GEOFF BENNETT: Good evening.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

Amna Nawaz is away.

On the "NewsHour" tonight: a wartime shakeup.

Ukraine replaces its defense minister amid a corruption investigation and a slow counteroffensive against Russia.

A national bus driver shortage leaves families scrambling to find rides for their kids at the start of a new school year.

JOANNA MCFARLAND, CEO, HopSkipDrive: Access to transportation is really access to education.

Across the country, we are also seeing an increase in chronic absenteeism.

GEOFF BENNETT: And with more children becoming social media influencers, one state works to ensure they are getting paid for their work.

(BREAK) GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "NewsHour."

On this Labor Day, President Biden has touted unions and played down the threat of an autoworker.

The president spoke today in Philadelphia.

He emphasized the number of jobs created since he took office and noted the new energy of organized labor.

Separately, the president said he does not think the United Auto Workers will walk out.

But with a strike deadline just 10 days away, the union's leader said -- quote -- "He must know something we don't."

Russian President Vladimir Putin says he's not ready to renew a deal on Ukrainian grain shipments just yet.

It's been two months since Moscow pulled out of the agreement that guaranteed safe passage for Ukrainian vessels hauling grain in the Black Sea.

Today, Putin met with Turkish President Erdogan, who helped broker the original deal.

Afterward, he insisted the West must make the first move.

VLADIMIR PUTIN, Russian President (through translator): We will be ready to consider the possibility of reanimating the grain deal, as I told the president today, as soon as agreement on lifting restrictions on the export of Russian agricultural products are fully implemented.

GEOFF BENNETT: For his part Erdogan said he's ready to negotiate a new agreement and believes one can be reached in a short time.

A new report from the U.N. nuclear agency shows Iran may be slowing its pace of uranium enrichment.

The Associated Press says a confidential document finds the Iranian stockpile is growing at its slowest rate since 2021.

The slowdown could indicate that Tehran is trying to ease tensions with the U.S. amid negotiations on prisoner swaps and frozen assets.

The first African climate summit kicked off today in Kenya.

More than a dozen heads of state gathered in Nairobi.

Kenya's president said Africa needs help, but could also help reduce global greenhouse emissions.

WILLIAM RUTO, Kenyan President: For a very long time, we have looked at this as a problem.

It is time we flipped and looked at it from the other side.

In Africa, we can be a green industrial hub that helps other regions achieve their net zero strategies by 2050.

GEOFF BENNETT: As the summit convened, hundreds of protesters marched in Nairobi to press the world's wealthiest countries, the biggest polluters, to deliver on pledges of financial assistance.

Thousands of people at the annual Burning Man Festival in Nevada began leaving today.

Bad weather had blocked the main road out since Friday, but crews managed to reopen it.

William Brangham has the latest.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: They have spent three is stranded in the remote Black Rock Desert of Nevada after the normally hot dry landscape was transformed into slick, sticky mud.

The so-called Burners who come to this vibrant arts and culture festival in the desert tried their best to keep their spirits up.

WOMAN: We are thriving out here at Burning Man, in spite of all the chaos, I had absolutely no doubt in my mind that the Burning Man community was going to come together and support each other in this, like, this -- all this chaos.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The rains began Friday night, turning desert sand to thick puddles.

By Saturday, the more than 70,000 visitors we're told by organizers to shelter in place and conserve their food and water.

Burners usually spend about nine days in Black Rock City, the town they specifically construct for the event about 100 miles outside Reno, Nevada.

The festival is renowned for its towering art installations, eccentric costumes, sense of community and self-expression, with ample partying around the clock.

But because of the rain, the path in and out of the festival, usually a two-lane road, was impassable.

MAN: Don't get stuck in the mini-river.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Others attempted to leave on foot, among them, deejay and music producer Diplo, who posted that he and comedian Chris Rock and a few other notables trekked five miles through the muck until they could hitch a ride.

Both the partying and the communal spirit continued, despite the weather.

WOMAN: This has given us the opportunity to rise to radical self-reliance and to support each other in the community.

And I'm having the best time.

(LAUGHTER) WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Organizers say the rain and mud won't stop the festivals final iconic ritual, the burning of a towering 60-foot manlike effigy.

It will be set alight later tonight.

For the "PBS NewsHour," I'm William Brangham.

GEOFF BENNETT: One death has been reported at the festival, a man in his 40s, but organizers say it was not related to the weather.

And a passing of note.

Steve Harwell, a longtime lead singer of the rock band Smash Mouth, died today at his home in Boise, Idaho, of acute liver failure.

Harwell formed the band back in 1994.

And they scored two platinum albums.

Here they are performing the Grammy-nominated "All Star" in a music video in 1999.

(MUSIC) GEOFF BENNETT: Steve Harwell was 56 years old.

And still to come on the "NewsHour": the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Sudan becomes even more dire; Tamara Keith and Amy Walter break down the latest political headlines; and hazardous wildfire smoke highlights the nation's shortage of doctors to treat respiratory issues.

In the middle of war, a shakeup at Ukraine's highest levels of government.

Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov submitted his resignation letter today after President Zelenskyy yesterday announced plans to replace him.

His successor is Rustem Umerov, a lawmaker whose family is from Crimea, the region that Russia illegally annexed back in 2014.

The move comes in the midst of President Zelenskyy's efforts to fight corruption in his government and inside the military.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, Ukrainian President (through translator): I believe that the ministry needs new approaches and other formats of interaction with both the military and society at large.

Now Rustem Umerov should lead the ministry.

GEOFF BENNETT: For more on this, we turn to Kateryna Ryzhenko.

