I feel like a prisoner who is sentenced to death. Woodruff all that and more on tonights Pbs Newshour. Major funding for the Pbs Newshour has been provided by supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the worlds most pressing pblems skollfoundation. Org. The lemelson foundation. Committed to improving lives through invention, in the u. S. And developing countries. On the web at lemelson. Org. Supported by the John D. And catherine t. Macarthur foundation. Committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. More information at macfound. Org and with the ongoing support of these institutions thiS Program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. And by contributions to your Pbs Station from viewers like you. Thank you. Woodruff the world has reached a new Covid19 Milestone Tonight 200 million infections, and counting. That includes some 615,000 in the united states. A few countries are already offering booster vaccinations, as the aggressive Delta Variant spreads. But today the World Health Organization called for delaying boosters for two months, until more countries can get vaccine. Highincome countries have now administered almost 100 doses for every 100 people. Meanwhile, lowincome countries have only been able to administer 1. 5 doses for every 100 people due to lack of supply. Woodruff in washington, the white house argued the u. S. Has enough vaccine for boosters, if needed, and for shipment to other countries. Also today, illinois bece the latest to mandate face masks for public school students this fall. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo faced even more Pressure Today to resign over sexual harassment allegations. The associated press reported a majority of State Assembly members support impeachment proceedings, if he does not step down. The Threeterm Democrat denies State Investigation findings that he harassed at least 11 women. The government of mexico is suing bigname american gun makers and distributors. The suit was filed today in federal court in boston. It charges the Companies Business practices have aided Gun Trafficking and fueled bloodshed. Mexico is seeking 10 billion in damages. In lebanon, violent protests erupted on the first anniversary of a deadly explosion at the port of beirut. As night came on, demonstrators fought with police, who used tear Gas And Water cannon outside the parliament building. Earlier, crowds denounced corruption and the failure to hold senior officials accountable for the explosion. translated it is a painful memory. We remember our victs. They called them martyrs but in fact they are victims. Victims of their corruption, victims of the Authoritys Negligence and victims of their deals. They do not deserve to be in power. Woodruff the beirut explosion killed at least 214 people and wounded thousands. Well return to this, later in the program. The british navy reports that hijackers who briefly captured a tanker outside the persian gulf, have now left it. They seized the Vessel Yesterday off fujairah, a major port in the united arab emirates. Radio transmissions indicated the gunmen were iranians. Theres been no explanation of why they seized the ship. The European Union promised Aid Today to greece and neighboring nations facing a wave of wildfires. One major fire charred scores of homes, businesses and cars just north of athens on tuesday. Thousands of people fled, but some stayed behind, told harrowing stories today. translated there were explosions all around, bam, boom, the utility poles were falling, there were explosions inside homes and cars. It was like we were in hiroshima or something, something like this has never happened here. Woodruff in neighboring turkey, another fire reached an electric power plant, forcing evacuations. Back in this country, californias largest wildfire is growing again as hot, gusty weather returns. Flames and smoke from the Dixie Fire painted skies a glowing orange on tuesday. The fire jumped containment lines, prompting evacuation orders to another 15,000 people. A trumpbacked republican and a moderate democrat have claimed nominations in ohio, for open seats in the u. S. House of representatives. Democrat shontel brown won tuesdayS Primary in a cleveland district, over a progressive rival. She is favored in novembers special election. And, Mike Carey won the g. O. P. Primary in a columbus district, with former president trumps support. He faces a democratic opponent this fall. On wall street, stocks mostly slumped on news that private Sector Employment was weaker than expected last month. The dow jones industrial average lost 323 points, nearly one percent, to close at 34,792. The nasdaq rose 19 points. But, the S P 500 slipped 20. And, at the summer olympics, daily covid19 cases in tokyo reached a new peak at more than 4,100, with four days remaining in the games. In the competition, american Sydney Mclaughlin broke her own World Record and won the Gold Medal in the 400meter hurdles. Still to come on the newshour despite a strong Housing Market, questions remain about the larger economic recovery. Confronting the biden administration for the controversial expulsion migrants to mitigate covid19. Lebanon in crisis a year after a massive explosion. Plus much more. Woodruff millions of americans lack safe Drinking Water and wastewater overflowS Pour bacteria into our rivers and lakes. Lisa desjardins has more on how the bill could help. Desjardins the bill would be the largest federal investment in clean water in american history. And it is aimed at some large issues. As many as 22 million americans get their Drinking Water from systems with lead pipes, known aS Potentially toxic. And twice as many americans rely on systems found in violations of safe water standards. The Senate Infrastructure Bill would spend about 50 billion to overhaul these systems. To dive into this more, im joined by erik olson, senior strategic director for Health And Food at the natural resources defense council. Erik, lets stuart with the big picture here, how serious are the