AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

On the "News Hour" tonight: The U.S.

attorney who brought charges against James Comey and Letitia James faces her own scrutiny over whether she was unlawfully appointed to her post.

AMNA NAWAZ: More local law enforcement sign up to help with the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.

We speak with one sheriff about the partnership.

GEOFF BENNETT: And a small Upstate New York community fights an uphill battle for justice after finding high levels of forever chemicals in drinking water.

MARIAH BLAKE, Author, "They Poisoned the World: Life and Death in the Age of Forever Chemicals": The entire community was drinking water that was highly contaminated with a toxic chemical that industry had known was dangerous for decades.

(BREAK) AMNA NAWAZ: Welcome to the "News Hour."

President Donald Trump's Department of Justice was on defense today in a Northern Virginia courtroom.

A judge is weighing whether to disqualify the prosecutor pursuing charges against former FBI Director James Comey and New York's Attorney General Letitia James.

GEOFF BENNETT: That prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, is a Trump ally with no prosecutorial experience.

She was sworn in days after the previous U.S.

attorney resigned after being pressured to indict Comey and James.

President Trump has cast both Comey and James as his political enemies and called for their prosecutions after they pursued investigations into him.

Glenn Kirschner is a former assistant U.S.

attorney for Washington, D.C.

He joins us now after sitting in on today's hearing.

It's good to see you.

GLENN KIRSCHNER, Former Federal Prosecutor: Good to see you, Geoff.

GEOFF BENNETT: So let's start with this.

How unusual is it for a criminal case to hinge on whether the prosecutor was lawfully appointed?

GLENN KIRSCHNER: Very unusual.

This is a high-stakes motion that we saw litigated today, because sort of at the bottom of it all, if the judge, Judge Currie, who is presiding over this motion, decides that Lindsey Halligan was not lawfully appointed, because she was the only person in the grand jury obtaining this indictment, it would very likely result in the case being dismissed outright against both James Comey and Letitia James.

And really the only thing left to argue about would be whether it should be indicted with prejudice or without prejudice.

With prejudice means there would be a chance for DOJ to go back in and try to correct the error -- without prejudice, rather.

With prejudice means it is over and Donald Trump will never get to take James Comey or Letitia James to trial.

GEOFF BENNETT: The defense lawyers pointed to President Trump's public pressures -- public pressure, to include his TRUTH Social posts -- you see one right there on the screen -- as evidence that these prosecutions were politically driven.

From a legal standpoint, what weight does the president's rhetoric carry in evaluating whether these prosecutions were selective or vindictive?

GLENN KIRSCHNER: Extraordinary weight.

So every word Donald Trump has ever spoken about James Comey or Letitia James, anything he has ever posted, all of it is admissible evidence on the question of whether this is a vindictive prosecution and/or a selective prosecution.

These are all called admissions by a party opponent.

And this hearing today wasn't really directly about that, but a little bit of that crept in with some of the questions that the judge was asking.

For example, she opened with, have the parties seen a declination memo where prior career prosecutors had declined to bring these charges because there was insufficient evidence to do so?

And the defense said we haven't, but we would like to and we're going to be needing it in discovery.

GEOFF BENNETT: Regardless of how this judge rules -- and I think set to rule by Thanksgiving.

Is that what she said?

So what does this entire episode do to the public confidence of the DOJ?

GLENN KIRSCHNER: It doesn't enhance it, Geoff.

I think -- in my experience, I was a federal prosecutor for 30 years.

Every White House seemed to understand the importance of that separation between the administration, the White House, the Oval Office and the Department of Justice, because the people have to have confidence that DOJ is making prosecutorial decisions day in and day out without political interference or without political motivations.

And because Donald Trump has all but announced, he's anointed himself the chief prosecutor in all cases, posting things like, look, this is making us look bad, I need you all to move out against the Tish James and the Comeys and others, gone is that wall, that separation.

And I think that severely undermines the public's confidence in the independence of the Department of Justice.

GEOFF BENNETT: And there has also been a hollowing out with the firings, the transfers, the resignations of veteran lawyers.

GLENN KIRSCHNER: And I worry about our national security.

I worry about, for example, the people of the District of Columbia, whom I served for decades as a federal prosecutor in D.C.

That office is down reportedly approaching 100 lawyers.

And, traditionally, we only had about 325 prosecutors in that office.

If we don't have a third of our prosecutorial work force, in my opinion, that's a public safety issue in Washington, D.C.

GEOFF BENNETT: So coming back to this case in particular, what happens next?

GLENN KIRSCHNER: So, as you mentioned, Judge Currie announced that she will have a ruling for us prior to Thanksgiving.

So we will be waiting every day to get that ruling.

In the event she grants the motion, I think then Judge Nachmanoff, who is the presiding judge in Virginia, will step back in and he will have to decide the consequences of her granting the motion.

It will likely be a dismissal of the charges.

And then I think we all know where it's going after that.

It's going to the Court of Appeals and I would assume the Trump administration will try to bubble it up to the Supreme Court if they can.

GEOFF BENNETT: Glenn Kirschner, great to see you.

Thanks for coming in.

GLENN KIRSCHNER: Thanks, Geoff.

AMNA NAWAZ: We start the day's other headlines in California.

The Justice Department is suing to block the state's new redistricting plan, which would give Democrats a shot at picking up five seats in next year's midterm elections.

U.S.