She focuses on anti-corruption and is deputy executive director of the Ukrainian branch at Transparency International, a global network aiming to fight corruption.

Thank you for being with us.

So, Reznikov's removal comes in the wake of a number of corruption scandals involving Ukraine's Ministry of Defense.

Earlier this year, the ministry faced blowback for allegedly purchasing food for soldiers at inflated prices.

What more can you tell us about the Ministry of Defense, how it's been mismanaged and how its overpaid for basic supplies?

KATERYNA RYZHENKO, Transparency International Ukraine: The scandal that you basically mentioned just now about the food, this is one of the scandals.

The more recent one is about the clothing for the soldier, more specifically, the winter jackets.

And I think this was one of those last drops in order to kind of push for the dismissal of the current defense minister.

This is not a one-day event.

It's been leading to this.

And the current minister did not -- haven't mentioned any nice enough arguments to convince the president and other state officials and the citizens that he actually managed the ministry well enough.

His dismissal and his resignation is basically very much expected.

And even though he achieved a number of success stories during his time at the ministry chair, obviously, the scandals were just a little bit too much.

GEOFF BENNETT: How much of this change in leadership at the Defense Ministry has to do with President Zelenskyy's desire to join the European Union and, as a part of that, eliminate corruption within the ranks?

KATERYNA RYZHENKO: That's a very good question, because I think that joining the European Union has been the biggest topic and on the highest priority list for Ukrainians.

And these type of scandals, especially corruption-related, they do not help the agenda and the efforts of Ukraine to move towards European values.

So, the President Zelenskyy reaction to the scandals, dismissal of Reznikov and possibly appointing Umerov, I think attempt to address the concerns that everyone around him has as to the corruption-related scandals in the Ministry of Defense.

GEOFF BENNETT: So tell us more about the defense minister who is set to take over, Rustem Umerov.

He's a Crimean lawmaker.

He's been closely involved in prisoner of war exchanges.

He was part of the team that negotiated the Black Sea grain deal.

What skills, what background does he bring to the role?

KATERYNA RYZHENKO: So, he, for the last year, was the head of state property fund, which is a pretty important and big institution in Ukraine.

Before, the state property fund was also the member of the Parliament, but not of the ruling party.

And he was quite successful in his position during this -- the last year as the head of state property fund.

He managed to revive the privatization function.

He started selling the Russian-related asset that was confiscated by the state.

So, basically, there is this cautious optimism as to his nomination on the Ministry of Defense position.

But, obviously, the role of the Ministry of Defense -- minister of defense is definitely more important and consists of a more functions than he was fulfilling at any position before today.

So, it -- only time will show us, especially after the situation with all this corruption scandal and the resignation of Reznikov from his current post.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, what's this all mean for the war?

KATERYNA RYZHENKO: Even though all the currents scandals do not relate specifically to the arm -- to the arms, you need soldiers, you need the army to actually handle those arms.

You need them to be well-fed.

You need to be with -- them well-equipped.

And that is what the current scandal, the current unhappiness with the ministry, Reznikov, is related to, so if the Ministry of Defense will work properly as a clock and there will be proper procurement systems in place that will help to spend the money that, for example, international partners and United States of America provide us to use in an effective manner, and to get the progress on the front lines as soon as possible.

GEOFF BENNETT: Kateryna Ryzhenko is the deputy executive director of the Ukrainian branch at Transparency International.

Thank you for being with us.

KATERYNA RYZHENKO: Thank you for the opportunity.

GEOFF BENNETT: This Labor Day comes at a moment when unions and workers are flexing their power.

The writers strike is entering its fourth month, while actors are striking too.

In just two weeks, autoworkers may very well take to the picket line, and UPS drivers ratified an historic contract this summer.

But employees still face significant battles and employers are still coping with shortages of workers.

In school districts across the country, many are facing a shortage of bus drivers.

Ali Rogin takes a closer look.

ALI ROGIN: Alanna Smith and her husband were gearing up for the school year in Charlottesville, Virginia, when they learned their middle son's bus route was canceled.

ALANNA SMITH, Parent: We were aware that they'd been struggling, and we had received notice that students were not guaranteed to have a bus that would take them to their schools.

But we didn't actually know for sure that there was a problem until we received an e-mail about two weeks before school started saying that one of my children would not be bused to his school.

So you're like doing the mental calculations and the gymnastics, being like, OK, how can I -- how can I make this work with our family now?

ALI ROGIN: A recent USA Today analysis found at least one instance of a major school bus driver shortage in every state in the U.S. Joanna McFarland is the CEO of HopSkipDrive, an organization that helps districts access supplemental transportation for students.

JOANNA MCFARLAND, CEO, HopSkipDrive: We have had a school bus driver shortage for over a decade.That shortage was really exacerbated by COVID, with a large number of drivers retiring early.

And we're just not finding enough people in the pool that want to be school bus drivers for districts to hire the number of drivers that they need.

ALI ROGIN: She says more is at stake for students than many realize.

JOANNA MCFARLAND: Access to transportation is really access to education.

Across the country, we're also seeing an increase in chronic absenteeism.

It's really impacting our ability to get kids to school, which affects learning outcomes, affects education, but also affects stress levels that families are feeling every single day.

ALI ROGIN: Laura Rupe-Jackson has been a school bus driver for 18 years in Washington state.

LAURA RUPE-JACKSON, Washington State Bus Driver: I don't really have the time to get to know any of the students like I used to.

It's more "Good morning, kind of smile and nod when they get on the bus, and then say goodbye at the school.