issues with clean ter in this country right now and how is there bill trying to tackle them . Well, unfortunately, the whole issue of Water Infrastructure has been out of Sight And O of mind. Weve got water systems all over the country that are falling apart, that are aging, many of them 50 to 100 years old. So its a huge problem nationwide in all 50 states and its not just the lead pipes, but its also things like combined sue we are overflow with raw sue going into lakes and streams, its contaminated water with toxic chemicals. So, it really is time to make these investments, its a wise time with low interest rates to make these investments, so were glad the Senate Bill will start to address these problems. Reporter we wanted to get our hands around what this means so we reached out to one of the many communities affected and one senate staffers went to when they tried to write one versionov this bill, jackson, mississippi, where they have been under Water Boil alerts off and on much of the year. We talked to the mayor about the Aging System and what that means for his residents. When i think about the challenges of families in jackson, you know, we have to realize that how they feel is more than just a mere filling of inconvenience. It is fear associated with the inability to get water in their homes. And, so, residents are tired, right . They want to know that their lives have value, they want to know that, you know, they dont have to live in substandard conditions. Reporter one to have the Problems Jackson has is a money problem, like many lowerincome communities, which include many communities of color, they just cant afford he large costs of new Water Infrastructure. Can you talk about how this bill tries to tackle those problems in particular . With what weve seen in black and brown and tribal communities across the country is this disproportionate lack of investment with Infrastructure Water problems that are really severe in many of these communities. A lot of these lead pipes, a lot of contamination with toxic chemicals and frankly sewer systems that are falling apart, Drinking Water supplies that arent up to the task. So were seeing a nationwide problem that affects all 50 states, it affects communities all over but especially hits hard in some of these lowercome communities and communities of color across the country. Reporter i know from our reporting the bill tries to set aside some money to make it easier for those communities to get grants they dont have to pay back. You mentioned lead pipes, those are something many communities across the country, doesnt matter your income level, have and a lot of toxic chemicals, pfas, a lot of people may know that because it goes into nonstick pans, but that kind of chemical so hard to pull out of water once its in there. Theres 25 billion dollars to deal with these things. Does that solve the toxic Chemical Problem . What does it do . So there are two chunks of money that are specifically directed to those two issues you mentioned. One is theres 15 billion to help pull out some of the lead pipes in the country. So the estimates from the environmental Protection Agency are its going to cost at least around w45 billion, maybe more than that, to pull out all the lead pipes, so were putting a down payment of around 15 billion that will take care of maybe a third of that problem. The other issue you mentioned are these forever toxic chemicals called pfas, used in nonstick pans as you mentioned, but in a lot of other uses, also. Theyre used bidely and still are in some places as Firefighting Foam and often just sprayed out on to the ground and seeped into the groundwater, ran off into streams, and Theyve Contaminated Tens of millions of peoples Drinking Water now. So theyre very hard to get out to have the water, you have to treat them with advanced technology, so the bill doeS Put 10 billion towardS Pulling some of those out of our water. So sounds like this definitely would do something significant, maybe not solve the problem. You know, you mentioned tribal communities and we know those are the areas of the country with the least access to water at all. We also wanted to hear their thoughts. I spoke to the president of the navajo nation today. 30 to 40 of our najo people do not have running water. People drive miles, hours just to get water to their homes. Its not just about Drinking Water, its about agriculture, its about getting water to our livestock, getting water to our farms here because that is also what sustains life here. Reporter so hes hopeful about this bill, but can you take us through thats a big problem, lands with no Water Infrastructure. What does this bill do for that if it passes . We have tribal lands all over the country and if their water problems date back to the 1800s when a lot of the reservations were created. Native manners were forced on to these reservations in most cases and often about clarity about where the water was supposed to come with from and theyre still living with the problems. It includes 3. 5 billion specifically for the indian Health Service to help with sanitation. Theres very limited funding really specifically targeted to Pep Help Drinking Water. Reporter erik olson, were talking about big dollars but also big problems. We appreciate your time. Its my pleasure. Thank you for having me on. Woodruff now, the prospects ahead for the economy, jobs and housing as the country grapples with the pandemic. Lets start with the everrising costs of housing whats behind it and the concerns over affordability for tens of millions. According to the latest S P Core Logic Caseshiller index, nationally home prices were up almost 17 over the last year. In some markets, buyers and sellers are looking at even larger hikes. Economics correspondent Paul Solman has the story for our series, making sense. Reporter boise, idaho a bustling downtown, space for walks galore, watercraft of every description, and compared to west coast cities not far away, safer, quieter, cheaper. No surprise the place is booming, especially