Attorney General Pam Bondi called the new congressional map a brazen power grab.

Last week, California voters overwhelmingly backed the measure.

It came in response to a similar effort by Republicans in Texas in what has become a nationwide battle over redistricting.

More than 1,000 unionized Starbucks workers are on strike today over stalled contract negotiations.

The action at some 65 stores across the country is intended to disrupt the company's Red Cup Day.

That's when customers are given free reusable cups with a holiday drink purchase.

Talks over better hours and wages have been stalled since the spring.

This worker in New York City said that their demands are not unreasonable.

REY SHAO, Starbucks Worker: What we're asking for is pretty simple and basic.

We want enough hours to meet the benefits,we want enough staffing in our stores so we're not overworked, and we want to be paid enough to live in the city.

AMNA NAWAZ: Starbucks management says -- quote -- "When they're ready to come back, we're ready to talk."

The company also stressed that the vast majority of its 10,000 company-owned stores in the U.S.

are not affected by the strike.

In West Virginia, a coal miner was found dead today following a massive days-long search-and-rescue effort.

Foreman Steve Lipscomb had been missing since Saturday, when workers struck a pocket of water that caused the mine to flood.

He was last seen trying to help his fellow miners to safety.

It's the third death this year at a facility operated by Alpha Metallurgical Resources in West Virginia.

Governor Patrick Morrisey said his state is grieving, writing that -- quote -- "Mining is more than an industry here.

It's a brotherhood, a way of life and a source of pride."

In Oklahoma, at least four people are in critical condition after a tanker truck spilled dangerous ammonia gas in a hotel parking lot.

Officials in the small city of Weatherford say the fumes cause respiratory distress for people near the area, sending dozens to the hospital and hundreds more to evacuation sites.

The gas is used as a farm fertilizer and can be deadly, especially in high concentrations.

A shelter-in-place order has been lifted.

And police say the air quality is under control, but they add that a full cleanup could take several days.

We have an update to a story we have been covering this week.

The BBC apologized today to President Trump over a misleading edit of his speech to supporters before they stormed the Capitol on January 6, but the broadcaster denied its actions amounted to defamation.

Trump lawyers had threatened the BBC with a billion-dollar lawsuit.

The dispute stems from a documentary that aired in the lead-up to last year's election that included separate parts of Trump's speech that were spliced together.

In its retraction, the BBC said the edit -- quote - - "gave the mistaken impression that President Trump had made a direct call for violent action."

In the Middle East, Israeli settlers have burned and defaced a mosque in a Palestinian village in the West Bank.

An Associated Press reporter found that walls and carpeting were scorched, as were multiple copies of the Koran, and there were hateful messages written on the building's exterior.

The torching comes a day after Israeli leaders condemned an earlier attack by settlers on two Palestinian villages.

Today, a government official said the Israeli military does not condone any such acts of violence.

SHOSH BEDROSIAN, Israeli Government Spokesperson: Any incidents of lawlessness are dealt with to the full extent of the law.

The IDF operates under strict ethical guidelines and international law in Judea and Samaria.

AMNA NAWAZ: Palestinians and human rights groups say that Israel's far right government does little to prevent the growing acts of settler violence in the West Bank.

So far, there have been no arrests in the mosque attack.

In France, the city of Paris has been marking 10 years since the terrorist attack that claimed more than 100 lives and left a lasting mark on the nation's identity.

The bells of the famed Notre Dame Cathedral rang out tonight as people laid flowers at a makeshift memorial to honor those killed.

A memorial garden was also unveiled to honor the 130 people killed by Islamic State militants that night.

Earlier in the day, President Emmanuel Macron led tributes at each attack site, which included cafes, the Bataclan concert hall, and the national stadium.

It was the worst bloodshed in France since World War II.

And Wall Street saw one of its worst days since April on worries about overinflated A.I.

stocks and the outlook for interest rates.

The Dow Jones industrial average plunged nearly 800 points on the day.

The Nasdaq sank more than 500 points.

The S&P 500 pulled back even further from its recent all-time high.

And for a second night in a row, stargazers in many parts of the country were treated to a dazzling solar display known as the Northern Lights.

This composite satellite image shows just how active it's been these past two nights.

The brightness is heaviest near the U.S.-Canada border, but there are flashes extending far down into the continental U.S.

And the view from the ground hasn't been bad either, with sights like this from Lincoln, Illinois.

The dazzling lights are a wonderful spectacle, but they are also known to disrupt some GPS communications and even the power grid.

Still to come on the "News Hour": military personnel question whether the policies they're being asked to carry out are legal; the role African mercenaries are playing in Russia's invasion of Ukraine; and a widespread recall of baby formula tied to botulism raises concern among parents.

GEOFF BENNETT: As the Trump administration ramps up deportation efforts nationwide, ICE has increasingly turned to local law enforcement through a program known as 287(g), which has existed for nearly 30 years.

Under these agreements, sheriff's offices can hold undocumented immigrants in local jails before they are deported or transferred.

And in some cases, officers are trained to take part directly in ICE operations.

Since January, the number of these agreements has surged more than 640 percent.

In Butler County, Ohio, Sheriff Richard Jones reinstated his county's partnership with the federal government when President Trump returned to office.

The county has since housed nearly 2,000 ICE detainees in its jails.

And Sheriff Jones joins us now.

Thanks for being with us.

RICHARD JONES, Butler County, Ohio, Sheriff: Yes, sir.