ALI ROGIN: The issue is in part due to low pay.

The average bus driver in the U.S. makes $41,270 per year.

LAURA RUPE-JACKSON: We're in the middle of several other districts that are in the same situation of driver shortages.

And so it really hurt us that two of our neighboring districts pay significantly more and offered hiring bonuses.

So, we lost 10 drivers to another district just for that reason.

ALI ROGIN: The dire situation is requiring districts and parents to outsource.

In Philadelphia, a pandemic program paying parents a stipend to do the driving is still in effect.

MONIQUE BRAXTON, Spokesperson, School District of Philadelphia: Each family is paid $300 a month -- that's per household -- if they're willing to take their children to school and pick them up.

If they're not willing to pick up their students in the afternoon, then they're paid $150 a month.

ALI ROGIN: Meanwhile, back in Charlottesville, Alanna Smith took matters into her own hands with a vehicle the family already owned.

ALANNA SMITH: I drive a 15-passenger van.

I have been driving that since 2019.

And I did start out talking to some other moms and trying to figure out if we could carpool.

But the problem was that they didn't have enough room in their cars for all the people who wanted to carpool.

ALI ROGIN: And so the Walton Middle School Shuttle idea was hatched.

Smith now offers rides to and from her son's middle school for $5 each way.

ALANNA SMITH: My dream would be that they hire another bus driver next week, and I say, well, I'm glad I could help out for a couple of weeks, and my work here is finished, and I go back to doing all the other things that I normally do.

ALI ROGIN: For more this issue.

I'm joined by Molly McGee-Hewitt.

She's the CEO and executive director of the National Association for Pupil Transportation.

Molly, thank you for joining us.

There was a bus driver shortage last year, and the situation this year is the same, if not worse.

Why is that?

MOLLY MCGEE-HEWITT, CEO and Executive Director, National Association for Pupil Transportation: Well, I do think it's acute this year.

I think it's been going on for at least 10 years before the pandemic.

During the pandemic, there was a great number of retirements, as well as -- you know, best drivers or hourly employees.

And while, during the pandemic, they -- many school districts use their transportation people to deliver free and reduced lunch, curriculum, even mobile hot spots, but an awful lot of drivers did not get hours during the pandemic.

And so they would be looking at other areas.

And, also, the pay for drivers, in many instances, it is not -- does not support a lifestyle that they might need.

And it's not necessarily competitive today.

ALI ROGIN: You have previously noted also that some drivers got jobs with major producers like Amazon.

Has that led to a part of what we're seeing today?

MOLLY MCGEE-HEWITT: Well, I think, if you look around the country, it doesn't matter where you go, everyone is hiring.

Whether it's -- whether it is Amazon or UPS or any of them, or school districts or TSA, we do have a work shortage in America right now.

I do think, in our transportation industry, a lot of our folks found that they were able to get jobs with guaranteed numbers of hours, guaranteed benefits.

And the difference between driving a truckload of packages and driving an iconic school bus, one of the safest vehicles on the road today full of children, is a pretty big stretch.

And I have to tell, those packages don't really talk back to you at times and they're pretty easy to handle.

ALI ROGIN: Well, and, to that point, school bus drivers are such an important part of a child's day.

They get to know the children.

They can flag when something seems amiss with these children.

Plus, as we have come to learn, there are rigorous certifications that school bus drivers must meet.

So, the fact that there are the shortages, are school districts having to compromise in who they hire for these incredibly important and skilled positions?

MOLLY MCGEE-HEWITT: Well, I don't know of any school districts that are compromising the requirements, because the requirements are very spelled out in terms of licensure experience, background checks, et cetera.

And one of the ways to solve this issue is not to change or to lessen the requirements for school bus drivers.

The way that we need to address this issue is, we need to look at all the elements of it, make sure that drivers are getting guaranteed numbers of hours, make sure that they have a fringe benefit package that's competitive, make sure that they have training in areas - - for example, today at a bus stop, you don't know who's going to be there other than the children you're picking up.

So they need extra assistance in de-escalation and professional development.

ALI ROGIN: You have been monitoring this issue closely.

What are some of the solutions that you see individual school districts implementing that have really worked?

MOLLY MCGEE-HEWITT: Well, this is a year-round issue.

And right now, because of issues that have popped up in the news, we're all focused on it.

But this is a -- it is a year-round issue.

So the most successful districts do recruit, train, and retain all year long, looking at ways to make sure they're successful.

They have done work to make sure that they are competitive in their salary and fringe benefit.

I know, in Virginia, one school district went and got extra funding to make sure that they could offer their drivers a better pay.

In terms of the training and that, I see them - - there's a school district in Texas.

We talk about exit interviews.

Well, they do what's called stay interviews, where they interview their drivers and find out what makes you want to be a bus driver, and they're able to be there.

The best people to recruit bus drivers are our directors of transportation, our trainers, routers, mechanics and our bus drivers.

And so I see the most successful districts using a variety of tools, and using those folks to do it.

And, by the way, even though this is a national issue, there really isn't a national answer to this issue.

It has to be done district by district and state by state.

And so that means that school boards and superintendents need to make school transportation a priority.

And I know they have so many competing priorities.

But getting kids to school safely and efficiently has to be at the top of our list.

ALI ROGIN: Molly McGee-Hewitt with the National Association for Pupil Transportation, thank you so much for being here.

MOLLY MCGEE-HEWITT: And thank you for inviting me to be a part of it.

GEOFF BENNETT: Legislative efforts to protect children online typically center on their privacy.

But thanks to the efforts of an Illinois teenager, the finances of some of the youngest digital workers could also be better protected in the future.