given covid, says realtor kevin rush. We see a lot of people moving here that can work wherever they want to work. You know, its like, wait a minute, im kind of reevaluating my life. Reporter nationwide home prices soared to a yet another record high in june, thanks to historically low interest rates, lack of supply, and the rocketing cost of new construction for builders, says Teshuh Toosawkuhvich of cbh homes. Lumber. Theres been a copper shortage. Theres been concrete difficulties. We have so many materials that are just difficult to get. Reporter boise is a Poster Child for the housing price boom. In its metro area, in the past year, the median Sale Price surged to 525,000, 40 higher than 12 months ago. Weve basically been seeing offers go 40, 50, sometimes 100,000 over the asking price and 11 to 20 people that might be in, you know,aking offers. So weve got these Bidding Wars that are just unbelievable. Reporter boise born Realtor Becky Enricocrum has been working round the clock. Were not sleeping this year at all. And thats okay. I mean, we can sleep when were dead, right . Reporter the Boise Market was already heating up well before the pandemic. Prices have been escalating double digits for four or five years now. It just got accelerated and turned a little bit crazy in the last six to eight months. Reporter thats a windfall for sellers like wade tracy, who bought his house just outside town four years ago. We paid about 305, maybe 310, and then we just sold it for 620. Reporter tracy is now moving his family to far cheaper rural ohio with his newfound capital. We sold it for cash. They didnt want any appraisals, no home inspections, nothing. It was as is. Reporter the buyer . Hes a Police Officer from san francisco. Hes going to do an early retirement. Reporter theyre coming from all over california. This is the kitchen. Reporter caitlyn smith, a writer, moved with her husband from encinitas, north of san diego. We had to do an Escalation Clause in order to get the house. Reporter how much did you offer . We offered about 20,000 over. Reporter and got their house for 394,000. If it were in encinitas . It would probably be a million dollar home. Reporter smith can work at home in her new neighborhood. This is my office. Reporter . Because her company went fully remote at the start of the year. You dont need to be in the big city anymore. And i think a lot of people really realize, like mental Health And Quality of life are more important during covid. And wanting to land somewhere thats just a little slor, a little quieter, a little nicer. Reporter Casey And Justin killian relocated from seattle. We sold our home in seattle which was 1200 square feet, and we were able to purchase a home here in boise for the same amount of money and basically double or triple the amount square footage we got. Reporter the kilians now work from home, pay less for daycare. But to get into this market, they had to be strategic. We realized quickly that houses were going within a day. And if you had any contingencies whatsoever. So the contingency of selling your home, you were not competitive. So we had to first sell our home in seattle before we could even compete in this market. We were classic millennials crashing on my Moms Couch for about three months. Reporter justins from boise but left for the coast after college. Its become an a much more cosmopolitan city since. Boise back in the late 80s, early 90s when i grew up here and comparing that to now, its a way more exciting place to be. Five years ago, i would not have moved here. Reporter but to some in this conservative state, the Urn Influx can seem like an invasion. Its definitely causing heartburn across the valley for the locals. Reporter Matt Baker developed the housing in this area. If youre coming in from california, youre going and getting those license plates changed to idaho as quick as you can. That is a fact. Reporter John Cahbinah moved here from sacramento. Did you change your license plates right away because you didnt want to be known . California . We havent reporter cobbinah, originally from ghana, and his wife pamela sue came here to escape sacramentos rising homelessness and blue politics. But the license plates . We were driving, house hunting. Somebody held a sign, go back to california, and so we come in, we park in the garage so nobody sees the license plate. So we make sure we lock, we lock reporter much of the resentment is economic. With wages nowhere near keeping up with home prices, locals are out of the bidding. Our first time homebuyers that weve always been able to put into homes, you kn, that qualify for a loan that just came out of college that have a really nice job, but they dont have an extra 40 or 50,000 extra to win a Bidding War to get in. Those people are priced out. Reporter like boise plumber ryan kenkey, who makes 50,000 a year, has saved up, and has a strong credit score. He and his girlfriend looked for months. We got a loan for 300,000 to go out and look and everything that waS Priced underneath 300,000 just immediately had offers some cash that were way over. This is the new normal for househunting. Reporter not getting the house. Not getting the house. Reporter so kenkey is renting instead. But for disabled Vietnam Vet Gary wiltermood, even renting is becoming impossible. Hes lived in a house at the edge of a Boise Trailer Park for 15 years. The owners want him out. They have tried every maneuver to get me out of there. They can put in like four or five apartment places in a property that im on. Reporter but other boise rentals are out of reach. So im priced out of the market. I cant find a place. Im so desperate. I dont know what to do. Reporter as Wiltermoods Lawyer brian stephenS Puts it if youre even a low income person, its very hard time to be in boise. Reporter there are signs of cooling off in recent weeks. Inventory is up and Developers E scrambling to build more. But as always happens while cities grow, neighborhoods gentrify, there will be losers like gary wiltermood. Theres