How are you doing today?

GEOFF BENNETT: I'm doing well.

Thank you.

So, as I understand it, you have partnered with and stepped away from, in some instances, partnerships on immigration enforcement with the federal government across five presidencies.

So, from your vantage point, how does the Trump administration's approach to immigration compare with what you saw and experienced under previous administrations?

RICHARD JONES: That's pretty simple.

Under Biden, it was hardly nothing.

I fired them the four years they were there.

The most deportation we ever done when we had 287(g), the enforcement model, and the jail model was under President Obama.

He was there eight years.

So he deported far more than Trump has in roughly five years.

GEOFF BENNETT: What do you think people misunderstand about the Obama era deportations as compared to the present moment?

RICHARD JONES: I think that it's in the past.

It's history.

Depending on what TV channels or where they get their news, they believe in whatever group they watch.

But the actual truth is, is that I have been in the deportation business and in fighting illegal immigration for almost 22 years, five presidents, and I have actually been there.

We deported when President Obama was president, eight years -- he had eight years.

President Trump has going on five.

So he's got a lot of catching up to do.

But it's -- in the United States, it's about 78 percent Democrat or Republican, Black or white.

It's about 78 percent, during the last election, wanted the border sealed, want something done with deportation.

President Trump is doing exactly what he said he was going to do.

He was going to go get these programs started and do deportation.

GEOFF BENNETT: As you know, there are critics who argue that 287(g) opens the door to racial profiling, especially in traffic stops and street-level enforcements.

So what specific safeguards do you have in place to make sure that your deputies aren't using that authority to target people based on how they look or what language they speak?

RICHARD JONES: Listen, we have been doing this since the beginning of time.

We stop people that are Black, white, red, all the colors in the rainbow, every religion.

Doesn't matter what kind of vehicles they drive.

We just don't do traffic enforcement.

We always do traffic enforcement.

It's other issues.

You commit crime, you drive drunk, just like anybody else, just like homegrown criminals do, and we don't look at color or religion or anything like that.

But people can believe what they want to believe.

I could not -- if I was on your show for 24 hours nonstop, I could not convince the naysayers.

GEOFF BENNETT: But what specific policies or safeguards do you have in place to make sure that people aren't being stopped based on how they look or the language that they speak?

RICHARD JONES: Basically, we monitor all their stops.

And we always have.

We monitor their stops.

We review.

We meet with them.

But we have done that for 22 years since we have had cameras and before that.

We always look at their reports, just like they do all over the country.

GEOFF BENNETT: Walk us through what's changed in your jails since you partnered again with the federal government under this program.

On an average day right now, how many ICE detainees are you housing?

And what does that mean for the space that's available for local inmates?

RICHARD JONES: That's pretty simple.

Today, I think we were up to 360.

It varies.

Sometimes, it's 300.

We have had as many as 430 ICE prisoners.

Depends on what they're doing in ICE.

And we have had up close to 500.

So it varies on what they're doing.

GEOFF BENNETT: You said that the federal contracts as part of this program have brought in more than $200 million over 20 years.

And you expect to hit a quarter-of-a-billion dollars by 2027.

Is that right?

RICHARD JONES: That's correct, and maybe more than that.

If you listen to the Homeland Security people, they suspect there's 20 to 30 million people here.

They need county jails for the jail space.

They don't have -- the federal government doesn't have county jails or federal jails.

They depend on county sheriff's offices.

Next year, we believe we're going to bring in $22 million, just next year.

This year, we will probably bring in 12, but it's just starting to ramp up.

GEOFF BENNETT: There are people who will hear those numbers and conclude that Butler County has a financial incentive to keep beds full of ICE detainees.

RICHARD JONES: Well, sure I am.

I have housed prisoners here.

I don't do it for free.

If other counties want to house prisoners here, they have to pay the going price.

And they don't have to come here.

But do we do it for free?

No.

There's a price that they have to pay to have them here, just like they always have.

We have had Marshal prisoners for probably 20 or 30 years.

They pay.

And we don't do it for free.

It helps cover the freight of our local prisoners.

So, no, it's -- it is what it is.

GEOFF BENNETT: ICE has come under renewed scrutiny, as you well know, across the country for what many folks see as aggressive tactics, in some cases, brutal tactics.

Do you believe that the that the way ICE is apprehending some of these folks is the best way to remove people who are in the country illegally, but who pose no public safety threat?

RICHARD JONES: Well, they all snuck into the country.

They're here illegally.

If they don't want to be here, go home.

They try to offer them places that they will ship you back and they will even give you money to go home.

You're here illegally.

You shouldn't be here.

The president ran on that premises, and he's keeping his promise.

And to stop this in these big cities, I have had 500 protesters here or more.

They protest all the time here in front of my jail.

They chain ourselves to the door.

And you know what that changes?

Absolutely nothing.

I agree with way they're doing it, and it's going to continue to ramp up.

They're actually doing more jail space.

And I support them 110 percent.

GEOFF BENNETT: Sheriff Richard Jones, thank you for your perspectives.

We appreciate it.

RICHARD JONES: Hey, appreciate you.

Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Military service personnel have been seeking outside legal advice about some of the missions the Trump administration has assigned them.

The U.S.

strikes against alleged drug trafficking boats and deployments to American cities have sparked a firestorm of debate over their legality, and some service members are turning to nonprofit organizations for help.

