hello this is bbc news. the headlines: the world health organization says it is very worried about the rise in covid cases in europe and is urging countries to "drastically" increase the use of facemasks and vaccinations. there have been violent clashes over new covid restrictions in the netherlands, with two people shot and wounded by police in rotterdam. austria has also seen demonstrations today, after a new lockdown was announced. there have been calls for calm in the us, following the court verdict that cleared us teenager kyle rittenhouse of murder. a public consultation starts on a potential ban on single—use plastics like disposable cutlery and polystyrene boxes in england. hundreds of tesla drivers have been locked out of their vehicles, after the car—maker's app stopped working. regular train services have returned to the dartmoor line in devon for the first time in 49 years.

now on bbc news, infodemic: tennessee — matt danzico explores how tennessee became ground zero for america's covid culture wars. this is shelley and brad fiscus. shelley is a doctor here in tennessee and lead the roll—out of covid vaccines across the state. it's been pretty intense. this is about control, compliance and obedience. i am very sceptical of— the department of health right now. one in 475 or so tennesseans is dead and we are going to pretend that bodies aren't stacking up. shelley's husband, brad, sat on the local school board. keep it calm. no more masks.

they see this as an opportunity to make a name for themselves. ultimately, they are very toxic for our community. i think for the kids, they don't have a voice in all of this. - put on your mask and shut up and do as we say. - the pandemic isn't over, but it's already changed everything. it's a big experiment, we've never done this before. we have an infodemic. how do you know what information to believe, what information not to believe? what's real, what's not? this is real, it's shelley and brad's forever home. it's where they raise their kids and plan to spend their retirement. the plans changed, especially during the pandemic. and this is shelley and brad taking it in, one last time... ..before they flee the state. i didn't choose this ending to this chapter and i think i will cry driving away.

myjob was to roll out the vaccine across tennessee. it seems like a big job? it was a big job. i loved it, it was a wonderfuljob. i really thought i would retire from this position. shelley, how does it, how does it feel? it sucks, it sucks, it sucks. it sucks, it sucks. sucks. you knew what i was going to ask? i just want to get on the road. it has been a challenge to be in public health in the state of tennessee. there is no authority in the department of health to order people to quarantine or isolate as they should, as we have done for hundreds of years to stop the spread

of highly infectious diseases. we have a super majority of republicans in our state legislator. we have very far republican government. when the government feels unprepared, and it's natural, to have the temptation to think that growing the size of government and reaching for the nearest mandate. reaching for the nearest mandate will save everything. but not in tennessee. there is very much this, it is your choice if you wear a mask, it's your choice if you get vaccinated and we are just going to pretend its business as usual. there is no mask mandates, there is no hurry to get vaccinated because choice and liberty. we've almost had the highest case count per population in the entire world for cases of covid—i9 and we would be told, no,

you can't send out a message with a strong recommendation to get vaccinated. and i would go on these cdc calls and say, so our governor won't allow us to message about vaccination, what are other states doing? the folks at the cdc wouldn't even know what to say. as tennessee woke up to a surge of covid cases and deaths this summer, state lawmakers argued over a campaign to vaccinate children over 12, even though america's top drug agency had already declared it safe and effective. when you have advertisements like this, with a young girl with a patch on her arm all smiling, that's peer pressure applied by the state of tennessee, by your department. republicans were also furious over an e—mail shelley wrote to doctors explaining a state rule that permitted them to vaccinate kids over 14 without parental consent. it's very disconcerting to see

the letter from dr fiscus. . i am encouraging the department of health to back off. _ things crumbled from there, the state department of health abandoned its vaccine outreach to teenagers and shelley was abruptly fired. the week before i was terminated from the state, an amazon package arrived that had a dog muzzle in it, arrived at my desk. i fully expected that i would have graffiti on my garage door, or that my mailbox would be bashed in. my husband had someone follow him from a school board meeting once and called me and said, i've got a tail. is this an information war? i think media has had a huge, negative influence. a lot of it is fox news and then breitbart. in a new study, smith and three other medical experts prove what he and this show have been telling you for more than a year, that

hydroxychloroquine can save lives. you know, ivermectin, _ hydroxychloroquine, there are other things available that people are choosing to use - other than the shot. ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine are approved drugs, just not for treating covid. and federal scientists specifically warn they could be dangerous. yet these alternative treatments have become hugely popular among vaccine sceptics in america. their use fuelled by misinformation spreading on social media. it's this negative truth and then a whole lot of inflammatory amygdala firing hyperbole. and it's notjust fox news, there are news agencies on the left that will also take a little nugget of truth and spin it up into something more that is more salacious. and it is designed to manipulate. so it is a war.