a statement. Some gave all, some still give. On my vietnam sticker. Well, i gave my life for this country and this is how i end up. Reporter Ryan Kenkey Isnt desperate, but he does hope boise realstate prices come back down to earth. Are you rooting for the californians, the seattle folks, to say, wait a sec, this isnt what we bargained for . I would be lying if i said there wasnt a part of me that didnt hope that something would change like that to be able to allow me to get a home. But its everyones doing whats best for them, that they can make another states wages and live way more comfortably here. Reporter for the Pbs Newshour, this iS Paul solman in beckoning boise, idaho. Woodruff letS Pick up now on questions about the costs of housing, as well as larger concerns about jobs and economic growth. Mary daly is the president of the federal Reserve Bank of san francisco. She iS Part of the feds board governors that votes regulay on key decisions about interest rates, jobs, inflation, and the feds role in the economy. Mary daly, welcome back to the newshour. We appreciate your being here. Paul solmans report just now, housing prices going through the roof, not just in boise but in many parts of the country. How concerned are you . Well, its hard. Its hard on the people who cant get the housing. Theyve grown up in these communities that suddenly lots of people have flooded into with cash on hand to purchase those homes, and then they are displaced or they have to wait, they Cant Purchase homes. So thats hard. In terms of concern, you know, i see it as a diffence in Supply And Demand. It will resolve itself as more supply comes online, and in boise, idaho, for instance, youre already seeing that supply come online. Building is rampant there. If you tour that area, you see homes going up everywhere. So over time, it resolves itself, but its not there yet. And for the communities struggling with this, its O Hardship right now. Woodruff and you are saying it is going to resolve self. But some are saying what were seeing now is a Housing Bubble that could burst at anytime, meaning a sudden drop in prices. We saw the federal Reserve Governor for splois james bullard, and im going to quote from something he said this week, he said the biggest concern for me is in the mid 2,000s we had a Housing Bubble and watt we learned from that experience is if these prices go down precipitously, there they went down 30 , that caused tremendouS Problems in the u. S. And global economy. He said housing is a very interest sensitive sector so we are feeding into an insipient Housing Bubble. So let me tell you what i see when im out in the communities and we study this and look at the research of whos buying homes. One of the things thats very reassuring about the Housing Market now is the people buying the homes are very well prepared to pay for them. They have a lot of wealth, theyre able to take the Wealth And Spending in the Housing Market, theyre getting lower interest rates, but theyre buying owner occupied housing. If you look back into the Housing Bubble, the one that caused so much Pain And Suffering just a decade ago, it was really people buying second, third homes, speculating and those thingcaused repercussions throughout. They were also highly leveraged. So american households buying homes arreally in good shape in terms of balance sheet, so right now i see this aS Principally a Supply And Demand in balance and one to resolve itself as we go forward. Woodruff but would you acknowledge that the fed has, to a degree, played into this by keeping interest rates so low . Low interest rates, as you said, allow people to purchase homes and refinance homes, even if theyre staying in the one they own, have more money to spend and help themselves through the pandemic, buy cars, but it ao helps small businesses get low costs of capital which help them keep their businesses en, so our low interest rates are supporting a whole myriad of activities through the economy and thats helping the economy get through the pandemic and get back the full Employment And Price stability. Woodruff governor daly, i want to ask you about this because at the other end of the spectrum as you know well there are renters having a hard time making those monthly payments. We have the new federal moratorium reinstated just yesterday by the biden administration. Is this going to be enough to help them and, if not, what more needs to be done . Well, i want to go back to something that weve said since the start of the pandemic as goes covid goes the economy, and what were seeing is were not fully beyond covid, and people are still very disrupted from dealing with a global pandemic. They lost their jobs, they lost their livelihoods, they were on the brink of losing their homes, Housing Insecurity is really critical. So we really have to get through this fully, and getting vaccinated and getting through covid will help this be enough. So your point is this enough . Well it depends on covid, if vid can go fully behind us, then we can get fully back into economic activity, and people can get jobs, pay rent, landlords can pay their mortgages, and were going back to an economy we recognize and actually miss. Woodruff i want to ask you about another aspect of the economy and that, of course, is inflation. Theres a key indicator we know the fed watches very closely. It jumped 3. 