In grainy footage from above the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, 20 times since September, the Pentagon has shown the same thing, a flash of light and a boat allegedly carrying drugs into the United States incinerated by a U.S.

military strike, in all, dozens of people killed on board the vessels.

But that is the extent of what the Trump administration has disclosed publicly, no confirmation of any drugs on board or the identities of the people killed.

President Trump has justified the lethal strikes and the fog of war that's clouded them.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: They killed 300,000 people last year, drugs, these drugs coming in.

They killed 300,000 Americans last year.

And that gives you legal authority.

We know the boats.

We know everything else.

We're allowed to do it.

It's in international waters.

If we don't do it, we're going to lose hundreds of thousands of people.

AMNA NAWAZ: Today, reports that the Trump administration is covering its legal bases.

According to The Washington Post, Justice Department lawyers this summer crafted a classified memo arguing that U.S.

troops involved in the boat strikes would not be in legal jeopardy.

On Capitol Hill, open questions, including from Republican members about the legality of those strikes.

REP.

MIKE ROGERS (R-MI): People were not happy with the level information that was provided and certainly the level of legal justification that was provided.

AMNA NAWAZ: Calls to organizations like The Orders Project, which provides free legal advice to military personnel, are on the rise from staff officers involved in planning the boat strikes, as are calls to a separate hot line from National Guard personnel concerned about domestic deployments to American cities, and even calls expressing concerns of complicity and a possible genocide in Gaza by virtue of U.S.

weapons sent to Israel, signaling heightened concern from within the U.S.

government that the U.S.

military is exposing those who serve to legal harm.

For perspective on all this, we turn to retired lieutenant colonel Frank Rosenblatt.

He was an Army lawyer and is now the president of the National Institute of Military Justice, which runs The Orders Project.

Colonel, welcome to the "News Hour."

Thanks for joining us.

LT.

COL.

FRANK ROSENBLATT (RET)., Former U.S.

Army Lawyer: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, The Orders Project, for anyone unfamiliar, was started five years ago as a place military personnel can get legal advice that's independent from the Defense Department.

Tell me about the calls you have been receiving specific to those U.S.

military strikes on boats.

How many calls and what are people asking?

LT.

COL.

FRANK ROSENBLATT (RET): Thanks.

The phone has been picking up a bit, our activity in the past three months.

And some of these have related to the new military activities in the Caribbean.

We are primarily getting calls, a lot of people who are tangentially involved.

They aren't the people who are actually on the operations or are approving them.

But many of these are -- they're performing some sort of role in between, a staff officer who's asked to apply their expertise.

And they have been reaching out to us when they have been concerned that the answer that they're giving is -- has been very disfavored.

And they're feeling pressure from their higher-ups to convert their answer into something that is a little -- to change a concur from -- a nonconcur to a concur.

AMNA NAWAZ: In other words, pressure to get on board with the decision to carry out the strikes.

Is that what you're saying?

LT.

COL.

FRANK ROSENBLATT (RET): Yes.

AMNA NAWAZ: And then related to the National Guard deployments, you told my colleague earlier you're also fielding calls related to that.

What are those questions?

LT.

COL.

FRANK ROSENBLATT (RET): These are -- we're getting an appropriate level of curiosity, because anybody who's been following the courts, it's like watching a tennis match right now, back and forth every day between a district court enjoining the president's actions and a court of appeals lifting that, and the Supreme Court acting on their emergency docket.

So when people are being told or to anticipate a deployment to an American city, they do have some questions about this.

And we just try to help them figure out what's right for them, to help them feel better about what they're doing or where they need to raise questions, to ask the right questions of their leaders to make sure that they are remaining compliant with their -- not only their legal obligations, but so that there's no moral injury later on that they don't do something that they knew was wrong at the time.

As for The Orders Project, we have tended to receive most of our calls from military officers, rather than lower-ranking enlisted members.

AMNA NAWAZ: And tell me about that.

Why -- that sounds like it surprises you.

Does it?

LT.

COL.

FRANK ROSENBLATT (RET): Yes, and I don't think that's because there's any sort of difference in the seriousness which all military members take their jobs.

I do think, though, that lower enlisted members are -- if they are told to do something, then they are going to trust that the correct staff processes and command approvals have happened for that to go through.

And so they're not picking up the phones to call.

However, some of the military staff officers, on the other hand, they are actually involved in the implementation and planning of these missions.

And so, when they are, they are able to, I think, maybe get some insight into that sometimes there may be asked to do things that they don't think are correct or that are at least maybe boundary-pushing and are different than how they have done things in the past.

AMNA NAWAZ: So I should note, in response to a request from the "News Hour," the Department of Justice spokesperson sent us this statement, saying -- quote -- "The strikes were ordered consistent with the laws of armed conflict," referring to the boat strikes in the Caribbean and Pacific, "and, as such, are lawful orders.

Military personnel are legally obligated to follow lawful orders and as such are not subject to prosecution for following lawful orders."

I just want to get your response to that, Colonel, and also what that means for the kind of advice you're giving people who call you.

LT.

COL.

FRANK ROSENBLATT (RET): The public is paying attention to these things, as are many members of the military.

There are lots of questions being asked, and not all of the answers have been forthcoming about, one, the factual basis for this and the legal basis for this.

I don't think that we can say that these are orders that are manifestly unlawful just based on what we can see right now.

