♪ john: tonight on pbs news weekend. what's behind the current surge in covid infections, and what it tells us about how we deal with the disease moving forward. >> the of us completely eliminating and eradicating it is unlikely. and so in the same way that we see flu kind of continue to reemerge in our community every year, covid-19 is here and it's here to stay. john: then the latest on massive protests in serbia accusing the president, who is a strong putin ally, of rigging elections.

and how minnesota launched a redesign of its state flag to update its complicated composition and culturally insensitive agery. ♪ >> major funding for pbs news weekend has been provided by -- >> a proud supporter of public television. the world awaits. a world of flavor, diverse destinations, and immersive experiences. a world of leisure and british style. all with white star service. ♪ >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and

institutions. and friends of the newshour. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ john: good evening. i'm john yang. late today, the faa ordered the temporary worldwide grounding of about 171 boeing 737 max 9's until the planes can be inspected. it comes after a window blew out of a months-old 737 max 9 last night at about 16,000 feet, six minutes after the alaska airlines flight took off from portland, oregon.

the rapid depressurization sucked a t-shirt off a child. no one was seriously hurt and the plane safely made an emergency landing safely back in portland. the first weekend of the new year is seeing the first major winter storm of the season. it is for millions along the east coast. it has been mostly rain along the mid-atlantic but highway crews have been treating roads in the carolinas in anticipation of as much of a foot of snow by monday in boston and upstate new york. in kansas, snowplows cleared roads and runways. in arkansas, an icy i-94 became an obstacle course. further south it was heavy rain. hezbollah launched more than 60 rockets from southern lebanon into northern israel today, they said it was the initial response to this week's targeted killing of a hamas commander in beirut. israel said it responded with a drone strike. tension along that border stokes

fears of a wider conflict, which is what secretary of state antony blinken is working to avoid on a diplomatic mission to the region. his trip began today in turkey. and it is to include several days next week in israel and the west bank. on the third anniversary of the january 6th assault on the capitol, the fbi said it's arrested three more defendants in the case. all were indicted in 2021. one has been in hiding since shortly after january 6th. the other two jumped bail last march before they were to go on trial. defense secretary lloyd austin has been in walter reed medical center since monday, but the pentagon didn't disclose it until last night. and there are reports that he spent four days in the intensive care unit. austin spokesman major general pat ryder said he was admitted for complications from an unspecified minor medical procedure. today ryder said austin resumed his full duties last night while still in the hospital. but could not say when austin would be released. the date for president biden's

thursday the union -- third state of the union has been set for thursday, march 7th. that's the latest a state of the union speech has been ever scheduled, coming two days after super tuesday and a month after a deadline for aotential government shutdown. still to come on "pbs news weekend," serbians take to the streets to claim election fraud. and how states are redesigning their flags to make them more appealing and culturally sensive. >> this is pbs news weekend from weta studios in washington, host of the pbs newshour, weeknights on pbs. john: the united states is experiencing what's become a familiar pattern, an uptick in covid after the holidays and the big gatherings that accompany them. hospitalizations have risen eight weeks in a row, though they're below what they were in the last post-holiday period a year ago. hot spots have cropped up across the country as the new dominant variant jn1 has quickly spread

to account for more than 60 % of cases. jessica malaty rivera is an infectious disease epidemiologist at the de beaumont foundatn, a philanthropy that promotes public health. was this surge right now in any way a surprise, or is there anything unusual about it? dr. rivera: it is not that unusual. the virus continues to evolve as more and more people become infected, and the virus makes copies of itself and mutates, it changes. it gets better at evading our immune systems and making people sick. what is encouraging is that because of our hybrid immunity in the population between previous infections and vaccination, not as many people are becoming seriously ill and dying, though we are seeing hospitalizations continue to increase as more and more people become infected. the fact that we are seeing a surge, though, is not a surprise. in fact, it doesn't quite actually have the same seasonality as other viruses

like flu, or rsv, where we kind of see covid come every few months in these big surges. john: as an epidemiologist, what does this suggest to you about the future of our relationship with covid? dr. rivera: yeah, it's a great estion because i think we need to be preparing ourselves for living with sars-cov-2, the virus that causes covid 19, because it is well-established in the human population and among other populations in the animal kingdom. and because of that, the odds of us getting rid of it completely eliminating and eradicating it is unlikely. and so in the same way that we see flu kind of continue to reemerge in our community every year, we'll probably have to be dealing with covid outbreaks a couple times year, maybe 3 or 4 times a year, but the hope is that between our previous infections and vaccination, we will become better at preventing those serious illnesses and deaths. john: you talk about sort of getting used to living with covid. does that mean we can sort of forget about it, that we can sort of be blase about it? dr. rivera: it certainly does not mean that.