Correspondent Lisa Desjardins has more.

LISA DESJARDINS: Child and teen social media stars can captivate millions of fans with content ranging from goofy pretend play to fashion and makeup tips.

They also can rake in thousands, even millions of dollars.

But unlike for kids in Hollywood, no law requires that those earnings be set aside for them to use later as adults.

That changes partially next summer, when a new first-of-its-kind law takes effect in Illinois.

Joining me now are the bill's primary sponsor, State Senator Dave Koehler and Shreya Nallamothu, the now 16-year-old high schooler who brought the issue to his attention and helped push it over the finish line.

Thank you to both of you for talking about this show.

Shreya, I want to talk with you.

You are not a YouTube influencer yourself.

What drove you to push for this change?

SHREYA NALLAMOTHU, Advocate For New Law: I saw a lot of child influencers on my YouTube or TikTok feed.

And I started to notice that there was definitely some exploitation happening, which is what led me to this idea.

LISA DESJARDINS: What tipped you off that there could be exploitation?

SHREYA NALLAMOTHU: I saw clips of a family channel where they filmed a prank which ended with their daughter crying.

WOMAN: Cole and Sav pranked their 4-year-old, Everleigh, into thinking she'd have to give away their beloved family dog, Carl.

SHREYA NALLAMOTHU: And they still uploaded that to YouTube, because that kind of content rakes in more views and more money, even though that child probably didn't want that on the Internet.

LISA DESJARDINS: Senator Koehler, I don't think you're a YouTube influencer either.

(LAUGHTER) STATE SEN. DAVID KOEHLER (D-IL): I'm not, no.

LISA DESJARDINS: How did you get involved?

What made you want to push for this?

STATE SEN. DAVID KOEHLER: Well, Shreya was the starting point.

She sent a letter, and it came to my office.

And so my staff read this.

And I have younger staff that do pay attention to this.

And they came to me and said: "This is important.

You need to pay attention to this."

LISA DESJARDINS: Senator Koehler, explain what this law does precisely.

STATE SEN. DAVID KOEHLER: This sets up some parameters.

It says, if a child is in a certain portion of videos and the money is received from that, they get to have a certain part of that money set aside in a trust fund so that, when they turn 18, they can realize some of the fruits of their labor.

The enforcement of this -- and this is what I think the simplicity of it is -- is not with the state of Illinois.

We have too much we can't handle already.

So this really is a right of legal action.

So, when a child turns 18, they can look back and they can say, yes, my parents used me in videos all throughout my childhood and made lots of money, but I have nothing.

So they have a right to then take legal action and recover some of that.

LISA DESJARDINS: At its core, we're talking about really child labor law here, essentially.

Can you help us with the scope of how many kids and teens you think this could protect and how much money?

What are we talking about?

STATE SEN. DAVID KOEHLER: This is pretty pervasive, that some families use this as a business, really generating a lot of money.

When their child does unique things, they are able to maximize the profit of this.

So we set this up really as a child labor law.

LISA DESJARDINS: Shreya, you are Gen Z. I have a son who is the next generation.

I think we're going to go with Generation Alpha.

He's in elementary school.

If you talk to any of those kids, they all want to be YouTubers, if you ask what they want to be when they grow up.

But what have you learned about the trade-off of becoming a YouTuber through doing this?

SHREYA NALLAMOTHU: Yes, being a YouTuber definitely seems super glamorous.

It makes a lot of money.

It's very lucrative, and you get fame.

But, if you're a child, child influencing is still working.

And so you're turning your childhood into content and uploading that onto the Internet, where it's permanent, and you can't take that down anymore.

So there's definitely a sacrifice in terms of the quality of your childhood, when you become a child influencer.

STATE SEN. DAVID KOEHLER: Originally, we had in the law that the child upon becoming adult could look back and could remove any unwanted video that they had on the Internet.

Technologically, that's difficult to do.

We are going to be working with the attorney general in Illinois to see how we can deal with this as a privacy and consumer protection part.

Technologically, it's a little difficult.

I don't quite comprehend how you do that.

But we're going to give it an attempt.

SHREYA NALLAMOTHU: A lot of the burden that comes with being a child influenza is in that mental health aspect and the fact that just all of your videos are on the Internet forever, and you have no recourse to take -- to take them down.

And they happened when you were too young to really understand what social media was.

LISA DESJARDINS: And, Shreya, have you had interest from anyone else in other states?

Do you think this has a future perhaps elsewhere in the country?

SHREYA NALLAMOTHU: Yes, I really hope to see Illinois become a trendsetter law.

And I'm glad that we have been able to show other states that regulating this industry and technology is possible.

So, I definitely hope to see more states doing stuff like this in the future.

LISA DESJARDINS: And, Senator, to you.

What did you learn about younger generations, including your own staff?

STATE SEN. DAVID KOEHLER: We had Shreya testify in person.

We had a young woman from Washington state, Chris McCarty, who has been following this issue in that state.

She testified by video.

These two young people did a tremendous job.

They just kind of blew the committee away.

We passed this into the Senate unanimously.

MAN: Senate Bill 1782 is declared passed.

STATE SEN. DAVID KOEHLER: And so I learned that we're in good hands.

The next generation is surely fit to continue on and make progress.

LISA DESJARDINS: Shreya, you are now a political influencer.

I'm wondering, what are your thoughts about what could be ahead for you?

SHREYA NALLAMOTHU: I'm not sure.

The field of politics is definitely intriguing.

I was lucky enough to be able to see the process of a bill becoming a lot up close.