But there are also many questions about the legal basis for this under both U.S.

law, U.S.

Constitution, constitutional law, as well as international law.

AMNA NAWAZ: And, Colonel, the reporting we mentioned earlier that says there's a DOJ memo that basically says soldiers would be immune from prosecution if involved in these boat strikes, how do you react to that?

LT.

COL.

FRANK ROSENBLATT (RET): The conference of immunity does raise some important questions.

And my first reaction is, anybody who relies on that, the fact that DOJ has signed a memo saying there's blanket immunity, is making a mistake to fully rely upon this.

Now, it does mean something, but there are a number of questions.

One is, why is this being offered?

I mean, we don't normally immunize people.

And so the question is, what is it that you're asking me to do?

What sort of conduct will confer this immunity?

Second, who -- is the person who is giving this immunity, do they have the proper power to do so?

For example, if a service member relies on DOJ immunity, that doesn't mean that a state may not prosecute them for any crimes they commit, or if they travel to another country.

If there are allegations that they have committed atrocity crimes, then other countries are -- could invoke their own universal jurisdiction and put them before the national courts of another country.

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, that is retired Lieutenant Colonel Frank Rosenblatt joining us tonight.

Colonel, thank you for your time.

We appreciate it.

LT.

COL.

FRANK ROSENBLATT (RET): Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: So-called forever chemicals are both harmful to our health and are everywhere.

William Brangham profiles a new book that tells the story of how these extremely durable chemicals came to be so ubiquitous through the eyes of one small community in Upstate New York that decided to fight for some measure of justice.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And this is him and his buddies?

MICHAEL HICKEY, Hoosick Falls, New York, Resident: Yes.

Yes, that was on one of the golf trips.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: John "Ersel" Hickey was a fixture in Hoosick Falls, a once thriving industrial town in Northeastern Upstate New York near the Vermont border.

He raised a family, worked at the local manufacturing plant.

This is the bus he drove?

MICHAEL HICKEY: One of them, yes.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And he drove a school bus.

MICHAEL HICKEY: He did both jobs for 32 years.

He was only retired for seven months before he passed away from... WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Seven months.

MICHAEL HICKEY: Seven months before he retired before he passed.

And I had a tough time.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Ersel died from kidney cancer.

He wasn't a smoker or a drinker, and something just didn't sit right with his son Michael.

MICHAEL HICKEY: A year after, a local teacher got sick and she passed away in her 50s.

And then the wheels started turning in my head of, why do we seem to have all these illnesses?

So I started wondering, what ties everybody together?

What could it be?

And, obviously, that's water.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The plant where his dad worked, then owned by the company Saint-Gobain, used Teflon coating.

So he Googled Teflon and cancer.

Up popped a study from West Virginia that showed a likely link between the chemicals in Teflon and various cancers, including kidney cancer.

Hickey approached a local family doctor, who said, yes, he had seen a lot of cancer in his patients, but the city and the county wouldn't test the water.

MICHAEL HICKEY: So I went and I tested the water at my house, my mom's house, the local Dollar Store, McDonald's.

And I came back and I was right.

Our water was contaminated with these chemicals.

MARIAH BLAKE, Author, "They Poisoned the World: Life and Death in the Age of Forever Chemicals": One of the things that I really remember from our first meeting is that he said -- he told me that he got his political news from ESPN.

(LAUGHTER) MARIAH BLAKE: So -- and yet somehow he was spearheading this fight against multiple government agencies and giant multinational corporations to get his community clean drinking water.

And he was doing it because he was heartbroken over the death of his father.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Journalist Mariah Blake wrote the book "They Poisoned the World," which tells the story of the discovery Michael Hickey in the yearslong environmental and legal fight he helped launch.

MARIAH BLAKE: That was the genesis.

It was a heartbroken son trying to figure out why his father had gotten sick, and he wound up discovering that the entire community was drinking water that was highly contaminated with a toxic chemical that industry had known was dangerous for decades.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The chemicals in Hoosick Falls' water were forever chemicals, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.

MAN: Teflon is a wonderful electrical insulator and resists a lot of moisture too.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: They're extremely resilient, durable synthetic chemicals that have been used in hundreds of products.

MARIAH BLAKE: They helped usher in the air of space travel and high-speed computing.

NARRATOR: You see, DuPont technology help make today's tiny electronic circuits possible.

MARIAH BLAKE: They have enabled lifesaving medical devices.

They have also transformed thousands of everyday items, things like outdoor clothing, dental floss, furniture.

On the other hand, they are probably the most insidious pollutants in all of human history and they are literally polluting the entire planet.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In her book, Blake explains that, unlike many developed countries, in the U.S., new chemicals like PFAS are to be presumed safe until proven otherwise.

MAN: Nothing sticks to Teflon.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: She also documents how, going back decades, both industry and government officials knew these chemicals were dangerous to human health.

MARIAH BLAKE: The U.S.

government scientists had determined as early as 1943 that these chemicals were highly toxic and that they were accumulating in human blood.

But regulators and the public didn't learn that until much, much later because this information was withheld.

EMILY MARPE, Former Petersburgh, New York, Resident: Is that your best friend Eli?

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Emily Marpe also grew up in Hoosick Falls, but she eventually saved enough money to move out of her trailer and into her dream house in nearby Petersburgh, New York.

She called it cloud nine.

EMILY MARPE: I remember the day of the closing.