and i think that's a very important point to raise, because covid is not quite yet in the rearview mirror. yes, the state of emergency has ended, but covid-19 is here and it's here to stay. and so when i say living with covid, it means understanding that people will continue to g sick. we need to continue to encourage all of the mitigation efforts to reduce infections and severe illness. that includes masking, staying home when you're sick, testing at the appropriate time, vaccination when it's updated and available to folks because this is going to be part of our lives. john: and as you say, the federal public health emergency ended in may. a lot of things went away. the public campaigns about masking, about testing, about getting the vaccinations and also the tracking also ended. is that a handicap to an epidemiologist like yourself? dr. rivera: it is a severe handicap. you know, as an alum of the covid tracking project, our work

was focused on tracking all of that data at a very granular level. from the state level, we were tracking testing and cases and hospitalizations and deaths, and we did that on a volunteer basis. and now, because the emergency is over, you're not seeing the kind of funding that we need to be funding both the cdc and those state public health departments to get that granular data. we have many resources we have some dashboards, hospitalization data, we have wastewater surveillance. but we are a bit like we're flying blind when it comes to understanding the full scope of what's happening with the virus in our population. john: and as you say, we don't have it in the rearview mirror yet. but are you concerned that the public may feel like it's in the rearview mirror? dr. rivera: i'm very concerned about that. i think, you know, it's difficult to see a lot of people think about covid as not that serious, think about masking as something that was an artifact of the past. it is a very, very normal ing to mask when you're sick, to mask when other people are immunocompromised. it was part of our public health infrastructure and health care settings. so you know, how political it's

become, how contentious it has become, is quite discouraging because these things are effective at helping reduce harm, which is the basis of public health. john: jessica, we asked our viewers what they wanted to ask on this topic. rebecca rose in philadelphia writes, "do you think getting back to 2019 normalcy is currently in place or possible?" dr. rivera: you know, i would actually like to pivot the question a bit, because i think the conditions of 2019, in the many years prior to 2019, is how we got here. for many, many years, we were dealing with the defunding and the de-prioritization of public health, which is why we were so unequipped and unprepared for the impact of sars-cov-2. and as a result, we are now reactive. and instead of being proactive to something that's destabilizing. destabilizing, i don't want to go back to 2019. i want to see a much more well-funded and much more prioritized public health infrastructure in the u.s. and globally so that we can be

better prepared and better responding to something as major as a global pandemic. john: laura in new jersey asks, "should we be wearing masks? should public places like gyms report when their instructors have covid and tell the publ?" dr. rivera: i think masks are a very important part of our swiss cheese model of protection, right? it's not one thing that's going to completely eliminate risk. risk is subjective and it is also additive or prevention is additive. so will masks help reduce your risk when you're in very publicly crowded places like airports and malls and indoor theaters? yes, it will. mandates i don't think are going to come back anytime soon. and so as a result, i think it's a very personal choice. i encourage mask wearing in high risk settings. i personally continue to mask in high risk settings, and i think it should be part of our public health practice moving forward. john: jessica malaty rivera, an epemiologist at the de beaumont foundation. thank you very much. dr. rivera: thank you for having me. ♪

john: the balkan nation of serbia is a flashpoint in the european struggle between democracy and autocratic leaders. russia's war in ukraine heightens serbia's importance it resists western pressure to join sanctions on russia. now the nation is being torn apart by protests accusing the government of authoritarian president aleksander vucic -- who's a strong putin ally -- of widespread voter fraud in last month's elections. ali rogin has more. al in central belgrade, chants of "vucic, you are a thief!" more than two weeks after what protesters say was a stolen election. vucic declared a sweeping mandate for his serbian progressive party, following wins in parliamentary and local elections that he called ahead of schedule. but international observers say

vucic's ruling party dominates serbian media coverage and intimidates independent journalists, giving him an unfair advantage. on election day, there were reports of violence, ballot stuffing, and allegations of people getting bussed into different cities to vote. since the vote, protesters have amassed in belgrade, demanding the results be annulled. >> people are on the street, dissatisfied with the election theft which is obvious, everyone confirmed it. there has been a serious disruption of the electoral process, and that is why the elections have to be repeated. ali: opposition coalition leader marinka tepic has been on a hunger strike since the election. she addressed thcrowds on december 30th, just before she was hospitalized. >> i'm sorry that i can't say much. the only thing i can say is that i have already said everything