i visited shelley and brad in tennessee on the very weekend they were packing up their home. butjust as they were on their way out, someone else was on the way in. the new arrival in this tennessee information war. oh, my goodness. i used to represent zsa zsa gabore after she slapped a cop in beverly hills. talk about a crisis. and five years later she came up to me and she says, michael, could you please help me? she says, i'm tired of being known as the lady who slapped the cop. ready for this one? ok, that's michael, who is nice enough to hold one of my cameras. he's a publicist and the driver is rod lunn, the man who hired michael. i am in the back filming and sitting next to rod's fiance, morgan. you see, rod is a singer—songwriter who reached out to michael after getting caught up in a viral video filmed after a school board meeting.

we know who you are. keep it calm. no more masks. keep it calm. that's him screaming at a parent who supported kids wearing masks. just calm down. we know who you are. you represented zsa zsa gabore in in a crisis communication campaign? yes, sir. and you are now representing rod? correct. but she said, darling, when you have lemons, make lemonade. the more you can throw your but in the back the better posture you will have. there you go. i was literally being cancelled, - threatened etc and i needed somebody who could obviously navigate through the hardships - in what lay ahead. i've never been a hated person my whole life, i i've beenjust the opposite.

i write love songs. i'm going to play the first chorus and then take another song. - kill me, destroy me, cancel me but don't. threatened me and my family. so i brought michael— in so we didn't end up in a ditch, my parents didn't end up, you know... - i mean, with the concerns that you raise i would imagine that security or the police would be the right response? why a publicist? you are right, we did - have the police, the tvi, the mail inspectors, . they pretty much lived over here for a while. you know, people were really. concerned about what was going on in the school system, as you can see. - and overall about losing their- freedom, their freedom for choice,

their freedom for their kids. i should point out here that rod doesn't have any kids in the school district where he was shouting at that parent. in fact, he doesn't have any kids at all. |you know, a child is more likely to die of a bee sting than covid. but nobody ever has that conversation. . says who? that was posted, it wasi actually an israeli study. shouting. going back to that video, - about 20 people out of 2000 are speaking on behalf of the community. - please go ahead. ok, i'm a board—certified in internal medicine and paediatrics and i am a practising hospital doctor. i am also a wcs mother. i am asking you to implement a temporary mask mandate, at least until every student has had the opportunity to be vaccinated against covid—19.

and those, of course, - are the hired people to come and speak to the school board. did you just say the hired people? are you insinuating the people who spoke up during the school board are being paid to deliver a pro mask message? people are getting paid at the school board - meetings, absolutely. to be clear, there is no evidence rod's paid speaker accusation is true. and rod's bee sting comment is false as well. and while the phrase, alternative facts, may be new... first steps... conspiracy theories have always been part of american politics. but in recent years they've moved from the fringe to the mainstream. now, facts are being challenged and confronted at a very local level, too, and by people who were not only motivated by politics. michael thinks that viral attention on rod will do wonders

for his music career. he's got the handsome good looks, but he's also got down the home spirit and he's got the kindness and compassion to complement that. so he's really, to me, is the ideal client to have. this is what i love about the south, we love our flags. _ you know the north's got them too. laughter. could it lay there and i can put that suitcase may be in my car? it'sjust crazy that shelley's embroiled in what she is and with public health and now my experiences in public ed have been

impacted, too, by politics. brad, shelley's husband, was actually on the very school board that rod was railing against. one family, two flashpoints in the covid culture war. mr fiscus? as we've been here this evening, the first thing we must all acknowledge is that we all want what's best for the children of wcs. i'm going to wait. they see this as an opportunity to make a name for themselves, an opportunity to make money for themselves. an opportunity to become a national hero. ultimately, they are very toxic for our community. unfortunately, some media has used it to sensationalise the opposition.

and for us and our family, we've had bullet point headlines hit that have really harmed our family. we've just arrived at in rutherford county, tennessee at a school board meeting. and it's here, during the last session when a student was advocating for masks was actually mocked and heckled when he explained his grandmother had recently died of covid—i9. this time last year my grandmother, who was a former teacher at the rutherford county school system, died of covid because someone wasn't wearing a mask. this is a very... no. shut up. this is a very... listen, shut up. my question is, when did school board meetings become these really heated hubs of debate around civil rights?