And the previous owner handed me the keys, and I just looked at it and was like I'm now on cloud nine, because we kind of went through the steps together.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: That's where the name came from?

EMILY MARPE: Yes.

That's what it felt like.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The dream was short-lived.

After the revelation in Hoosick Falls just 11 miles away, her county tested the water in Petersburgh, where another factory was using PFAS.

The Health Department called with terrible news.

EMILY MARPE: He told me what the results were and he's like, you need to even stop brushing your teeth with it.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: That day?

EMILY MARPE: That day.

Like, I literally fell like to my knees in my driveway dry-heaving.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Marpe reached out to Michael Hickey on Facebook and he shared all the research he'd gathered and she devoured it.

She also decided to test her family's blood.

PFAS in a person's blood is measured in nanograms, or parts per billion.

Under two parts per billion would be considered safe.

Between two and 20 is when the potential for harmful effects start.

Emily Marpe's kids had over 100 and 200 parts per billion.

Her own numbers were even higher.

EMILY MARPE: My children were violated.

Who has the right to do that?

Who?

I mean, you're altering their organs, their DNA, their blood, their health outcomes.

I mean, it's one thing if they decided to pick up a cigarette when they got older, chose to drink.

At least there's somewhat of a choice in that.

There was no choice in this.

MARIAH BLAKE: They had never really taken much interest in politics or environmental issues.

They had spent their lives believing that there were systems in place to protect them, and now that trust had been completely shattered.

But these people, the people of Hoosick Falls, rather than becoming cynical or resigned or wanting to burn it all down, they fought like hell to change the system for the better, because they thought that was the best way to protect their communities and their families.

MAN: Well, things got heated tonight at the village board meeting in Hoosick Falls.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Against huge odds, Hickey and Marpe and others decided to fight.

They badgered local officials, they went to the state Capitol, they testified before Congress in D.C.

EMILY MARPE: We're suffering the health effects.

They're already here.

MICHAEL HICKEY: There's 20 years of research on PFAS or if not more, and we just need to do some commonsense legislation.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: And they filed multiple lawsuits against the companies.

In 2021 and again in 2025, they won.

The four major companies involved, 3M, Saint-Gobain, Honeywell and DuPont, all settled large, multimillion dollar class action lawsuits over the pollution they caused.

In statements to the press, Saint-Gobain said it valued the health, safety and well-being of its employees and the communities in which it operates, while Honeywell pointed to its remediation efforts, including the funding of a new water treatment facility in town.

In their settlements, residual got access to a new unpolluted aquifer, regular ongoing medical monitoring and compensation for the decline in their home values.

MARIAH BLAKE: It was a long battle.

They spent eight years fighting this fight, but, in the end, they accomplished just about everything they set out to accomplish.

EMILY MARPE: Say hello.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: But for the residents of Hoosick Falls and Petersburgh, New York, the successful end of their legal battle is bittersweet.

EMILY MARPE: A company can just dump their stuff all over and I can drink it for years, and nobody goes to jail.

Nobody gets punished.

Nobody -- there's no real recourse, except, OK, yes, we won a class action, but it's just money.

It doesn't give me back the time with my kids.

It doesn't give me my dream home.

Gone.

MICHAEL HICKEY: It's a success, I think, for some that look at it.

For me, it's not.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: It's not?

MICHAEL HICKEY: We have lost so much in between.

We have lost good people that could have been here to have full lives.

And they lost that.

You can't ever get that back.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Nationwide, attorneys now predict a wave of lawsuits against companies over PFAS chemical pollution that could dwarf the asbestos and tobacco settlements.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm William Brangham in Hoosick Falls, New York.

AMNA NAWAZ: Since last fall, more than 12,000 North Korean servicemen have reportedly been deployed to fight alongside the Russian army in Ukraine.

More recently, Ukraine has accused the Kremlin of recruiting foreign fighters from an entirely different region.

Growing numbers of mercenaries from Cameroon, Ghana, Senegal, Uganda and other African nations reveal the extent to which Russia is struggling to recruit fresh troops among its own population.

Reporting from Ukraine, special correspondent Simon Ostrovsky investigates how these mercenaries also represent an increased reliance on guns for hire in some of the world's deadliest conflicts.

SIMON OSTROVSKY: This is one of five prisoner of war camps in Ukraine, and the Ukrainian authorities won't tell us how many POWs they have.

But what we do know is that there's a mix of Russians who were captured, as well as foreign nationals from third countries.

And, increasingly, many of those fighters have been from Africa.

A vast Kremlin-linked network of recruiters is pulling in thousands of mercenaries from across the African continent to fight and die for Russia and Ukraine.

The lucky few who survive end up here, where one in 10 are foreign fighters according to Ukrainian officials.

But the ramifications of what's happening go far beyond this European theater of war.

The African recruits and other internationals are helping Russia increase its battlefield numbers.

But that's not just a problem for Ukraine.

They're leaving their homelands in such high numbers, particularly in some countries in Africa, that it's becoming a security issue there.

So many troops from Cameroon have joined up that the Cameroonian Defense Ministry ordered its officers to -- quote -- "immediately take appropriate measures against desertion."

All men in uniform are now banned from traveling abroad without special permission, according to this March document, which was provided to "News Hour" by Atlantic Council fellow Alia Brahimi.

ALIA BRAHIMI, Atlantic Council: The Cameroonian government are feeling vulnerable.

