying to help middle-class families, i'm in. but if they're going to start with a $2 trillion giveaway to their biggest corporate donors, a $2 trillion giveaway to wells fargo, a $2 trillion giveaway to giant corporations that are helping fund campaigns for these republicans, then my answer is no. you can't start there and build something good for working family s. >> woodruff: senator, finally, a question on a different subject. we're learning today that a new book that is coming out by donna brazile,he former acting chair of the democratic national committee, that the campaign of secretary hillary clinton was far more influential at the democratic party, the democratic national committee, than we previously knew. do you think what we're learning from donna brazile's book suggests that the campaign, that what the democratic national committee did meant this election was rigged? >> i think it was. >> sreenivasan: that's a pretty powerful charge. >> well, what we have to focus on now as democrats is we recognize the process was rigged, and now it is up to democrats to build a new process, a process that really works, and works for everyone. and as we go forward, we have confidence in the integrity of the system, that democrats, as they run a primary, are gonna let the people speak, and that we're going to have a candidate who's the candidate chosen by the people. that's our job. >> woodruff: senator elizabeth warren, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: the republican tax cut plan was not the only important economic story of this day. president trump announced his nomination for a new chairman of the federal reserve to replace janet yellen early nxt year. our economics correspondent, paul solman, begins with this report, for his weekly series, making sense. >> reporter: in announcing his pick, the president had this to say: >> he understands what it takes for our economy to grow, and just as importantly, he understands what truly drives american success-- the innovation, hard work, and dreams of the american people. >> reporter: powell, a republican, has served as one of the seven federal reserve governors since 2012 and will replace janet yellen, a democrat. >> i will continue to work with my deletion ensure that the federal reserve remains vigilant and prepared to respond to changes in markets and evolving risks. >> reporter: a lawyer by training, powell would be the first fed chairman in almost 40 years without a phd in economics. he's spent his career in finance and government: as treasury undersecretary for george h.w. bush, partner in the private equity firm the carlyle group, and scholar at the bipartisan policy center. seth carpenter, chief u.s. economist at u.b.s., worked with powell at the fed. >> he seems very interested in being non dogmatic, about very much asking the questions: what is the most likely outcome? what is the best outcome that policy can achieve? >> reporter: today's announcement ended weeks of drummed up anticipation about who would lead the fed, the president instagramming a video message that said... >> i have somebody very specific in mind. i think everyone will be very impressed. >> reporter: powell's selection means that yellen will be the first chair in modern history to complete one term and not be nominated for a second. during the campaign, candidate trump railed against yellen for keeping interest rates low. >> janet yellen is highly political and she's not raising rates for a very specific reason because obama told her not to because he wants to be out >> reporter: but as president, trump has praised yellen's performance, even just yesterday: >> we have been working together >> reporter: one apparent area of disagreement is regulation. yellen supports the dodd-frank reform law president obama signed after the financial crisis. >> in my personal view it's important they remain in place. >> reporter: the president has long pledged to dismantle those reforms. >> we're going to do a very major haircut on dodd-frank. >> reporter: and in june the treasury department proposed looser restrictions on banks to let them borrow more easily and take more risk. at the time, nominee powell called the plan a mixed bag. >> there are some ideas in the report that make sense, maybe not exactly as expressed there, but that would enable us to reduce the cost without affecting safety and soundness. >> reporter: mainly, he has supported exempting smaller banks from dodd-frank, while backing the main aspects of the law. and in many other eas, powell is in sync with current chair yellen. he supports current fed policy to slowly reverse the stimulus measures put in place after the financial crisis, for example. carpenter thinks powell's consensus-building skills will serve him well as fed chair. >> his ability to generate a strong rapport with other people whether they be people who report to him or his peers i think is very important. the federal reserve, the federal open market committee works, in general, as a committee and they work very much on consensus. >> reporter: if confirmed by the senate, powell will begin his term in february. >> woodruff: for more about jerome powell, and what his background might tell us about how he would manage the fed. i am joined now by krishna guha. he's a vice-chairman at the investment bank evercore, and has long experience at the fed. from 2010 to 2013, he served as a member of the management committee and head of the communications group at the new york fed. krishna guha, welcome back to the program. >> thank you. >> woodruff: why did the president