You learn about it and social studies and civics class, but to be there and testify for the bill was just on another level.

It was such an amazing experience.

Maybe it's something I want to pursue in the future, but we will see.

LISA DESJARDINS: Senator Dave Koehler of Illinois and also Shreya Nallamothu, thank you both very much.

STATE SEN. DAVID KOEHLER: Thank you.

SHREYA NALLAMOTHU: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: A new report funded by the State Department paints a dire picture of the humanitarian situation in Darfur in Western Sudan.

Nearly five months ago, the Sudanese military and insurgent Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, started fighting each other for power.

The U.N. says at least 4,000 people have died.

Violence quickly spilled into Darfur, where elements of the RSF were accused of genocide 20 years ago.

As Nick Schifrin reports, history appears to be repeating itself.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The aftermath of airstrikes, the echo of gunfire, and the frightening flames of civil war have engulfed Sudan's cities.

Just last week in the capital, Khartoum, a massive fire burned near the airport.

There's no safety for the living and no dignity for the dead.

Civilians are dying so quickly,graves are left unmarked.

And now the power struggle between Sudan's armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces, or RSF, has reignited ethnic conflict in Darfur, a Western region the size of Spain.

NATHANIEL RAYMOND, Yale School of Public Health: It is ethnic cleansing.

And it is ethnic cleansing that right now is occurring.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Nathaniel Raymond is the executive director of the Humanitarian Research Lab at the Yale School of Public Health.

His team works on the State Department-funded Sudan Conflict Observatory to expose the atrocities of war that might otherwise go unreported.

NATHANIEL RAYMOND: Cell phone connectivity and Internet connectivity has been knocked out, in some cases, intentionally, as we have documented, by the RSF.

And so our work is, unfortunately, the only game in town in many cases to be able to corroborate what is happening.

And that is done through a combination of satellite imagery, open-source reporting and also thermal sensors from NASA.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Their new report from Darfur's largest city, Nyala, shows damage to a market, a mosque, a military hospital, and a prison.

Last week, a local journalist from Nyala posted these photos of what appeared to be a single incident where dozens died.

We spoke to one of the victims who survived.

Mahala Adam has now fled to East Darfur.

MAHALA ADAM, Victim (through translator): A little girl called Huda her face was split down the middle.

Another neighbor's head was severed.

I started screaming when I saw my aunt's head had exploded.

I kept screaming for help.

My aunt's family has been torn apart.

I passed out.

That's the last thing I remember.

No one came to help, no government, no military, no Rapid Support Forces.

Absolutely no one came.

NATHANIEL RAYMOND: We have seen an alleged massacre of almost 30 people, including from five families, at the Teiba Bridge, reportedly, where they were killed by a stray missile.

And so the situation is, is that both forces are now moving into civilian areas, occupying civilian homes, and firing at each other in close proximity.

In the middle of this battle are civilians.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Do you believe exposing what's happening can protect the people on the ground?

NATHANIEL RAYMOND: At this point, we are conducting early warning.

That turns into autopsies.

We are trying to warn.

And when the warning goes on heated, we are trying to document the destruction of entire communities.

NICK SCHIFRIN: In the 2000s, government-backed Janjaweed militias in Darfur brutally crushed an uprising and killed hundreds of thousands of non-Arabs.

The Janjaweed gave birth to the RSF, which, today, with other Arab militias in the same place, is behind the new violence in Darfur.

NATHANIEL RAYMOND: We are concerned that Nyala is a preview is a coming attraction of what happens next.

We are talking hundreds of thousands of people, the most vulnerable people on the planet, who have really at this point no protection force between them and RSF, which has clearly shown, like the Janjaweed from which they are descended, that their intent is to liquidate, prioritizing men, but also with sexual gender-based violence against women, to liquidate non-Arab people in Darfur.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And the violence has targeted Sudan's healers.

As many as three-quarters of health care facilities have been destroyed.

Dr. Yasir Elamin is president of the Sudanese American Physicians Association.

DR. YASIR ELAMIN, President, Sudanese American Physicians Association: The situation in Sudan in terms of health care is in near complete collapse.

The majority of hospitals and health care centers are out of service in Khartoum, the capital, where most of the health care services are concentrated to begin with.

And that's also the case in Darfur, the rest of the country.

What that means is, A, people who get injured as a result of the war, they don't get the care that they need.

And those who get other medical conditions, whether heart attacks, whether need their diabetes to be managed, a woman wants to deliver, a kid who needed vaccination, all these services are mostly nonfunctional now.

In Sudanese social media groups, people are exchanging tips on how you can deliver a woman at home.

So, it's in a very, very bad situation.

NICK SCHIFRIN: The international community has said that it is getting supplies into the country, more today than they were a few months ago.

But are those supplies reaching hospitals?

Are they reaching the people who need them?

DR. YASIR ELAMIN: So, the situation has improved, as you point out, but it continues to be terrible, in the sense that there is a mismatch between what's actually delivered to Port Sudan, which is the key port to the country, and what's actually delivered to the end user.

And this is due to safety reasons -- so, it's not safe to move stuff around most of the country -- and also due to a nonfunctional government that is incapable of delivering aid to those who need it most.

And, finally, I also think the international aid agency, whether the American, whether the U.N. one, have been really reluctant for so many reasons to work with the local community.

NICK SCHIFRIN: But zoom into Darfur.

You're opening up a new clinic on the border between West Darfur and Chad.

What's the humanitarian situation there?

DR. YASIR ELAMIN: Hundreds of thousands have left Darfur, went to church.