what was that last meeting light compared to this meeting? there was more people. we had a young man get up there, make a preposterous statement, i and absolutely the posture statement that some unknown, ambiguous, - non—masker killed his grandmother. that's laughable. and then want to close the meeting of about transparency— and won't let somebody talk. how is that transparent? this is disgusting, - these people are sick. some politicians are trying to turn public safety measures, that is children wearing masks in school, into political dispute for their own political gain. intimidation and threats we're seeing across the country are wrong. butjoe biden's critics accuse him of playing politics. he won the white house by promising to unite america after the trump years,

but his efforts to contain the pandemic through vaccine and mask mandates are only deepening the divide between places that are republican red and democratic blue. car horn blares. we moved here injune. and we moved here because... ..i mean, orlando is way too ruthless. we wanted to come somewhere more conservative. we are actually from pennsylvania so we want to raise our kids in a little bit more of a comfortable, slower lifestyle than what we currently have. that's all. there's a lot of stuff _ going on in the school districts as a parent that you see and a lot of people are bringing _ their political opinions into children's lives. l i want to go to an area where everything is i a little less political. talking about being less political, i would say it looks to me that you picked possibly the most politically heated area in the country right now?

well, that's what you go angie visited the placesl for and you should check out box county, pennsylvania. . yeah, this is disconcerting the way we are weaponising public health. i hear about people who are coming here because they feel that this is a place where they can have religious freedom. these two issues really track a lot with each other. i think a lot of the people that are opposed to masks and vaccines, you'll find are people who are very, very religious. oh, myjesus, forgive us our sins. save us from the fires of hell. lead all souls from heaven, especially those in most need of they mercy. for me, there is two issues. there is one, i'm an american, let's just say i'm a catholic and then i'm an american. so from a catholic perspective we have freedom of conscience

and we have free will. especially when it comes to medical interventions. so i was born in california, my dad, ironically, worked forjohnson &johnson. how does he feel about the vaccines, having worked forjohnson &johnson? johnson &johnson is not a favourable company in our view. so he's not taking it. was tennessee more attractive because it is more conservative than the state of california? partially, yes. we kept thinking that the — partially, yes. we kept thinking that the way california was going, it was_ that the way california was going, it was getting a little crazy and getting — it was getting a little crazy and getting very expensive. in it was getting a little crazy and getting very expensive. in what way was california _ getting very expensive. in what way was california getting _ getting very expensive. in what way was california getting crazy? - was california getting crazy? various laws, education, i don't know _ various laws, education, i don't know. , ., ., ., ., know. kids are inoculated for other diseases, know. kids are inoculated for other diseases. but _ know. kids are inoculated for other diseases, but not _ know. kids are inoculated for other diseases, but not enough - know. kids are inoculated for other diseases, but not enough is - know. kids are inoculated for other diseases, but not enough is known| diseases, but not enough is known about the covid vaccine yet. she is also unsure about the lack of research with masks. h0 also unsure about the lack of research with masks.-

also unsure about the lack of research with masks. ., ., ., , research with masks. no one has ever worn masks — research with masks. no one has ever worn masks for— research with masks. no one has ever worn masks for that _ research with masks. no one has ever worn masks for that many _ research with masks. no one has ever worn masks for that many hours - research with masks. no one has ever worn masks for that many hours for i worn masks for that many hours for that many— worn masks for that many hours for that many days. i think it is a big experiehcs _ that many days. i think it is a big experience. we have never done this before _ experience. we have never done this before and _ experience. we have never done this before and i— experience. we have never done this before and ijust don't think we know— before and ijust don't think we know the — before and ijust don't think we know the overall, long—term effects from it _ know the overall, long—term effects from it from mentally, emotionally, physicattx _ from it from mentally, emotionally, physically i— from it from mentally, emotionally, physically. ijust don't think we know — physically. i 'ust don't think we know. ~ ., ., ,, ., ., ., know. what we do know about covid kee -s know. what we do know about covid keeps evolving- _ know. what we do know about covid keeps evolving. the _ know. what we do know about covid keeps evolving. the centre - know. what we do know about covid keeps evolving. the centre for- keeps evolving. the centre for disease control says the approved vaccines are safe and effective and wearing masks indoors can help stop the spread of an outbreak but missteps and mixed messages from the white house has created confusion. that has allowed others to fill in the gaps. that has allowed others to fill in the aa s. ., , , that has allowed others to fill in then-as. ., ,, , .,, the gaps. from wellness festivals. zinc is very — the gaps. from wellness festivals. zinc is very important. _ the gaps. from wellness festivals. zinc is very important. this - the gaps. from wellness festivals. zinc is very important. this is - zinc is very important. this is crucial. two _ zinc is very important. this is crucial. two emerging - zinc is very important. this is - crucial. two emerging politicians. we see what is coming, it is not 'ust we see what is coming, it is not just about — we see what is coming, it is not just about a _