make this change? >> so, i think you've heard from the president today that he came to respect janet yellin quite highly, but at the same time, he's talked about wanting to put his own mark on the fed. and in choosing someone like jay powell he could try to get the best of both worlds, someone who could continue to deliver the same kind of monetary policy as janet yellin, but is a card-carrying republicans and would be more open to revisiting some of those crisis, postcrisis financial regulations. >> woodruff: well, let's talk about that. in essence, we can pretty much expect someone to do what janet yellin and the federal reserve board has been doing with regard to monetary policies, interest rates. >> i think we are going to see broad continuity there, and that's not a bad thing. you know, jay powell has been part of the centrist fed majority for many years, charting this gradual course towards gradually normalizing interest rates, gradually reducing the federal reserve balance sheet that was increased by q.e. and in his temperament, he's a very careful guy, like janet yellin. he's going to take a careful and gradual approach to taking away the remaining stimulus. >> woodruff: and what about when it comes to regulation? we heard in the report from paul solomon just now that he is expected, perhaps, to have a lighter touch when it comes to banking regulation? >> yes, so i do think that jay powell is somebody who thinks that, you know, these-- some years now after the crisis passed, we implemented a lot of reforms, it is the right time to step back, look at all of these regulations, and see how they're doing in practice, so if there are ways that we can achieve the financial stability goals while imposing fewer costs, fewer burdens in certain places at least. i think he very much wants to keep the core of these new regulations in place, but does-- does have that openness to trying to reduce, revise those burdens when it can be done safely. >> woodruff: which raises the question, it seemed to me, he made a point today, i noticed, of speaking about the independence of the fed. can he be expected to pay-- to do what president trump wants or to be an independent thinker, figure at the federal reserve? >> so, i think no question, jay will be an independent leader of an independent institution at the fed. to be fair to president trump, he's shown a lot of respect for the institutional independence for the fed since assuming the office of the president himself, and i think he understands that if it looks like the fed is no longer independent, then its ability to deliver good economic outcomes for the country would decline. >> woodruff: just one last thing, krishna guha, this is the first time in four decades, as we heard, that a sitting fid fed chair has not been reappointed. janet yellin, a woman. how should we read that? >> so, i think-- you know, it's-- it's not any bad mark against janet's tenure as fed chair that she was not renewed in office. if you look at what she's achieved, you know, she took a fra jail recovery and brought to safety. she took unemployment down from very high levels to historically quite low levels today. she did so with the backing of a number of important figures at the fed. one of them is jay powell. and i think she'll feel comfortable handing off to him as her successor. >> woodruff: krishna guha, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: stay with us, coming up on the newshour: an explosion of tech jobs creates a housing crunch in silicon valley. and a brief but spectacular take on investing in the impossible. but first, when it comes to providing innovative health care, pakistan is not a country that usually comes to mind. but in karachi, one public- private partnership is trying to address some of pakistanis' most pressing medical needs. in cooperation with the associated press, special correspondent fred de sam lazaro has the latest in our series, agents for change. >> reporter: on any given day at karachi's jinnah hospital, some 5000 patients arrive, wheeled in on rusty, bare metal gurneys by family members who wait- someties for days-in the outer corridors. inside are long lines-for x-ray scans or appointments with overwhelmed staffers. there are lots of exhausted children. jinnah is one of the oldest, biggest public health care facilities in pakistan's commercial capital, a city of 15 million and the hospital hasn't been immune to the violence and terrorism that has gripped this country, including this bomb blast in 2010 its own emergency department. >> we nearly missed to die, i was standing right at the gate. about 18 people lost their lives at that point. >> reporter: yet hospital c.e.o. seemin jamali notes that just 30 seconds after the blast, staff are back on their feet, tending to the injured. she says it's a metaphor for a hospital that is transforming itself amid all the chaos, replacing its decrepit old buildings and bringing some of medicine's most modern equipment and care to pakistan's poorest patients who may never otherwise have access. six-year-old noman azim was brought in after losing his sight when a growing brain tumor began to affect his optic nerve. >> ( translated ): he lost his eyesight for two months, he was completely blind, he was scared of everything. thank god my son has a new life. he goes to school, he studies, he plays outside. >> this is pre-treatment images. and this is post-treatment images. look at this, that whiteness has almost completely gone. >> reporter: radiology chief dr tariq mahmood says noman was treated with some of the most