The situation there is particularly tough, because it's taken this ethnic flavor to it.

And it's kind of tragic, in the sense that the RSF was formed originally to help it suppress the rebellion in Darfur, and now it turns against the army.

But the bottom line, the RSF was trained not to respect human rights, to kill on basis of ethnicity, and to use sexual violence as well.

And that has been really seen mostly in Darfur, where there are kind of very credible reports that there has been killing based on ethnicity, there has been indiscriminate killing of civilians in Al-Junaynah, the capital of West Darfur.

Basically, you have no health care services.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And you mentioned sexual violence.

Is that one of the most brutal aspects of this conflict?

DR. YASIR ELAMIN: Absolutely.

So Sudan has known sexual violence as a tool in war.

Last week, there were reports of women being sold.

So, we're seeing certainly kind of a resurrection with these crimes that we have seen in the past in Darfur.

NICK SCHIFRIN: We have been interviewing people in Darfur, and they describe these harrowing scenes of the wounded not being able to reach the hospitals and dying on the way, and exactly what you said before, people who need routine medical care simply unable to get it and dying for that reason.

Overall, the level of crisis there seems like it's getting worse.

DR. YASIR ELAMIN: Absolutely, it's getting worse.

As I said, you have West Darfur, no health care services.

Now the violence has spread to South Darfur, Nyala.

The bombing has included also other, different parts of Darfur.

So, it's -- I think, in Darfur, particularly, the worst is yet to come, because I think the social fabric there, in Khartoum, you have RSF and the army fighting.

But, in Darfur, I do think that we're seeing evidence that's now spread into the larger society, ethnic tensions in Darfur that can open the door to widespread violence.

NICK SCHIFRIN: There are about to be as many as five million people displaced.

How much of a threat is that massive number to the country and to the region?

DR. YASIR ELAMIN: First of all, this is creating a difficult security situation within Sudan itself.

It's putting pressure on all the services and other cities that are not equipped to deal with these large numbers.

And, overall, I think, if the war escalates, and we see people leaving Sudan, and the country disintegrates, I think it's going to have a huge impact across the continent, which is already suffering a lot from multiple wars.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Dr. Yasir Elamin, president of the Sudanese American Physicians Association, thank you very much.

DR. YASIR ELAMIN: Thanks for having me.

GEOFF BENNETT: The political power of organized labor, the motivating force of abortion and elections, and the limits of age on elected leaders, all questions swirling this week for our Politics Monday team to discuss.

That's Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report With Amy Walter and Tamara Keith of NPR.

Great to see you both laboring on this Labor Day.

So, well, Tam, we will start with you, because President Biden, as we reported, he spent the day in Philadelphia.

He delivered this speech where he touted his economic record, his jobs record, and he took more than a few jabs at Donald Trump's record.

Take a listen.

JOE BIDEN, President of the United States: When the last guy was here, you were shipping jobs to China.

Now we're bringing jobs home from China.

GEOFF BENNETT: So, tell us more about what the president said and the strategy behind the speech.

TAMARA KEITH, National Public Radio: So this is part of what the White House has taken to calling Bidenomics.

And their pitch is that Biden's policies are good for working people, that, yes, it's a climate change, trying to prevent climate change and spending money on clean energy is important, but, also, it's creating jobs.

Yes, this CHIPS bill exists, but it's also about bringing jobs into the United States.

So that is the pitch that he's making.

It's a pitch he's made frequently.

It's not a pitch that's really sinking in yet with the American public.

GEOFF BENNETT: Amy, what about that?

Because, as you both well know, big labor helps build the backbone of the Biden base.

Does Scranton Joe need to find a new approach to shore up that part of the electorate, or what?

(LAUGHTER) AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: Well, it's a really good point that you're making about being Scranton Joe and his relationship with labor, which goes very deep, right, in his tenure in political office.

But the reality that Joe Biden is facing is similar to what other Democrats have been facing for these last, let's call it 10 or 15 years, as white working-class voters -- that used to be the core base of the Democratic Party -- now have moved over and are voting Republican.

It didn't start under Donald Trump, but it certainly got -- it was on, like, super speed, right, movement of white working-class voters from D to R. And I think Biden understands this, Democrats understand this, that they cannot win national elections and lose working-class voters.

And what 2020 showed was not just the worry about white working-class voters moving from D to R, but also working-class voters who are Latino, who are Asian, who are Black.

And that is what this pitch, I think, is really about, which is, the Democratic Party is the party of the working class, not the Republican Party.

It's also fascinating for me to watch a Democratic president, the first Democratic president since Bill Clinton, who has been basically anti-trade and has been very tough on China.

GEOFF BENNETT: Yes.

AMY WALTER: You think about, it was Bill Clinton who pushed NAFTA.

It was Barack Obama who pushed TPP.

Now you have a Democratic president whose positions on some of these issues, especially on China, look a lot more like Donald Trump than previous Democratic presidents.

TAMARA KEITH: And this White House is also very aware that organized labor is more popular among the American people right now than it has been in years.

GEOFF BENNETT: It's the summer of strikes.

Yes, TAMARA KEITH: it is the summer of strikes.

And President Biden said he isn't worried about the auto workers striking.

It's not clear that that lack of worry is based in reality.

I was talking to Jim Messina, who ran the 2012 campaign for Obama.

And the fact that Biden is with a labor union today, yes, it's Labor Day, but it could be any day of the week, because he loves organized labor so much.

Jim Messina said that, during the -- 2012, Joe Biden would just call him up.

The vice president would call him up and be like: "Hey, can you get me out with my guys?

Like, I want to go out on the trail.