we see what is coming, it is not just about a mass, this whole thing doesn't _ just about a mass, this whole thing doesn't have anything to do with a mask _ doesn't have anything to do with a mask. everybody understands that, right _ mask. everybody understands that, riuht. ,, . , mask. everybody understands that, riiht, ,. , right. such is the case with robbie starbucks, right. such is the case with robbie starbucks. a _ right. such is the case with robbie starbucks, a music— right. such is the case with robbie starbucks, a music producer, - starbucks, a music producer, conservative influencer who is running for a congressional seat in tennessee. unlike brad, he is typically the cameraman he has hired to follow him around. well, cameraman and ammunition holder, apparently. you cameraman and ammunition holder, a- arentl . ., ., �* cameraman and ammunition holder, anarentl. ., ., �* , , . apparently. you don't see this much in california. — apparently. you don't see this much in california, people _ apparently. you don't see this much in california, people carrying - in california, people carrying ammunition? it is a lot easier to attack— ammunition? it is a lot easier to attack the — ammunition? it is a lot easier to attack the issues. i say attack the issues _ attack the issues. i say attack the issues because i don't like to say i want _ issues because i don't like to say i want to— issues because i don't like to say i want to attack people, i don't want to attack— want to attack people, i don't want to attack people. it is not democrat or republican any more, it is about good _ or republican any more, it is about good and _ or republican any more, it is about good and evil. do you want to be on the right— good and evil. do you want to be on the right side of history, where you stood _ the right side of history, where you stood with— the right side of history, where you stood with freedom or you stood with

evil. stood with freedom or you stood with evii~ what _ stood with freedom or you stood with evil. what we have been living through— evil. what we have been living through for over two years. a lot of the stuff— through for over two years. a lot of the stuff being sent to me is stuff that has— the stuff being sent to me is stuff that has been sent by the medical immunitx — that has been sent by the medical immunity. i cannot tell you the of doctors _ immunity. i cannot tell you the of doctors and — immunity. i cannot tell you the of doctors and nurses reaching out about _ doctors and nurses reaching out about the — doctors and nurses reaching out about the vaccine mandates saying they believe in natural immunity. why you? — they believe in natural immunity. why you? how many doctors are reaching out to you? abs, why you? how many doctors are reaching out to you? a significant number. i reaching out to you? a significant number- i can _ reaching out to you? a significant number. i can show _ reaching out to you? a significant number. i can show you - reaching out to you? a significant number. i can show you some - reaching out to you? a significant number. i can show you some of| reaching out to you? a significant - number. i can show you some of them off the _ number. i can show you some of them off the record~ — number. i can show you some of them off the record. i would say it is partly — off the record. i would say it is partly because we are building a movement. i am somebody who is fighting _ movement. i am somebody who is fighting for— movement. i am somebody who is fighting for them.— movement. i am somebody who is fighting for them. robbie did show me a few messages _ fighting for them. robbie did show me a few messages from - fighting for them. robbie did show me a few messages from doctors, | fighting for them. robbie did show. me a few messages from doctors, but none that mentioned natural immunity. this political message clearly resonates with many americans and the backlash against perceived government overreach helped republicans win big in a series of local and state elections across the country in november. but resistance to the vaccine has also

come at a price in tennessee. each red dot represents a life lost to covid. the death toll in the state has now passed 16,000. while the number of covid cases has gone up and down in the pandemic, the surge in tennessee was the first when vaccines were available. almost 100 people a day were dying when i visited at the end of september. hospitalisation, 90% are unvaccinated people, people that get sick enough and need me in the intensive — sick enough and need me in the intensive care unit and when i talk to them, — intensive care unit and when i talk to them, they say i should have been vaccinated~ _ to them, they say i should have been vaccinated. and unfortunately, many of those _ vaccinated. and unfortunately, many of those people will succumb to the disease _ of those people will succumb to the disease and they will die.— of those people will succumb to the disease and they will die. people on both sides of _ disease and they will die. people on both sides of the _ disease and they will die. people on both sides of the aisle _ disease and they will die. people on both sides of the aisle have - disease and they will die. people on both sides of the aisle have said - both sides of the aisle have said the information coming out from the cdc has been confusing, what do you say to that? we cdc has been confusing, what do you say to that?— say to that? we have talked about this in the medical _ say to that? we have talked about this in the medical world, - say to that? we have talked about this in the medical world, we - say to that? we have talked about this in the medicalworld, we have this in the medical world, we have an infodemic, meaning we have