sophisticated technology anywhere. he was restored to sight with a $4 million robot like device so- called cyberknife. in the u.s., the price tag for such treatment ranges between 50 and $90,000. here it is free, true of all services in government hospitals. patients can chip in after their care but it's voluntary. on average these donations defray about eight percent of the hospital's costs. all this equipment was donated to the hospital by a non-profit group called the patients aid foundation, private citizens who've provided guidance and much of the funding for the hospital's facelift. >> from 1984 to 1994 we were doing 200 scan in a year. today, we are doing 300 c.t. scans in a day. >> reporter: this public private partnership began in 1992, when a group of business leaders were moved by the desperate conditions at the hospital. businessman mushtaq chhapra says it began with pleas from the hospital to replace broken refrigerators in the blood bank and parts for medical equipment. >> the government didn't have the budget to do these repairs or renovation. and this is where my organization stepped in and virtually these were small things that was remedied in hours. >> reporter: those small things have added up quickly; $35 million so far, in donations from prominent business families in karachi, for buildings, equipment and some staff at the hospital. chhapra says at first they were skeptical about partnering with a public sector notorious for inefficiency and corruption. he says they forged a clear understanding of key roles each side would play. >> we have not let the government abdicate their responsibility. the government has 3,000 people working in this hospital, the government is paying salaries for those people, the government provides the utilities, the medications. what we do is we bring the ideas, we bring the systems and we bring the much-needed equipment. >> doctors, obviously everybody wants to work in a neat and clean environment. >> reporter: retired radiologist tasneem butt volunteers as a patient advocate at the jinnah hospital. she says the upgrades have not only improved patient care but also morale among providers >> we did not have any, mammography machine. it took like 20 years for us and now as i speak of we have the latest technology of mammography. this is probably the largest radiology center in asia. >> reporter: it is large and state of the art but ironically, it is perhaps the least busy section of a very busy hospital, even though the incidence of cancer is growing in pakistan, including the highest rate of breast cancer in asia. a lot of the cancer that occurs in pakistan goes untreated. patients in many cases can't afford therapy, if it's available. and even in places where it is available, doctors say the vast majority of patients come in in advanced stages, when it's too late for any effective treatment. that was the case with this seven-year-old boy, brought here by his father from peshawar, a city some 850 miles away near the afghan border. his brain tumor had progressed too far to benefit from radiotherapy. dr tariq mahmood ss only five percent of the cancers seen here are in the early treatable phases. >> there is lack of the availability of the proper equipment for the early diagnosis. and at the same time there is lack of education. >> reporter: public education is a big challenge, but dr. mahmood says the jinnah hospital offers a model for delivering high quality care to the poor. a public private partnership is inherently fragile amid pakistan's volatile politics but the foundation's chhapra says he's not deterred. >> we are pumping in millions and millions of dollars into a hospital which is owned by the government. tomorrow they may turn around and say enough is enough. get out. we as a group have decided, come what may, we are here to stay. >> reporter: and despite the challenges, the foundation has ambitious plans to expand. a state of the art, $25 million outpatient department is slated to open early in 2018. for the pbs newshour, i'm fred de sam lazaro in karachi, pakistan. >> woodruff: fred's reporting is part of the under-told stories project at university of st. thomas in minnesota. >> woodruff: facebook and google were in the crosshairs of lawmakers on capitol hill this week over their advertising policies and what happened with russian interference in the election. in california, those tech giants are under scrutiny too, in part because of their expanding presence in silicon valley. the companies are often accused of dominating, and changing, the communities and housing markets where they are based. special correspondent spencer michels has our report. >> reporter: the fictional tv show silicon valley resorted to animation to visually depicted the high tech region stretching from san francisco to san jose. the real silicon valley, choked with traffic and lacking enough housing, doesn't need graphics to illustrate its problems, as it tries to keep its suburban character, while expanding and growing wealthier. a two bedroom apartment here now rents from $3500 to $4500 a month. google employs 20,000 workers in the town of mountain view. it has plans to double or even triple its workforce, a move welcomed by some residents, but feared by others, like jac siegel, a retired engineer and former mayor. >> it's just totally changing the nature of where we live, for people, for the sake of google employment and for the developers who want to make a lot of money, and they do. it's becoming a town of apartment dwellers more than others. an example; look on the right here; there's 200 