Get me out with my guys."

And what that meant was, he wanted to go to a union hall.

He wanted to be around laborers, around union workers.

He feels at home with them.

And so I think we can expect to see scenes like we saw today as part of this campaign a lot.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, Tam, you were traveling with the president when he went to Florida this past weekend to survey the damage left by the hurricane and to meet with Idalia victims.

And even though Ron DeSantis chose not to meet with President Biden, there was another Republican who did, Florida Senator Rick Scott.

How did that come to be?

And Scott also heaped praise upon the president for the response.

TAMARA KEITH: He absolutely did.

In some ways, Rick Scott took on the role of -- the more traditional role of a governor.

And he is a former governor who has dealt with hurricanes before.

He took on a role that Ron DeSantis didn't take on, because he sort of pointedly snubbed President Biden's visit, despite the fact that, with two previous disasters, DeSantis was willing to appear with Biden.

But here's the thing.

A bipartisan "We're coming together to help the people" image is great for Joe Biden, not so great for Ron DeSantis, who was running for president in the Republican -- on the Republican side and doesn't want a repeat of the embrace that Chris Christie had with then-President Obama.

GEOFF BENNETT: Let's talk a bit more about the Republicans running for president, because Labor Day is the start of the fall campaign.

And Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, who isn't running for president, but there are Republicans who want him to... AMY WALTER: Yes.

GEOFF BENNETT: ... he faced -- he faces a big test of his political brand come November, because there are state legislature elections, and abortion will be on the ballot in many ways in Virginia.

AMY WALTER: Yes, this is really pretty fascinating.

There are two pieces of this.

One is, you're right.

Glenn Youngkin is being chatted up by many folks in this town who are frustrated with Ron DeSantis' collapse and want to see an alternative to Donald Trump in the election.

However, starting a campaign after the November elections is really hard to do.

Logistically,you can't get on the ballot in a number of states because the ballot access is already closed.

And then putting a campaign together six weeks or so before Iowa, that is incredibly difficult.

So there's that piece that we're going to watch.

But the other piece is this issue of abortion.

Glenn Youngkin is talking about the fact that, if he gets a Republican-controlled legislature - - that's what's on the line in Virginia this year -- he will pass a 15-week ban in that state.

Now, Virginia is one of the last Southern states to not have any restrictive abortion laws on the books since Roe v. Wade failed.

That's a pretty risky decision to make in a state as blue as Virginia is.

If he succeeds, he is able to do a couple of things, one, to say, there's something about the way I pitched this and how I presented it that really connected, even in a blue state.

And this is path forward for Republicans.

If it fails, Democrats say once again, whenever abortion is on the ballot, in whatever form it is, it is problematic for Republicans.

GEOFF BENNETT: Especially in a state like Virginia.

TAMARA KEITH: Absolutely.

Virginia is a state that has two Democratic U.S. senators.

It is a state that is more moderate, is more purple.

It is not -- it's not a red meat Republican red state.

And Glenn Youngkin was elected as wearing the red vest and red fleece vest, looking like a suburban dad.

And he was elected on this wave of parents and others being upset about COVID and about schools and all of this stuff.

But, as he has served as governor -- most recently, he came out with guidelines for trans -- how schools should deal with transgender students.

And a large number of very large school districts rejected those guidelines out of hand, including some that were not in more liberal counties or some in more moderate counties.

So I think that he has seen as governor some challenge to being a MAGA-type Republican.

And he -- and there's just sort of like this challenge with his brand, because he both wants to be suburban dad and also went out campaigning with Kari Lake, for instance, in Arizona.

GEOFF BENNETT: Yes.

And, to this day, there are still Democrats who say that it's not that Youngkin won in Virginia; it's that Terry McAuliffe lost in Virginia.

AMY WALTER: Lost.

GEOFF BENNETT: Amy Walter and Tamara Keith, thanks.

Thanks so much.

TAMARA KEITH: You're welcome.

GEOFF BENNETT: The number of wildfires burning in Canada is still well above average for this time of year.

That's after record-setting blaze has pushed hazardous air into much of the U.S. this summer.

But many in the western part of the country already deal with wildfire smoke on a regular basis.

And it's a problem made worse by the fact that more than five million Americans don't have easy access to a respiratory specialist.

John Yang reports in this story that first aired on "PBS News Weekend."

JOHN YANG: For Walt and Penny Copeland the small town of Hayden, Colorado has been home for five decades, set high in the Rocky Mountains.

They're that much closer to the deep blue skies and puffy white clouds.

WALT COPELAND, Hayden, Colorado: Maybe take a bunch of deep breaths.

WOMAN: Don't cheat, don't cheat.

WALT COPELAND: I don't cheat.

I didn't.

JOHN YANG: Three years ago, they were comfortably settled into retired life when Walt began having breathing problems.

WALT COPELAND: I was having a checkup after my heart valve.

Once a year I'd go for a checkup and they found a little spot on my left lung.

It was kind of cloudy.

JOHN YANG: He was diagnosed with pneumonitis inflammation of the lung tissue also called farmer's lung.

WALT COPELAND: There's hundreds of different types of a farmer's lung which mold, sawdust.

I grew up with parents who smoked and I worked out at the coal mine and I hauled fuel and stuff like that, but no scar.

Nothing showed up.

JOHN YANG: Retired from long haul trucking, Walt thought he was done with long regularly scheduled drives, but from his home in Hayden, going to a pulmonologist every three months for checkups meant a round trip drive up eight to 10 hours.

WALT COPELAND: 10 hours for a 15-minute visit.

That's why we always waited for him to come up.