and that these elections must be annulled. ali: vucic has defended the results. he and russia say the protests were being controlled by the west. >> we want to steer our own politics here. we don't mind paying the price for all the rubbish and lies, because we know what the cost is. the election process will be concluded by the institutions of the republic of serbia. ali: for more on the implications of these election results, i'm joined by edward p. joseph. he teaches at johns hopkins school of advanced international studies and served for a dozen years in the balkans, including with the u.s. army. he has observed and organized numerous elections in the region. edward, thank you so much for being here. first of all, can you tell us a little bit about what sort of leader alexander vucic has been, both internally within serbia and with with regard to other countries? mr. joseph: president vucic is the classic autocratic leader. he's attempting to establish

thorough control of serbia with a veneer of democracy. and that's what we see in these recent elections. this is what what is known as illiberal democracy. his neighbor and his mentor and patron within the eu, of course, is prime minister viktor orban of hungary. and orban set the model for this, where there's a veneer of, democracy, where you hold elections, but the elections are actually meaningless because the ruling party controls, has such dominance over the media landscape. the opposition is weakened. the media are hugely dominated by the ruling party and independent jrnalists, activists are intimidated. and that's what we've seen in serbia. ali: there was nothing requiring these elections to be held at this time. so why did he call for these elections at this time? mr. joseph: that is exactly right. these are, again, early elections. and the best explanation for them is that president vucic, as a result, in large part, mistaken u.s. policy by the

biden administration, uh, was in a crisis in late september. there was a shocking confrontation in the north of kosovo. this is where nato troops, including u.s. troops, are deployed. a kosovo police patrol happened upon a serb militia group heavily armed, that could not have entered into kosovo without the serbian authorities knowing. and of course, that immediately, cast suspicion on president vucic himself. and this attack, which led to a shootout in the north, killing a kosovo police officer and and three serbs, was a huge shock because it showed in fact that the u.s. policy of trying to supplicate president vucic and somehow bring him over from an autocratic hungary, pro hungary, pro-russia orientation had failed. it was that crisis very likely that president vucic wanted to put behind him, reestablish his authority as as the sole preeminent political figure in

serbia and move forward. but it turns out that that is not going to be quite as simple as he thought. ali: so let's talk a little bit more about u.s. policy toward serbia and the different priorities that the united states is balancing. how have they approached vucic? what do you make of their response to this crisis? mr. joseph: i would say this about u.s. policy which has brought us to the this brink. i would put it this way. president biden has gotten the balkans right consistently. president biden himself understands the region, and he set off his administration with the words that we are in a challenge of democracy versus autocracy. so president biden has gotten it right, but his administration has gotten it completely wrong. they've abandoned that. so we have a disparity in the balkans, where the united states treats serbia's neighbors to a much harsher, higher standard. i should point out we have had two violent confrontations in kosovo this year. we had potential issues in

montenegrin, which is -- in montenegro, which is a nato ally. and we have a brewing crisis, possibly even beginning this month in bosnia-herzegovina. so this this is the mistake of the biden administration has been to treat president vucic. to this different, softer standard on the belief that somehow we can bring him over. instead, what it has done is it has projected fear, the u.s. basically projecting fear of belgrade, which president vucic correctly interprets as weakness and takes advantage. this all goes, of course, to the benefit of his ally, which is russia. ali: sure. unless talk more about russia. how does this affect his relationships with putin? mr. joseph: we see clearly that russia and serbia are aligned. so we have this what is called a balance. but in fact, the truth is a pro-russian policy in belgrade. and we see this openly now.

so we have the absurdity of the united states, which continues to cater to president vucic. and we have the absurdity where, president vucic is meeting with his close and favorite ambassador, the russian ambassador. and the two of them are openly blaming the united states and the european union for fomenting these protests in serbia, which are legitimate protests. these are protests by the opposition, by democracy activists who believe and with good reason, that the election, particularly in the capital belgrade, has been stolen from them. and again we see in the communication of the united states particularly the embassy in belgrade of avoiding the principles, the very principles that president biden stated or at the foundation of his administration. instead of sticking to our principles, we again project fear, which vucic interprets as

