NOW | PBS
A weekly television news program on PBS

• Credit and Credibility
  What role did the credit rating agencies play in the current economic crisis? A former managing director at Standard & Poor's speaks out on U.S. television for the first time about how he was pressured to compromise standards in a push for profits. Frank Raiter reveals what was really going on behind closed doors at the credit rating agencies the public relies on to evaluate the safety of their investments. "During this period, profit was primary; analytics were secondary," Raiter tells NOW Senior Correspondent Maria Hinojosa. Who was watching the watchers? Surprising new revelations in the economic debacle.
• Daughters for Sale
  Unable to make ends meet, many families in western Nepal have been forced to sell their daughters, some as young as six, to work far from home as bonded servants in private homes. With living conditions entirely at the discretion of their employers, these girls seldom attend school and are sometimes forced into prostitution. NOW travels to Nepal during the Maghe Sankranti holiday, when labor contractors come to the villages of the area to "buy" the children. There, we meet the Nepalese Youth Opportunity Foundation, which is trying to break the cycle of poverty and pain with an enterprising idea: providing desperate families with an incentive to keep their daughters: a piglet or a goat that can ultimately be sold for a sum equivalent to that of their child's labor. The organization says it has brought thousands of girls home to live with their families, but many cultural and political challenges still stand in their way.
• Paradise Lost
  Just this week, a top UN official predicted that by the middle of this century, the world should expect six million people a year to be displaced by increasingly severe storms and floods caused by climate change. But for many island nations in the South Pacific, climate change is already more than just a theory -- it is a pressing, menacing reality. These small, low-lying islands are frighteningly vulnerable to rising temperatures and sea levels that could cause flooding and contaminate their fresh water wells. Within 50 years, some of them could be under water. NOW travels to the nation of Kiribati to see up close how these changes affect residents' daily lives and how they are dealing with the reality that both their land and culture could disappear from the Earth. We also travel to New Zealand to visit an I-Kiribati community that has already left its home, and to the Pacific Island Forum in Niue to see how the rest of the region is coping with the here-and-now crisis of climate change.
• Our Pakistan Problem & The Right Approach to Iran?
  Iran and Pakistan are likely to be the sites of foreign policy flashpoints under the Obama Administration, but do we understand each country well enough to take the best approach? David Brancaccio sits down with author and journalist Tariq Ali, who grew up in Pakistan; and Tehran-born author Hooman Majd for unique insight into our thorny diplomatic, cultural, and political relations with each country. Obama will undoubtedly be put to the test, but how should he respond?
• Obama's Challenge
  Robert Kuttner, author of the new book "Obama's Challenge," talks to NOW on PBS about the enormous obstacles to -- and potential solutions for -- getting America's economy back on track. As President-elect Barack Obama unveils his top economic team, Kuttner offers his advice on how America's next leader should stimulate a recovery, including a $600 billion government spending package. "We need the government big time to prevent this from becoming the Great Depression II," Kuttner tells NOW's David Brancaccio.
• Credit and Credibility
  What role did the credit rating agencies play in the current economic crisis? A former managing director at Standard & Poor's speaks out on U.S. television for the first time about how he was pressured to compromise standards in a push for profits. Frank Raiter reveals what was really going on behind closed doors at the credit rating agencies the public relies on to evaluate the safety of their investments. "During this period, profit was primary; analytics were secondary," Raiter tells NOW Senior Correspondent Maria Hinojosa. Who was watching the watchers? Surprising new revelations in the economic debacle.
• Green Collar Jobs
  Can something as common as building materials represent an opportunity to create jobs, help the needy, and save the planet? NOW looks at two "green" projects keeping furniture, paint, cabinets, and other building supplies out of landfills and getting them into the hands of those who need them most. Will they be devastated by the economic meltdown, or do they signal a possible way out? Based in the Bronx, New York, Greenworker Co-operatives aims to set up worker-owned green businesses. The first of these is Rebuilders' Source, a store that sells recycled and donated building materials at affordable prices -- items that would otherwise have ended up in a landfill. "My vision now is a completely green South Bronx," says Bronx-born entrepreneur Omar Freilla, the founder of Greenworker Co-operatives, "with businesses throughout the area that are owned and run by people living in the area together." On the other side of the country, in Southern California, Materials Matter matches donations of furniture and high quality building materials with individuals, organizations, and homeless shelters that use the materials to literally rebuild lives. But the faltering economy has had an impact. "We have to decide whether the value of that donation will be worth the cost of transportation," says Materials Matter co-founder Alison Riback on her blog. "[The economic downturn] put a huge dent in our 'always say yes to a donation' philosophy."
• How Will He Lead?
  With the campaign and the election finally behind him, Barack Obama is now focusing on governing, but in which direction will he take the country? Charles Ogletree is in a unique position to know. The Harvard professor was an adviser to the university's Black Law Students Association when Obama was a member, and Ogletree has been a trusted advisor to the president-elect ever since. David Brancaccio sits down with Ogletree, who some say is being considered for a top Justice Department position, to get early insight on what we might expect from an Obama Administration.
• What Women Voters Want
  There are roughly eight million more female voters than male, and more women than men say they are still undecided. Senator Hillary Clinton and Governor Sarah Palin have undoubtedly changed the debate for many women voters, but the question is: how will they ultimately respond in the booth? This week, NOW on PBS travels to the swing state of Colorado to get insight from a diverse group of women. These pro-choice, pro-gun women don't fit into neat categories, but they do respond to issues built around working moms: pay equity, family leave, and child care. On the show, NOW also interviews former vice presidential Candidate Geraldine Ferraro for her take on the role of women in this election. Will the women's vote decide the election?
• Nurses Needed
  By the year 2020, a nationwide shortage of up to 500,000 trained nurses could mean that hundreds of thousands of patients will receive less attention and substandard treatment. Just as alarming, fewer nurses are choosing to teach the next generation of professionals, resulting in tens of thousands of applicants being turned away from the nation's nursing schools. NOW on PBS takes a hard look at the strains this crisis is placing on the entire medical system, as well as innovative efforts to reverse the trend.
• Virginia's Vote & A Better Bailout?
  The state of Virginia has not voted for a Democratic President since 1964, but this year its 13 electoral votes are up for grabs as late polls show the race too close to call. NOW on PBS goes behind the national polls and punditry and into living rooms of real Virginia voters to learn how they'll be making their decisions. Military families, retirees, and blue-collar workers of all political stripes share their concerns about faith, the war, and making ends meet in troubling economic times. Also on the show, an update on the economic crisis. As the government expands its protective reach into the private sector, now including banks, how will this ease the financial burden on private citizens? NOW checks in with the AFL-CIO's Damon Silvers, who has been closely involved in Congressional negotiations for the financial rescue plan, for answers and insight.
• Driven to Despair