They're fighting on four fronts at least, pirates on the coast, Central African rebels in the east, English-speaking separatists in the south, ISIS and Boko Haram that are on the march in the north of the country.

They can't afford to be losing any soldiers, let alone their most skilled soldiers, let alone their special forces, who we know are going to Ukraine, they're fighting in Ukraine, and they're dying in Ukraine.

MAN (through translator): All good.

All good.

I'm from Cameroon.

I came to Russia.

Russia.

SIMON OSTROVSKY: While it's hard to know exactly how many men have enlisted, reportedly, as many as 100 are dead or missing in action.

Their loved ones now search for them across social media, posting pictures like these, in the hopes that they will be identified.

Petro Yatsenko from Ukraine's coordination headquarters for the treatment of prisoners of war says that, over the past few months, he's seen an increase of foreign fighters at camps like this one.

We know why the Russian government is recruiting foreigners to fight in its military.

They need more men.

But why are these people agreeing to fight for Russia?

I mean, the numbers of people being killed on the battlefield is huge.

PETRO YATSENKO, Coordination Headquarters for Treatment of Prisoners of War: Russia needs more and more cannon fodder.

They never say the truth for these foreign mercenaries.

They promise them very big salaries.

They promised them to be very far from the front line.

In fact, they were thrown to the front line, to the kill zone, to the very hard conditions to survive.

SIMON OSTROVSKY: Mohammed Imraaj (ph) 26, is originally from Egypt.

He says an army recruiter promised him a Russian passport.

But after just three days of fighting, he ran out of ammo and was captured, along with another mercenary from Egypt, but not before seeing his comrade die right next to him.

MOHAMMED IMRAAJ, Former Mercenary: It was first time to me.

It was too much hard, no.

And you see him, like, just die and you can't do anything.

You can't help him.

You can't do anything.

SIMON OSTROVSKY: Ukrainian military officials report a flood of mercenaries like these two men on the front lines in the past year and say most don't survive more than a month.

Recruited from countries such as Uganda, Kenya, Togo and South Africa, over 1,400 citizens of 36 African states are currently fighting for Russia, according to Ukraine's Foreign Ministry.

Russian recruiters target active-duty servicemen across African countries, promising salaries 10 times what they make at home, sign-up bonuses upwards of $2,000, and even Russian passports.

WOMAN (through translator): A Russian man from Cameroon will go serve in the special military operation.

SIMON OSTROVSKY: And it's not just Russia that's growing more dependent on mercenaries in private military companies, or PMCs.

Brahimi warns of a growing mercenary storm, with Russia's tactics capturing the attention of both American defense firms and the White House.

Reportedly, the Trump administration is considering private sector solutions for problems as varied as peacekeeping in Ukraine to security along America's southern border.

In Gaza, the White House has already come under fire for using military contractors to distribute food aid.

ALIA BRAHIMI: It's part of this broader phenomenon where the private security industry is now a go-to option to solve thorny security problems.

SIMON OSTROVSKY: So are we seeing the Trump administration echo what Russia has used PMCs for?

ALIA BRAHIMI: This very much fits in with the general ethos of the Trump administration and particularly his commitment to ending U.S.

military commitments abroad.

SIMON OSTROVSKY: And, in Ukraine, the number of foreign combatants keeps climbing.

The vast majority of captured foreign fighters end up in legal limbo, with neither Russia nor their home countries interested in trading for them.

That leaves these men stuck in prisons for months, even years.

Richard Kanu is a 42-year-old former soldier from Sierra Leone who was captured after two weeks of fighting.

That was more than a year-and-a-half ago.

So what would you say to other young men from Africa who are thinking about coming to Russia to join the military?

RICHARD KANU, Former Mercenary: Even when I'm here now, still, Africans are signing contact for Russians, because, for now, we have no hope.

We don't have someone who can plead on our behalf how to get out of this place,.

And this is not a life I want to live.

SIMON OSTROVSKY: But as long as there are young men from some of the world's poorest countries dreaming of escaping the life at home, there will be no shortage of men fighting someone else's war for pay.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Simon Ostrovsky in Western Ukraine.

GEOFF BENNETT: An outbreak here in the U.S.

of infant botulism, a rare but serious illness caused by toxins that attack the nervous system, is causing alarm among regulators and parents, prompting an investigation and a nationwide recall of ByHeart Whole Nutrition infant formula.

Stephanie Sy has more.

STEPHANIE SY: According to the Food and Drug Administration, there have been 15 hospitalizations of infants across 12 states.

No deaths have been reported.

Hanna Everett, a mother in Kentucky, experienced this firsthand.

Her four-month-old, Piper, was hospitalized over the weekend.

HANNA EVERETT, Mother: Noticing the recall and I just -- in my gut, I was like, yes, we need to take her.

Her gag reflex was not intact.

It's like -- it becomes paralyzed.

She's going to make a full recovery.

They said we just got very lucky to catch it as early as we did.

STEPHANIE SY: For a closer look, I'm joined by Helena Bottemiller Evich.

She's the founder of Food Fix, a publication that covers food policy in depth.

Helena, thank you for joining the "News Hour."

First of all, how sick are babies who have gotten infant botulism linked to this baby formula they're getting?

HELENA BOTTEMILLER EVICH, Food Fix: Well, 15 hospitalizations is something that is very concerning.

We have not seen botulism tied to infant formula in this country.

We have certainly not seen an outbreak.

