August 26, 2021 - PBS NewsHour full episode

To discuss how evacuations in Afghanistan may be affected by Thursday's attacks, Amna Nawaz speaks to retired Col. Mike Jason, who was a battalion commander in northern Afghanistan, now the interim executive director of Allied Airlift 21, and Lisa Curtis, a former senior director for South and Central Asia on the National Security Council, now a senior fellow at Center for a New American Security.

Record numbers of COVID-19 cases are being reported across Africa as the delta variant pushes hospitals to a breaking point. ICU beds and oxygen are in desperately short supply, vaccines are increasingly scarce and according to the World Health Organization, there’s little hope even 10% of Africans will get a shot before 2021 ends. Special correspondent Isabel Nakirya reports from Kampala, Uganda.

Amid a housing affordability crisis, cities across the U.S. have been struggling with their unsheltered populations. Two years ago, Austin, Texas, decriminalized activities related to homelessness. But this year, citizens voted to re-criminalize them — as the state banned public camping. For our "Searching for Justice" series, Stephanie Sy reports on what these efforts mean for the unhoused.

In our news wrap Thursday, a top COVID-19 model projected nearly 100,000 more deaths in the U.S. by December 1. Meanwhile, Texas' Republican Gov. Greg Abbott imposed a ban on state or local mandates requiring vaccinations. Seven U.S. Capitol Police officers sued former President Trump for inciting the January 6 assault on the Capitol. Tropical Storm Ida may hit the U.S. Gulf Coast this weekend.

Following the full FDA approval of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine, an increasing number of cities and states are now mandating vaccinations for their employees — or requiring them to get tested weekly. But there has been some intense pushback from law enforcement and first responders across the country. Art Acevedo, Miami’s chief of police who supports a mandate, joins William Brangham to discuss.

Thursday was an awful and bloody day in Kabul as multiple suicide bombings at the airport killed 11 U.S. Marines, a navy corpsman and at least 90 Afghan civilians. Hundreds were injured, many critically. It was the deadliest day for American forces in Afghanistan since 2012. President Joe Biden promised reprisals against ISIS-K, who claimed responsibility. Jane Ferguson and Lisa Desjardins report.