3. W5 last month from a year earl eh, the fastest twelve Month Surge since st. 91, its a personal consumption price index. Does this suggest the fed needs to change course when it comes to inflation . Not to my mind. The inflation spikes were seeing can be traced back to key sectors that are getting their feet back under them trying to reopen. So airline prices, Travel And Leisure prices in general are really contributing to the spikes that we see in inflation. Used car prices which were related not to just reopening and people wanting cars, but the fact that Semiconductor Supply is constrained because it waS Pushed down by Covid And Hasnt fully come back up. So theres huge demand surging and supplies not keeping up, and some of the prices are just catching up, like airline prices were very low during the depths of the pandemic and returned to normal and causes a big spike in inflation. So if you put tall the details together, it foreshadows and forecasts a temporary spike in inflation that lasted longer than we wanted for sure, it doesnt mean a few days or months, it could last all the way to next year but it wont say there forever, and its just a reflection of an economy thats reopening and the Supply Cant keep up with the reopening demand, but it will. Thats the reassuring Thing Id like to listeners to hear is supply responds and will come back online. You saw that in the lumbe prices, they went up, peaked and came back down. Woodruff in connection with that circling back to what we talked about earlier, you said a couple of days or weeks ago, strong economic recovery is going to allow the fed, the central bank to slow its asset purchases before the end of this year. Are you now prepared to say that is definitely going to happen . Im not prepared to say its definitely going to a happen because were a data dependent fed and the end of the year is far away at thiS Point in terms of counting the Delta Variant and other things that could happen, so im looking for conned progress in the labor market, continued putting covid behind us, rising vaccination rates, the things that are so fundamental to us saying that the economy has achieved that metric of substantial further progress. Right now, my modal outlook is that we will achieve that metric later this year or early next, but, again, data dependence, thats how weve gotten this far and will make good policy going forward. Woodruff but its something that looks likely at thiS Point . My modal outlook, the one thats most likely to happen, is well do something on the asset front, asset tapering, by th end of this year, early next. Woodruff you mentioned employment. You wrote a Blog Post Yesterday expressing your confidence that the number of americans who are righnow, if you want to call it sitting on the sidelines, not getting back into the Laor Market yet. The a lot of jobs are going unfilled right now in this country. Your argument is thats only temporary. How can you be so confident . Well, you know, my confidence is build on the fact that i have been through this a couple of times. I have been a Labor Economist since the mid 1990s starting at the fed and, in the mid 90s and especially in the last expansion, the same concerns were we heard employers couldnt find workers, ty were worried workers were never coming back, that the great recession we spoke about earlier with the Housing Crisis made it impossible for workers to come back they didnt have the skills, maybe preferences changed, maybe people didnt want to work anymore and none of that proved to be true. My confidence really comes back to a simple phrase, americans want to work. They know its what is important to their livelihood, communities, families, and giving them the opportunity to work by ensuring we dont presume that they dont want to and calling it a day, thats how i get the confidence, judy, that you referred to. Woodruff yet as you yourself said a moment ago, there is this Delta Variant, the unknown course to come of this covid pandemic. How much of a Monkey Wrench is that throwing into your Anybodys Ability to be confident that this economy is going to be okay . Well, you know, i said a moment ago, focused entirely on data dependence, this Delta Variant, its already taken too many lives, too many hospitalizations, its starting to hamper activity across the country, and, really, its about getting vaccinated and getting this thing behind us. That is the part thats so important. But if we dont keep up with it, then it could definitely slow the rate of growth in our economy. Right now i dont expect it to derail the recovery in the united states, but its already very seriously interrupting the recoveries in the global economy, and that itself is a Head Wind on u. S. Growth. So it is a serious issue, one that i consider an important Risk And One that we need to look out for, but importantly, most importantly is get vaccated and we can get through this. Woodruff mary daly, president of the federal Reserve Bank of san francisco, thank you very much. Thank you. Woodruff the grim first anniversary of the Beirut Port Explosion comes amid the ongoing collapse of lebanons economy, by some measures, one of the three worst globally since the 1850s. Shortages food, medicine, fuel and a nearworthless currency have been exacerbated by inept and corrupt governance. The reuslt widespread suffering and a sense of national doom. From beirut, special Correspondent Leila Molanaallen reports. Reporter dawn breaks over beirut. With it, the first light many will see today; for months now, much of lebanon has been without powr overnight. But day brings only a little respite. In the surbs, raeda Al Bitar iS Preparing for another day of organising her life around her chores. Right now we dont have electricity, we have generators. The electricity we have from the private generator is not enough for the elevator. Reporter and how much Government Electricity are you getting at the moment . Oh, not much, maybe one or two hours. Reporter Lebanon Hasnt had reliable national electricity for decades. But this summer, the usual few hours of outageS Per day have soared to more than 20. The only other option, for those who can afford it, iS Pricey private generators. translated for the last Month Theyve asked for 3m liras. 