units of apartment buildings and yet minimal parking and no infrastructure. >> reporter: part of google's expansion is a new headquarters building adjacent to the dozens of buildings it acquired over the past 20 years. google has also broken ground at nearby moffett field, leased from nasa, for another campus, that includes housing. >> we're growing every day, we're excited to be part of the lowest unemployment rate in the bay area. >> reporter: rebecca prozan heads local government relations for google. >> i look forward to the conversation with mr. siegel, with the neighborhood, with the community to figure out what should the future look like. >> reporter: but siegel sees google, which has inspired shopping centers, housing, buildings, roads, turning mountain view into a company town. >> yes, it is a company town in that it's controlled by whatever google wants here, they pretty much get, and by the fact that developers want to support that as much as they can. >> are you going to essentially take over mountain view? >> no, we're not going to take over mountain view. we want to be thoughtful and intentional about how we are in the community. >> reporter: a so-called company town like detroit can be dominated by one industry, like automobiles, says stanford law professor michelle wilde anderson, who has been studying tensions in silicon valley. >> the anxiety about a company town comes from two things. one is a worry that we're going to over-rely on single companies or single industries. that's kind of a detroit fear. i think part of it is just the fear that silicon valley's people themselves will become a monoculture of tech workers. >> reporter: one thing google does want is more housing. it is pushing the city to approve 9800 new units, some of them below market rate, though the city council wants to slash that number, fearing increased traffic. >> if the 9800 units are actually fulfilled and built, we will more than double the amount of affordable housing in mountain view, so that wouldn't be just for employees. >> reporter: mountain view isn't the only city being transformed by tech. facebook is increasingly dominating the towns of menlo park, and its neighbor, east palo alto. with 5500 workers facebook is well along with construction of a giant new office complex that will bring 12,000 new employees to the flourishing social network. but a future plan involves more than offices, says public policy director michael matthews. >> about half of that space will be for housing. 1500 units, about 225 of that affordable housing. retail space. grocery stores. possibly a hotel and some other things. >> reporter: matthews revealed to us a giant scale model of facebook's new willow campus, surrounded by the quickly gentrifying neighborhoods of east palo alto and belle haven. facebook has pledged $20 million to a community fund for housing, and is trying to get foundations, companies, non- profits, to raise another $55 million for affordable housing, in a market where million dollar homes are average. but geting facebook's help wasn't easy, according to tameeka bennett, who directs a community action non-profit in east palo alto, which traditionally was home to low income people and minorities. >> we're a gentrifying city right now, unfortunately, so we have google, we've got facebook, we've got you tube, and linkedin. >> reporter: bennett had to move to oakland because east palo alto became too expensive. but she commutes back every day, to fight to preserve her community. >> we found out that facebook was expanding once again, we did have to threaten a lawsuit in order to get get them to the table. but to facebook's credit they did decide to talk with us. >> we're open to listening to everybody and figuring out what makes sense; we're not adversarial about it. >> reporter: but making sense in a dynamic economy is tough, says stanford's anderson. >> people miss a more humble version of silicon valley, but the problem is that you can't have it both ways; we can't both allow all of this commercial development and these high tech campuses, and not permit the housing, because it falls down hardest on lower paid workers. >> reporter: she says high tech companies need to explore building far outside the expensive metro areas, and they also have a responsibility: >> in the modern condition of american inequality and lower- paid workers and super- concentrated wealth, do they have a moral obligation to start really trying to address some of our social problems? yes. and most importantly they have tremendous capacity to be part of the solution. >> reporter: google and facebook are not the only companies whose expansion are changing the face of what used to be called the valley of heart's delight. apple is constructing a huge new building, sometimes called a space ship or the death star. apple declined our invitation to talk to us about what that means for the community. a few miles south, officials in san jose, the second largest city in the state with 1.1 million residents, are welcoming high tech development. google has proposed another new 240-acre campus, with eight million square feet of offices to accommodate 20,000 workers just beyond san jose's downtown, replacing a jumble of parking lots, and small businesses. sam liccardo, san jose's mayor, argues that his city is different than the smaller towns where google and facebook grew up. >> the real problem with silicon valley's growth has been that those large companies have gone to the suburbs and that has created the traffic mess. we don't have those same concerns. we're the