this is g w news live from berlin tonight a new u.s. president declares a war time effort to combat the coronavirus pandemic on his 1st day in office president joe biden briefing the nation on priority number one tackling the pandemic that has already claimed more than 400000 american lives by all americans to wear masks for the next 100 days also coming up tonight the chancellor and the pandemic germany's angela merkel on the defensive over tough international lockdown measures warning we must take the new coronavirus variants seriously and deadly

bombings in baghdad for the 1st time in more than 3 years a suicide bomber strikes at the heart of iraq's capital killing and wounding scores of people. i bring to our viewers on p.b.s. in the united states and to our viewers all around the world well we begin tonight with u.s. president joe biden declaring war on the pandemic today he unveiled his administration's code 19 action plan just a few moments ago he began by addressing the nation and he spoke of the huge challenges that lie ahead to fight the pandemic and he assured the american people that help is on the way that banks in nations will be rolled out across the nation and that the u.s. will be seen let's take

a listen. let me be very clear things are going to continue to get worse before they get better the more moral we we held 2 nights ago will not be our last one unfortunately the death toll will likely top 500000 next month the cases will continue to mount we can get rid of this mess overnight it's going to take months 1st to turn things around but let me be equally clear we will get through this we will defeat this pandemic and to a nation waiting for action let me be the clearest on this point help is on the way today today i believe the national strategy on covert 90 i mean executive actions to beat this pandemic this plan reflects the ideas i set forward during the campaign and further refined over the past 3 months it consists of my

transition teams the task force 25 and the team here today and other experts put this plan together our national strategy is comprehensive it's based on science not politics it's based on truth not the now and it's detail you can review this entire planet this entire planet by going to white house dog it is so detailed it is over $100.00 as $198.00 pages and says and it's. a complete detail what we're going to do our plan starts with money aggressive safe and effective vaccination campaign to meet our goal of ministry 100000000 shots and our 1st 100 days in office we're on day one. this will be one of the greatest operational challenges our nation has ever undertaken and i'm committed to getting it done and we're committed to get it done and i explained as i explained

last week we'll move heaven and earth to get more people vaccinated for free. there was us president joe biden there are a dramatic difference to what the world has been used to coming from the united states when it comes to fighting the pandemic let's go to washington our correspondent oliver salat he's been following this story for us all over if you could just walk us through what is in this plan the highlights we know that the president wants all people in the u.s. to wear a mask for the next $100.00 days for example. it was a change in tone and rhetoric 1st of all right he was really frank and that of course includes the reality that the facts are uncomfortable for the american public but he was frank in laying that. really stressing why it is important to move on here he said the u.s. has 20 percent of all cold cases worldwide that minorities are particularly affected really pointing out why his call that

a. top on the top position of his part of his priority list in his agenda he made clear will get worse before it gets better and therefore they will or he will sign several executive orders to speed up the supplies so this is at the core now office response especially the vaccine supply there was no comprehensive plan by the trump administration there was no communication also between the tromp and the incoming biden administration on that matter so what he's trying to do is to supply 100000000 vaccine doses in the next 100 days and he also wants to beef up the testing supply uses production efforts for this so in all he said it will take months until all of this works and therefore appealing again to americans to mask up you also signed an executive order issuing a mask a mandate on federal property on public means of transport and also for his

staffers and that's particularly important for the public perception of course that people who are in the public eye in the public perception wear a mask and that the american public understands that this is a top priority now for president biden yeah i mean he's describing it as a wartime effort saying that the endeavor is mammoth signs in its scope and he also said that travelers going into the united states are now going to have to do things that we have been used to here in your now for months talk us through that. yes so he is demanding cold the tests for travelers coming in interesting lee. to trump administration and president trump himself on his last day in office wanted to relieve. an order that he had issued at the beginning of the pandemic against the advise and against criticism. not allowing for instance europeans to travel to

the united states and joe biden made it very clear that he will not. release that order that he will stick with these 2 with this travel ban and now made clear even making it a bit tighter here that people will have to get tested before they board a plane it will be the job of the airlines to control that if there is no available test and people can all travel to the united states but again this does not apply for your normal tourist because they have been blocked from transatlantic travel to the united states since the beginning of the pandemic if that's true they're also going to add to this requirement of a quarantine too for people coming in that's also new this is such a dramatic change in what the americans are used to. is it going to be an easy sell for the president. well it's certainly not going to be an easy sell but that's why he's really trying to push for transparency here he also said you can look of all

the cold it's a relief plan on the white house website even spelling out the internet address so this is one point and of course you know that the united states are in a very polarized situation perhaps as polarized as the country as the country hasn't been since the end of the civil war a lot of americans and in particular of cause supporters of the former president trump do not believe in president biden's legitimacy believe in those baseless claims of voter fraud and it's going to be very difficult to appeal to them but on the other hand he is the right person he has got some 50 years of experience he is rather a centrist someone who's got credibility especially among workers and therefore it's possible but it will be challenging for sure. by now we want to take a look at one of the worst hit states in america in this pandemic california. really is in

a state of emergency while doctors scramble around the clock to save people's lives says bring in patients every minute emergency rooms are on the verge of being overwhelmed nurse added mark until she has just finished her 12 hour shift in the e.r. her husband brian picks her up from work. for . 19 dominate aaron's life for months no she's been using the journey home from work to process the day's events on explained over and over in my head is the fact that . the mark on his face when i went through was going to say you plan. to make. so i just told the nurse they sent his pal on a farm and i'm sick of them in my arms and thrown in my car. so he can die in the