3m liras is more than i get paid every month. Reporter but now even those are failing thanks to a dire diesel shortage, leaving people without any power at all for up to 12 hours a day, as temperatures soar. On the highway nearby, Raedas Husband Samer is facing another exhausting new lebanese ritual; hunting for gas. All our plans are based on the availability of fuel. Look at this, this is the station for filling fuel. The line is about 30 cars. Reporter for weeks now, Lebanons Fuel pumps have been running on almost empty. The country doesnt have an official public transport system, and the unofficial system is made up of cars and minivans, which need fuel too. If you want to get around, live your daily life, get to work . Your only option is to sit in the sweltering heat, and wait. And the government has scrapped fuel subsidies, making scarce fuel increasingly unaffordable too. As tensions rise, fights are breaking out at gas stations across the country, and many have closed altogether. He says hes been waiting here for four hours to fill up today. Because Samer And Raeda work in different areas, they Cant Share a car, so she has to endure the same process. And when she gets to work, shes just stepping from a personal crisis into a public one. Raeda is the Head Pharmacist at lebanons biggest public hospital, Rafic Hariri in beirut. As well as struggling to keep the hospital and its lifesaving equipment running with so little power, theyre constantly short of vital medications. So a lot of these shelves are empty, what are you missing at the moment . Im missing a lot. Most of the time im missing antibiotics. Reporter the cupboards are bare. Theyve struggled to get the drugs they need since the economy took a nosedive two years ago. But now the shortages arent just threatening lives; theyre taking them. Its a disaster. Reporter and you experienced this yourselwith a member of your family . translated yes, my brother in law. He couldnt find his medication at several pharmacies. He thought its okay, he can survive without it for a few days. But what actually happened is he had a brain hemorrhage, and later on he died. Medication that cost 15,000. Reporter thats less than a dollar now. That shouldnt happen, thats not supposed to happen. Reporter cardiac units across lebanon have seen a surge in admissions aS Patients actually, its falling day by day, i can only imagine how many people have gone through that. How many people, they dont have voices to be heard. Nobody can tell their story, and they just died. Reporter private businesses arent faring much better including herers import company which sustained the family for decades. Ishmael worked all his lifeto support his four children, put them through university and give them a comfortable life. He hopped to retire and spend his remaining days relaxing with his grandchildren. Now the crisis has taken all that away, even his savings are gone. I feel that my i feel that my money has been stolen. Reporter do you feel let down by your country . Yes. I feel that my country has betrayed me. I have no peace. No peace of mind, no peace of body. I feel like a person who is sentenced to death, who is awaiting death. Reporr ismail isnt the only one who feels his money and his future have been stolen. Lebanons currency has lost more than 90 of its value; once 1,500 lira to the dollar, its now around 20,000. Peoples life savings, stuck in the bank, have been wiped out. For those who are still lucky enough to have jobs, the minimum wage is now worth about 35 a after another fearful, draining shift at work, its time for raeda to fight more fires at home. On the way, she has to tackle the grocery store; as always these days, she has no idea just what shell be able to feed her family with the cash she has in her wallet. The average price of goods and services has quadrupled since june 2019; and basic essentials now cost seven times what they once did. Reporter thats 40. At the old rate, which is still basket, she finally finds something thats affordable a jar of mayonnaise. Back home, its time to make dinner. Theres no power . No Powe Reporter Raeda does everything she can to still give sevenyearold ahmad food he likes. What are you cooking mum . Im going to cook this for today with a little bit of rice and some meat, thats all. I dont want to be a vegetarian, because meat is a lot more tasty. Reporter samer is an accountant. Between them, he and raeda have nearly two decades of higher education and multiple degrees. They used to earn well; now their combined monthly salary is worth just 250. In 18 months, raeda and her family have go from working hard to live a comfortable life, to struggling each day to make ends meet. Not in my scariest dreams did i ever imagine that everything is going to fall apart at once. Reporter the Al Bitars were one of thousands of families who took to the streets in october 2019 to call for a better future for lebanon. Instead, theyve been plunged into the abyss. We rose our flags. We were there and our children were there. Really we believed that we were going to make a change. And then all our dreams were crushed. Reporter those days of hope are long gone. Almost every day sporadic demonstrations break out, as angry lebanese light tires and dumpers on Fire And Block roads to protest the dire conditions they face in every element of daily life. But few believe things will improve. Now, theyre simply trying to survive. They dont know how long they can. People are walking around like zombies. But the eyes are desperate. For the first time in my life, i can understand why someone would take himself a his children on a boat and throw themselves into the sea. Because he can hear his Child Crying of hunger. Because we have reached a hopeless end. Its so hard for me to say hopeless, but its hopeless. Reporter for the Pbs Newshour, im Leila Molanaallen in beirut. Woodruff on many immigrationrelated issues, President Biden has taken a very different track than president trump. Or in some cases, even reversed course. But thats not the case for several key issues at the southern border. In fact, earlier this week, the biden administration extended a Trumpera Order that expels migrants seeking asylum during the pandemic. Amna nawaz looks at the issues in play. Nawaz judy, the policy in question is known as title 42, and its now been used by two administrations to exp undocumented migrants, the biden administration had planned to phase it out. The centers for Disease Control says its