truckloads — an infodemic, meaning we have truckloads of information. how do you know— truckloads of information. how do you know what information to believe. — you know what information to believe, what information not to believe. — believe, what information not to believe, what information not to believe, what is real, what is not? the message from the cdc has changed over the _ the message from the cdc has changed over the course of time and a lot of that change — over the course of time and a lot of that change has occurred because we have gotten more information. in a coule of have gotten more information. in a counle of days _ have gotten more information. in —. couple of days when you are in the car finally leaving your forever home, he in tennessee, the home you thought you would be in for the rest of your life, what is going to be going through your mind? i of your life, what is going to be going through your mind? i think i will lose it- _ going through your mind? i think i will lose it. |— going through your mind? i think i will lose it. i really _ going through your mind? i think i will lose it. i really do. _ going through your mind? i think i will lose it. i really do. i _ going through your mind? i think i will lose it. i really do. i am - will lose it. i really do. i am tearing up thinking about it because this has been forced upon me. this isn't something that i chose to have happened. i guess i did in that i chose to speak up, i chose to talk about how politics does not belong in public health and how people were

making decisions that impact the lives and the deaths of people in this state, the people they were elected to protect and to serve. hagar elected to protect and to serve. how are ou elected to protect and to serve. how are you feeling _ elected to protect and to serve. how are you feeling right now? pretty - are you feeling right now? pretty sad. iwill are you feeling right now? pretty sad. i will be _ are you feeling right now? pretty sad. i will be ok _ are you feeling right now? pretty sad. i will be ok in _ are you feeling right now? pretty sad. i will be ok in a _ are you feeling right now? pretty sad. i will be ok in a few- are you feeling right now? pretty sad. i will be ok in a few hours. | it isa it is a quiet introduction to the

weekend for many areas but i have something of a dramatic change on the way. not bad in places, a lot of cloud across a good part of scotland, northern ireland to start the day and much of the cloud has tumbled further south and fairly leaden skies across many parts of england and wales ahead of this weather front. england and wales ahead of this weatherfront. once england and wales ahead of this weather front. once these fronts have worked their way through the british isles and they will complete the journey within the next 18 hours or so, then we will introduce a much colder regime to all parts of the british isles as we make our way through sunday. some of that air coming from well up on the norwegian sea, so much cooler than we have seen of late. weather front gradually easing out of scotland, northern ireland and down into the northern ireland and down into the north of england, the north of wales to complete the afternoon. ahead of that, dry but not overly sparkly. best of the sunshine to finish the day in scotland and northern ireland but showers across a good part of scotland. those showers urged on by

a very keen northerly reasoned, which will go down to all parts behind that weather front so by the end of the night there will be a pattering of showers in eastern and northern spots in land and the sky stay clear, you will end up to a touch of frost on sunday. even quite far south. a lot of sunshine around, a lot of showers and some of it at wintry across the north york moors. one or two showers running down the north channel to wales in the south—west of england and those are the best of the temperatures. friday, aberdeen, 17. sunday, aberdeen, seven. notjust in aberdeen, seven. notjust in aberdeen, feeling cold everywhere. but that short, sharp shock of a cold northerly, and it will be a raw feel on sunday, cut off as we build in high pressure from the atlantic, it settled things down across the british isles. but keep a lot of cloud for the good part of the day. elsewhere, dry and sunny, but the sunshine does nothing for the

temperatures. because we have changed the air mass. it is not mild from the atlantic any more, it is much cooler and that is the way it stays through the rest of the forthcoming week. there will be whether front is at times, it's not all straightforward high pressure, but you will notice it cold by day and also by night. and by this time next weekend it could be colder again.

this is bbc news with the latest headlines. the world health organisation says it is very worried about the rise in covid cases in europe and is urging countries to "drastically" increase the use of face masks and vaccinations. there have been violent clashes over new covid restrictions in the netherlands, with two people shot and wounded by police in rotterdam. elsewhere a rally has been held in austria after a new national lockdown was announced. there have been calls for calm in the us after a teenager who shot dead two people during racial unrest last year was cleared of murder. a public consultation starts on a potential ban on single—use plastics like disposable cutlery and polystyrene boxes in england. hundreds of tesla drivers have been locked out of their vehicles after the carmaker�*s app stopped working.

regular train services have returned to the dartmoor line