These babies are requiring a lot of intervention at the hospital.

The key is to catch it early.

So any signs of poor feeding, difficulty swallowing, loss of head control, if your baby has had this formula and seems off, you should talk to your doctor as soon as possible.

STEPHANIE SY: Last week, California's Department of Health identified botulism in preliminary testing of an opened can of ByHeart formula that had been given to a baby who later was discovered to have botulism.

Earlier, we spoke with Dr.

Erica Pan, the director of California's Department of Public Health.

DR.

ERICA PAN, Director, California Department of Public Health: Infant botulism is what we call a sporadic disease.

It's almost never been seen in an outbreak.

So, right, this is the first time we have seen it linked to a specific formula.

The spores that this bacteria creates can live in dirt and soil.

So, often, most cases of infant botulism, we actually don't find out what the exact source was.

Infant formula should be sterile.

It shouldn't have either dirt or bacteria in it.

So how did this contamination happen?

It's what I'm concerned about, both for this product, but also in the future, so this can be prevented.

STEPHANIE SY: So you heard, Helena, that there is a lot of mystery around how this bacteria could have contaminated formula.

The FDA commissioner said in an interview this week that the supply chain for formula could be stronger.

Do you see ways that this could have been prevented from a policy perspective?

HELENA BOTTEMILLER EVICH: Well, I think the results of the investigation here are going to matter a whole lot, and it absolutely raises key scientific and policy questions.

Right now, we have no requirements to test for botulism because it has not been considered a hazard that we need to be concerned about an infant formula.

But whenever they get to the root cause and figure out what went wrong here, certainly, there's going to be a hard look or there should be a hard look to make sure that this never happens again.

We -- these infants can get quite, quite sick.

This is essentially creating a neurotoxin in their body.

And so this is an extremely serious situation, and absolutely federal health officials are going to need to, A, get to the bottom of this, and, B, figure out what can be done to make sure this never happens again.

STEPHANIE SY: This ByHeart brand of formula makes up only 1 percent, I understand, of the baby formulas on the market nationwide.

You said that parents should be concerned, but is the recall, from what you're seeing, likely to be an isolated case of this one brand, or is it possible that it expands to other brands?

Should parents outside of those that have bought this formula be concerned?

HELENA BOTTEMILLER EVICH: Well, as of right now, it is just this brand.

The really good news here is, this brand only makes up about 1 percent of the formula market.

So there is not a concern about shortages or any major disruptions to the infant formula supply.

I covered the infant formula crisis a few years ago really closely.

It was an incredibly traumatic event for millions of families.

We do not expect that to be the case here.

So that is the good news.

I do think that there are some concerns around just increased cases of infant botulism generally.

So health officials are very confident that ByHeart is connected to what is going on with those 15 infants.

But there are also dozens of other botulism cases that health authorities are now investigating, and they don't know the source.

As California mentioned, these are usually sporadic cases, so you often do not know the source.

As a mom, I have a lot of concerns about whether or not health officials can get to the bottom of all those cases.

We usually only see about 100 botulism infant cases per year.

And FDA said in their most recent update that we have seen about 83 cases just in the last few months.

And so I do hope that health officials have the resources they need to get to the bottom of all these cases and really make sure that there isn't some sort of emerging issue that parents need to know about, that health officials need to be tackling.

STEPHANIE SY: How would you rate the FDA's response to what's happened and their investigation in this recall?

HELENA BOTTEMILLER EVICH: So, right now, we don't know a whole lot about the timeline here.

We know that infants started getting sick in August, and we are now in November.

It often does take time to connect the dots in these cases.

And so I have a lot of questions about how the rest of this investigation is going to unfold.

Right now, it looks like, as soon as we figured out the connection to ByHeart formula, both the company and FDA acted quickly.

But as more comes out about this investigation, I do think there will be a lot of eyes on the FDA once again to make sure that the agency is acting quickly and making sure that families are protected in these situations.

STEPHANIE SY: That is Helena Bottemiller Evich of Food Fix.

Thank you so much.

HELENA BOTTEMILLER EVICH: Thank you.

AMNA NAWAZ: Remember, there's a lot more online, including a look at what happens now that the federal government shutdown has ended.

Lisa Desjardins explains how long it will take for flights, food benefits, and government workers' paychecks to get back to normal.

That is on our Instagram.

And before we go tonight, we want to say congratulations to one of our own right here at the "News Hour."

GEOFF BENNETT: Susanne Kersey is retiring after 50 years, yes, 50 years, with this organization.

AMNA NAWAZ: Susanne first joined our producing station, WETA, as a volunteer answering the phones during fund drives.

She was then hired onto our membership team and later worked in numerous production positions across the organization, including as a video editor and a video playback operator.

She also worked on a number of programs, from special shows at the White House to "Washington Week" and the "PBS News Hour."

GEOFF BENNETT: In her time here, Susanne has shaken hands with not one, but two presidents.

But she recently told us she was most starstruck meeting PBS' own Mister Rogers.

Susanne brings pride, care, and genuine joy to her work, even in the high-pressure world of live TV.

AMNA NAWAZ: Susanne, we will miss your hilarious stories, your laugh echoing down the hall, and how you made the work that we do better every day.

GEOFF BENNETT: And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Geoff Bennett.

AMNA NAWAZ: And I'm Amna Nawaz.

On behalf of the entire "News Hour" team, thank you for joining us.