weakness. for an administration that's in its own election year, this year, this portends very badly. ali: fascinating stuff. edward joseph with the johns hopkins school of advanced international studies. thank you so much for breaking this down for us. ♪ john: state flags have become part of the national reckoning of cultural seitivity and the historical treatment of native americans by white settlers. ali rogin is back to tell us how minnesota is poised to get a new flag in may, redesigned to get rid of what one critic called "a cluttered genocidal mess." ali: atop minnesota's flag, which has flown over the state for six decades, the phrase "l'etoile du nord" - the north star. but critics say this flag needs a new direction. >> it just was kind of a cluttered mess and you couldn't really tell what was going on on it. ali: in 2021, state representative mike frieberg

introduced the bill to replace the flag, which depicts a native american man riding away on a horse, as a settler plows the land. >> the problems with the imagery on the seal are etty incontrovertibly racially motivated merit cash motivated. >> for me as a dakota wia, or dakota woman, i felt the old flag was offensive. ali: shelley buck represents the prairie island indian community, southeast of minneapolis. she was part of a 17-member commission, set up by the democratic-majority legislature to choose a new flag and state seal. >> it was important to see this flag change because this is our ancestral homeland. a lot of tribes throughout the country have a migration sry to where they are currently. but for the dakota people here in minnesota, this is our place of birth, of our creation story tells us we come into human form from the waters here in minnesota. ali: in fact, native people have called this region home for more than 10,000 years. and today there are 11 federally recognized tribes with

reservations across the state. teacher and historian anita gaul, who previously ran for state senate, also served on the commission. >> minnesota's current flag is what many people call a seal on a blue bed sheet. you know, slap your states on a blue bed sheet, which about 20 other states in the union have basically the exact same design. ali: the commission received more than 2100 submissions, ranging from serious and symbolic, to just silly. >> somebody submitted a picture of their dog which went absolutely viral all over the state. others had, and this is one of my favorites. so our state bird is the loon. and so some people submitted a loon, but with laser eyes coming at, laser eyed loons. >> i remember when some of the funnier flag submissions came in, like the picture of the bag with the word b-a-y-g written on it for the way apparently people hear minnesotans pronouncing that word.

i thought, oh, my god, people are going to think this whole process is just a joke. but i actually think it kind of had the opposite effect, and i think it generated a lot of interest and public involvement in the process. ali: minnesota wasn't the first state to redesign its flag. there have long been calls for several southern states to scrap flags with ties to the confederacy. mississippi changed its flag in 2020. other states sougha more distinctive symbol. utah's new flag becomes official next year. illinois, maine and michigan are also considering redesigns, also for design purposes. >> state flags are starting to change for two reasons: removing offensive symbolism and improving the branding of the state. ali: ted kaye represents the north american vexillological association. that's the formal way to describe a flag enthusiast. he also wrote the book "good flag, bad flag." kaye says the winning design, by 24-year old andrew prekker, is a very good flag. the new design includes a light blue panel representing the state's lakes, a navy one resembling its shape, and a white, eight-pointed north star.

>> minnesota's flag design probably would rate among the top 10 of u.s. state flags >> now, it will be one of those flags that people look at and they'll instantly know. that's minnesota's flag. ali: at the famous mall of america, some fellow minnesotans agreed. others objected, very nicely of course. >> i mean, it's pretty decent. they could have added some sparkle or bedazz, but it's pretty decent. it's not so bad. >> i was hoping it would really, you know, you would look at it and there's minnesota. i don't get that from what was decided upon. >> i think minnesotans have a bit more personality than that. i think just the 3 colors, i think they could have put a little more thought into it. ali: in a statement, prekker said he hoped his design "can finally represent our state and all its people properly." that was the commission's goal, says commission chair luis fitch, a graphic designer who represented the state's council on latino affairs. >> all of us, doesn't matter which party you are,

socioeconomic, if you are a recent arrival immigrant or if you've been here for generations and generations, or if you're american indian, we all want the same. we want our government to be transparent, we want housing, we want our kids to have a good education. the new design becomes official on may 11th, minnesota's statehood day - a fitting birthday present for the north star state. for pbs news weekend, i'm ali rogin. ♪ john: and that is pbs news weekend for this saturday. tomorrow, as israel's war with hamas enters its fourth month, we look at the worsening humanitarian crisis facing gaza's children. i'm john yang. for all of my colleagues, thanks for joining us. see you tomorrow. >> major funding for pbs news weekend has been provided by -- >> consumer cellular, how may i

help you? this is a pocket dial. well, somebody's pocket, thought i would let you know with consumer cellular you get nationwide coverage with no contract. that is kind of our thing. have a nice day. ♪ >> and with e ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪

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