extending title 42 to prevent the spread of covid at holding facilities. Some families arexempt, as are this comes as the government reports a Record Number of migrants trying to cross the border. More than 900,000 migrants have en expelled since the policy first took effect. Advocacy groups say the policy is inhumane. And the a. C. L. U. , which has been negotiating to end it, will resume a lawsuit against the government legal authorities. The Lead Attorney for the a. C. L. U. On this issue and he joins me now. Welcome back to the newshour. Thanks for joining us. So we should mention you had brought the lawsuit against the Trump Administration. Inherited that policy, kept it in place. Youve been negotiating with them. Why are you going back to court now . Were going back to court because theres no end in sight. You know, we were hoping that the biden administration would eventual say enoughs enough. And but now its clear that its not ending. And c. D. C. Has now issued a new order doubling down on the policy. You know, when the biden administration approached us in the beginning of taking office and said, look, the Trump Administration depleted the asylum system. We need some more time to build capacity. Will you give us a little time and negotiate . And what we said is, okay, but we want desperate families to have a pipeline to get in. In the meantime thats happened. Were grateful for that. Thousands of lives have been saved through that humanitarian pipeline. But what we said is ultimately you have to end thiS Policy. And so we negotiated month after month after month and finally it became clear they werent going to end the policy. And i think whats critical about the c. D. C. Order is that the government is hiding behind c. D. C. But c. D. C. Repeatedly deflects back to d. H. S. And the white house. And people ought to look at the c. D. C. Order very carefully, because it does not say this is a problem that cant be solved. We have to send families back to danger without a hearing. It simply says d. H. S. Needs to take the proper mitigating steps and protocols. It repeatedly says that. And thats what were upset about, as d. H. S. Had seven months to take those steps and didnt take those steps. Nawaz i just want to be clear about this, because youre absolutely right. The white house will say we are following the public health experts. The scientists on the c. D. C. Did extend thiS Policy and d. H. S. Said they will enforce it, as c. D. C. Tells them to. But theyre arguing theres a public Health Emergency at a time where covid cases are rising across the country, especially with the spread of this Delta Variant. Youre saying they could fix it if they wanted to, but they dont want to. Absolutely, i think that thats whats so important to ok at what c. D. C. Is actually saying, c. D. C. s medical professionals not saying this is not a problem, this is a problem we cant solve. You need to send these families back to danger. They are simply saying you need to take the mitigating steps. They havent taken those steps. We dont know what we can do to push them other than going back to court. It seems like something other than public health justifications are at play here. And thats what public health professionals have said. And what i think is really happening is that the border is sort of t of sight, out of mind, and its become this abstract issue. I mean, i am down here at the border talking to people. And what they te you is the united States Government is literally pushing families back across the border. Cartels are waiting for the families. The minute they oss, theyre being kidnapped. Evy possible thing is happening to these families, horrendous, horrific abuse. I mean, the country is in a much better place than it was when we brought this suit. Vaccines are readily ailable. Testing is readily available. I mean, at first and back in the trump days and early, biden, the governor, was saying, well, our personnel would be a danger. Theyve long had the opportunity to be vaccinated. So i think everything is going by the wayside. And the biden administration is now coming up with one excuse after another, not to end title 42. No one is being cavalier about covid, but there are steps they can take. We cant keep sending families with little children back to danger. Nawaz but even when you look at the number setting aside covid restrictions are concerns at the moment. They are seeing record encounters, recidivism is very high. We should point out we have people repeatedly trying to come again and again and being encountered, the vast majority, single adults being expelled immediately. But theres also a growing number of unaccompanied children coming across the border. Most families who are also, we should mention, are being allowed to enter into the united states. Can our system, which we know has been vastly underresourced for years, handle if, as you say, title 42 go away, could the system even handle that . Oh, absolutely. We have more than enough resources to do it if we want. I mean, this is theres a will. Theres a way. I mean, first of all, lets just back up. The law requires us to give asylum hearings. There is no question that the united States Government has the capacity to do this. And its just not as many people as the government suggesting because the same people are trying over and over. If we just process them once, then itnot nearly the numbers that the governmentS Putting out. Nawaz ali, while we have you, we knowouve been working with the federal government and their Task Force that was set up to reunite separated families under the Trump Administration. Hundreds of families, hundreds of parents, we should say, still havent been located when that Task Force was set up months ago. Where are those Efforts Today . Yeah, we are still looking for approximately 300 families we havent found. We also need to reconnect with hundreds and hundreds of families we did connect th during the Trump Administration, but couldnt offer them anything. I think the biden administration is negotiating with