Let him do the driving.

JOHN YANG: You've done enough driving over the years.

WALT COPELAND: Yeah, I have.

I have.

JOHN YANG: Instead, the pulmonologist comes to him.

DR. JAMES HOYT, Pulmonologist, UCHealth: No sign of a flare up.

WALT COPELAND: Not yet.

Not that I've seen.

JOHN YANG: Once a month, Dr. James Hoyt of UC Health a not for profit regional health system makes the trek to a medical center in Steamboat Springs from his office in Fort Collins.

During each visit to the ski resort town, he has nine hours of patient appointments over two consecutive days.

180 miles each way with a 1,300 foot elevation change.

Dr. Heights been making this monthly trip for the last decade.

DR. JAMES HOYT: It's about 4000 miles a year.

So 40,000 miles, 50,000 miles.

And I've gotten one new windshield, one new bumper, a whole new front end when I hit a deer but I've only for weather not made it once.

JOHN YANG: For hundreds of Dr. Hoyt's patients across Northwestern Colorado and Southern Wyoming, it's a life-changer.

Walt Copeland gets to his appointments and just a 30 minute drive, usually combining the trip with other errands.

Many parts of the country especially the rural West have limited access to pulmonologist.

According to telehealth and prescription discount provider GoodRx, more than five million Americans are more than a one hour drive from a respiratory specialist living in pulmonology deserts.

Respiratory specialists have been in high demand in recent years as an aging population as a higher risk of COPD.

Then came COVID-19 and the damage it can do to the lungs of those infected with the virus.

Burnout from the pandemic has led to pulmonologist retiring early or changing specialties.

DR. JAMES HOYT: There were two really hard times and the first time was when it first came and 14 or so of us all got in a room and looked at each other and wondered who's going in first, because there were no vaccines.

There was PPE that we didn't really know for sure if it worked or not.

The second really hard time in COVID was when our health care teams were exhausted from 18 months or so of grinding and there were more than enough vaccines for everyone.

And patient after patient after patient we took care of was unvaccinated by choice.

JOHN YANG: Climate change plays a role to helping make wildfires bigger and more intense and the air more hazardous debris.

Last summer, this beautiful vista was obscured by smoke from wildfires in California, Oregon and Washington State.

In fact, wildfires can lead to air quality alerts hundreds of miles downwind.

And as the fine particulate matter in that smoke drifts across the country, it could leave a trail of people headed to doctor's offices, urgent care clinics, and emergency rooms with respiratory problems.

Walt Copeland's wife, Penny has asthma.

PENNY COPELAND, Hayden, Colorado: Smoke is one of the things that I am allergic to.

So when the valley would fill with smoke, I basically had to stay indoors with the windows closed.

And it would make it difficult to breathe at night.

When you don't get enough air, you can't -- you don't function.

You just basically have to sit on the couch.

And that's it.

JENNIFER STOWELL, Boston University, School of Public Health: Over the last few decades the West has been seeing, you know, this just gradual uptick in the number of fires, how large they are and how severe they are.

JOHN YANG: Jennifer Stowell is a researcher at Boston University School of Public Health.

She says wildfire smoke from Canada and the western United States will continue to affect parts of the country on accustomed to it.

What's the effect on health on public health?

JENNIFER STOWELL: A lot of that depends on you know what is burned and how far it gets.

It affects people who already have sensitivities and generally the big one is respiratory that we would expect.

Say for instance, if I had asthma, and I had, you know, a significant exposure to wildfire smoke, the likelihood that I would show up at an E.R.

because of my asthma is probably about 8 percent more likely on a day that I'm exposed to smoke than on day one I'm not exposed.

JOHN YANG: And that, Stowell says, means more hospital visits.

JENNIFER STOWELL: The important thing for people to know is to remain indoors if you can, especially if you look at the airport malady colors if it's worse than yellow you want to stay indoors.

If you have underlying conditions like asthma or COPD, you want to stay indoors as soon as it gets out of that green area.

And if you have to go outside, definitely wear a mask.

JOHN YANG: Penny Copeland doesn't need a researcher to tell her what the shortage of respiratory specialist means.

Every time her asthma gets bad, she feels it.

PENNY COPELAND: Usually, when you have a flare, it's good to be seen by a pulmonologist so they can kind of help you through that and give you more treatment.

But when we have a pulmonologist only here once a month, your asthma flares usually don't come along when he's here.

JOHN YANG: And the asthma doesn't pay attention to Dr. Hoyt's schedule.

PENNY COPELAND: No, it does not.

JOHN YANG: And UC Health's Medical Center in Steamboat Springs, Clinic Operations Director Ryan Larson recognizes the need, he's begun the challenging task of hiring a full time staff pulmonologist.

RYAN LARSON, Clinic Operations Director, UCHealth: We started recruiting in January 2023.

And we're looking to have a full time provider starting next summer, July 2024.

JOHN YANG: And how hard is that?

RYAN LARSON: So far it's been pretty hard.

We've had a few quite a few candidates come through but no one's been a great fit for the community.

WALT COPELAND: I've walked out of the office setting my car and called him for an appointment and we don't have his appointment schedule ready yet so it's okay I'll call back later than when I do they say it's filled up.

JOHN YANG: And as Dr. Hoyt's limited appointments become harder to get, Walt and Penny Copeland hold their breath, waiting for the right candidate to fill the gap.

For the "PBS NewsHour" I'm John Yang in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

GEOFF BENNETT: And that is the "NewsHour" for tonight.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

Thank you for joining us, and enjoy the rest of this Labor Day holiday.