world headquarters for adobe, and sysco and paypal and so we welcome the growth, but big cities are where large employers should be. >> reporter: the transit hub will bring together commuter trai, bay area rapid transit, buses, a light rail system and high speed rail. in fact some observers think workers could commute a hundred miles or more from the central valley, if the high speed rail system ever gets built. but would 20,000 additional workers and a community with housing, grocery stores, hotels and more constitute a company town? >> bring it on! we all would love to see another grocery store downtown. we know our hotels are maxed out, so we need more hotel space, we know that small towns aren't going to welcome that, and that's okay with us. >> reporter: meanwhile, amazon is seeking to build another campus away from its base in seattle, and the scramble among cities throughout the country to secure that plum is under way. i'm spencer michels for the pbs newshour in silicon valley, california. >> woodruff: finally, another in our brief but spectacular series where we ask people to describe their passions. tonight, we hear from sean o'sullivan. he is an entrepreneur, investor and humanitarian who is the managing partner at the venture capital firm s.o.s.v. o'sullivan is best known for co- founding the technology that popularized street maps on computers, and has been credited with coining the term "cloud computing." >> i invest about $50 million a year into a 150 new startups every year. >> you've said that when an idea appears to be absolutely preposterous, that's when you like to get involved. >> i think that's an intriguing start for an investment. i actually love the expression, buckminster fuller. if you really want to change something, don't fight the existing reality. create a new model that makes the existing model obsolete. i was one of two people that came up with the term cloud computing. the idea was really to have software that was not running on your computer. the initial reaction for people was, why would i want to do that? i think that's the initial reaction for most people when they hear of, of a new technology. they actually just can't quite understand it yet. when they do see it, when they actually see it for the first time and it really works, it's, it's basically magic. when you're looking at things that seem impossible, they actually have the possibility of becoming in fact inevitable. an area that i think is very important is in regenerative medicine. printing tissues, printing organs, and therapeutics that can help restore life and eliminate disease. i have a son who's autistic. i would love to be involved in trying to create a way to have him be able to speak and be able to, to be able to interact and to live a full and meaningful life. i think it's actually miraculous what medicine has discovered so far about the human condition. we've seen so much of an advancement, and a productivity rise for of all civilization in this, in this last 30 year period. what's now happening in the next 30 years is, that same sort of cambrian explosion, through genetics, life sciences, and connected hardware devices that are actually going to enable uh, the human experience to be wildly advanced, and much more enriched in the coming years. i'm not scared of the advancement of science and genetically modified organisms is sort of a throwback to like... oh, wait. who originally created the genetics? i think you know, a lot of people you know, feel you know, god or whatever, and they don't want to actually mess that. they think that that's off limits. i actually think you know, god also created this planet and we don't mind putting roads on this planet and building cars on this planet. i think extending life is fine. extending the-- extending our quality of life is desirable. i've lived a relatively full life, i'm happy. happy enough to die when i'm in my 70s or 80s. i-- i'll just progress along until then. but i still like to live a full life while i'm here. my name is sean o'sullivan and this is my brief but spectacular take on making the impossible inevitable. >> woodruff: you can watch more brief but spectacular videos online at pbs.org/newshour/brief. on the newshour online right now, what is it like to care for the babies of the opioid crisis? dr. amber robins, a health and media fellow for the newshour, chronicles her experience working with babies in withdrawal. you can read her story on our web site, pbs.org/newshour. and that's the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening with mark shields and david brooks. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> babbel. a language app that teaches real-life conversations in a new language, like spanish, french, german, italian, and more. babbel's 10-15 minute lessons are available as an app, or online. more information on babbel.com. >> 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 martha stewart: are you eager to learn how to update your favorite recipes with better for you ingredients from the modern pantry? then you won't want to miss this season of "martha bakes." join me in my kitchen where i'll teach you how to transform everything from traditional cakes, pies and even breads with new ingredients, plus mouthwatering gluten and dairy free treats for everyday and every occasion. welcome to a new way to bake. narrator: "martha bakes" is made possible by. for more than 200 years, domino and c&h sugars have been used by home bakers to help bring recipes to life and create memories for each new generation of baking enthusiasts. ♪