the a. C. L. U. In good faith and constructive constructively. But there are more than a thousand families we think still need to come back, needs to be found and brought back. We are hoping to have a system in place in early fall that will allow all those families to come back. Each day that goes by where a child doesnt see their parent is as a day too much. Nawaz well certainly be following that story as well. That is Lee Gelernt of the a. C. L. U. Joining us tonight. Thank you so much for your time. Thanks for having me. Woodruff prison can be brutal. It can also be the scene of remarkable change. Jorge Antonio Renaud spent 27 year behind bars where he discovered the power of poetry. He is now national criminal Justice Director at latino justice, where he advocates for reform in texas and beyond. Tonight, he gives his brief but spectacular take on reimagining incarceration, part of our arts and culture series, canvas. I don describe myself as a poet. I think you let other people do that. But yeah, i love poetry and it will always be a piece of me, i think. This time that will not scream, sleep phones, its flames around me, ashes, filmmaker, cheeks. This time i welcome the jailers keysthey soothe with a well known exactness. The sound of my surrender. I first went to prison when i was 20 years old, and id been drinking and, i was stopped. And a, as i am wanting to do, i got a little mouthy with a Police Officer and they arrested me. They put me in the County Jail and they put me in a tank of men who had already been convicted of crimes and were awaiting transfer to t. D. C. J. , the texaS Prison system. And i was drunk and i was young and i was strong and i was a boxer. And none of that mattered, i was attacked and i was beaten and i was raped. I didnt know who i was. I was lost. I was, you know, in this sen of shock and, you know, just, and i ended up two weeks later, i took my fathers 36 and i walked into a churchs fried chicken there in beeville and i robbed it. And i received a fiveYear Sentence for that. It doesnt get any easier to talk about getting raped. I dont think it does to anybody. Never really addressed, never really talked to anybody about what had happened. I wasnt going to admit it. I was a young, strong chicano. I mean, im a man, you dont, you know, there was obviously something wrong with me and that was weak and, ended up getting into drugs and went back in september of 1980 on with a 28 Year Sentence for aggravated robbery. I adjusted to Prison Life by immediately asserting my willingness to commit violence, yet i was also one of the few guys on the wing who was going to college. I was helping people write their, their appeals. And i would help them write letters to their families. I have often said that we are where we are in our criminal justice system, because we, we have failed to imagine anything other than what has been presented to us, throughout our history, right . And that has been punishment. By having conversation with individuals about the concept of rehabilitation and what that actually means. You say, okay, what would happen if the program that you think are so necessary for someone to come out of prison, rehabilitated were offered to that person before that person went to prison. And wouldnt the value of those programs adhere to that individual when th learn something from them. And at that point, if they say, yes, well then whats the point in prison . The demonstrable harm that happens to people who are in cages, we know what that is. We have become enamored of T Idea that there are certain individuals who were just crime prone. And then you mry that to the idea that the only recourse is to one call the cops, two have them arrested three, have them convicted four of them incarcerated. I mean, you get to where we are now. This time, i will not quarrel with chains. I have no room for scars, and i will feed my bones to their bracelets. My name is Jorge Antonio raud, and this is my brief, but spectacular take on reimagining incarceration. Woodruff very powerful. And you can watch all of you can watch all our brief but spectacular episodes at pbs. Org newshour brief. The olympics offer a chance for the globe to gather, watching athletes compete at the highest level. But some athletes are also using the olympics as a chance to give human rights and social justice a spotlight on the world stage. Explore how they are speaking up on our website, pbs. Org newshour. And thats the newshour for tonight. Im judy woodruff. Join us online and again here tomorrow evening. For all of us at the Pbs Newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and well see you soon. Major funding for the Pbs Newshour has been provided by our u. S. Based Customer Service reps can help you choose a plan based on how much you use your phone, nothing more, nothing less. To learn more, go to consumercellular. Tv the ford foundation. Working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. 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. Captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by Media Access Group at wgbh access. Wgbh. Org is your family ready for an emergency . You can prepare by mapping out two ways to escape your home, creating a supply kit, and including your whole family in practice drills. For help creating an emergency plan, visit safetyactioncenter. Pge. Com a little preparation will make you and your family safer in an emergency. A Weeks Worth of food and water, radio, flashlight, batteries and first Aid Kit are a good start to learn more, visit safetyactioncenter. Pge. Com hello, everyone. And welcome to amanpour and again. Heres whats coming up. For those that have counted california out, eat your heart out. Fighting for his own political life. He joins me from sacramento. And stories bring us together. Read love and nature. I talked to turkish british novelist about her latest novel and the power of story telling. Then a report from iran where this week revolutionary hard liner becomeS President threatening even worse relations with the