hospital. these days day is a constant companion for ed and her colleagues every last borns itself into their collective memory the work until they are about to collapse. it simply is the worst thing i've ever experienced in my life. i have seen more death in these past 10 months than all of my 8 years at nursing combined and i'm i'm a critical care nurse i'm a koku nurse i respond to all codes in the hospital she has nightmares she has trouble sleeping if she can't go to work she feels guilty. she just. she's just not here when she's physically here because she's still dealing with she's dealing with a lifetime of trauma and every she used to tell me maybe every couple of months about a patient that died and now it's every day it's multiple patients and it's not and

from what she tells me it's not like a good way to go it's it's suffering erin is on route to her next 12 hour shift she knows that the toughest weeks are still to come her dedication reflects on julie's multiple people fighting. us the tough situation there in california all over and for all americans not only are they dealing with this pandemic but there's also the economic crisis right. and there's a lot of suffering of course just last week some 900000 americans filed for unemployment so the numbers keep being on the higher side of course poverty is on the rise throughout the country so the gap is getting wider and wider there are evictions looming there is one executive order president biden signed stopping putting a halt on evictions that are related to the code 900 pandemic but of course the

suffering is still very big many people just lost their jobs there is a 2 trillion relief package the joe biden wants to put forward that certainly another top priority on his agenda and let me just go back to this topic. were time all of her how hard is it going to be for president. to bring people back together in america. and that certainly besides coal that the response to the biggest challenge perhaps for his presidency and it will be one of the points when we look back in a couple years. very important to assess how successful he really was as a u.s. president that has such a big burden as you follows after donald trump after all this divisiveness and hatred in the rhetoric of course so the country is very polarized of course a lot of trump supporters live in a parallel reality at this point at least they question the legitimacy of joe biden

as u.s. president they believe in this information and that was also made clear by joe biden is all inauguration speech he asked the americans for support he said he wanted to be a president falls for all americans but it will be a challenge to reach everyone on both sides of the political aisle will oversell that it's with the latest in washington over think you. are. well from fighting the coronavirus to fighting climate change president biden has signed executive orders to reverse trump era policies including rejoining the paris climate acourt domestically biden has called for net 0 carbon emissions for the u.s. by the year 2050 that includes a transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy with investments to help make the switch affordable for communities internationally former secretary of state john kerry is now the administration's climate envoy he's tasked with leading

worldwide efforts to reduce carbon emissions and to develop green technology. joining me now from copenhagen is john christensen director of the un e.p. d t u partnership they had binds developing countries on sustainable development it's good to have you on the program mr christensen let me ask you let me just get your reaction to president biden bringing the u.s. back into the paris climate agreement. yeah thank you for having me and of course it was a very strong symbolic act that they gave us the decree signed yesterday and it was immediately also transmitted to the un and us for not a month's time be part of the pair's agreement again and maybe they will still be participating but of course the terms real and climate hasn't been much active but as a patient and. already last night the u.n. secretary general welcomed the u.s.

backed by the u.s. leadership both internationally but also looking at with a climate plan right button and her. hair is receding and passed to domestic action that emerged in the introduction also so we're coming very much in and out of my u.s. friends i'm quite optimistic because if we not only have you got john kerry as the lead on its initial climate issues but you can also see it now but of the d.d. climate experts coming back in the structure of the new administration clearly brings in importance of climate across the different ministries there would be part of the national security council where you haven't had that type of issue representative before so it's not just symbolic action it's really something which will so penetrate the whole of history strappy. the paris climate accord there are some signs you say it may already be out of date somewhat do we

need a new agreement to be reached and soon as possible and can the u.s. help facilitate that. and we don't need you new agreement per se the way the present greenland is constructed it is with real intervals we basically ramp up the commitments and originally the cut we did in those kids were last year was supposed to be the 1st round up meeting about countries come back with a new commitments say this is what we said in paris now we've been implementing them to look at what to do and begin to encrease and visions and that has now been postponed until later this is so right now you have quite a number of countries have submitted new commitments and of course we hope also with the new administration that the us what are their missions or commitments or yeah i mean we did look at you know a lot and your emissions kept report us yet it will be

a terminus because trucks politics the us is now about 50 percent from the time going to insist that there's quite a steeper did it to meet those 50 percent it and if they want to increase and vicious than they really need to get moving on the green deal we know that john kerry will be attending the next to a climate summit that is planned to be in scotland this coming november how important is this meeting in november i've heard that it could be one of the last opportunities to really make a change that's going to slow the warming of the plant. in the i mean of course you can always continue and that is chances for the next one also but i mean what we say in the emissions report that we always put out just before the cup is that if you want to believe in the gold that was said in paris the sort of balloon 2 degrees at the end of the century proverbial one and a half then you need to get movie to move much faster than what's happening right

now otherwise we have to google current emissions more point to have something like 20 degrees and i don't think any of us want to live within a 3 degree plus we're in 20 or 100 it's going to be really difficult in terms of impacts so it's sort of this it is a kind of last chance to really get ramped up and what we've been arguing throughout the year here is that right with it in the previous discussion about a cool lead and sort of how it has impacted employment that it's really vital that we settle. back into it if you do things for climate that has positive and crime and and can generate that economic boost that has been suffering under the covert impact ok mr john christianson it's good to have you on the program we appreciate your time and your insights tonight thank you. thank you. let me take you back now to the pandemic getting the pandemic under control is the number one priority here for many european countries the drive to vaccinate as many people as possible

is one of the issues being discussed at the summit e.u. leaders there are also considering allowing travel with a coronavirus vaccination card but as you know we use marina strauss reports from brussels and some theory that this could be misused. no need for physical distancing partying traveling this is what europe looked like before the pandemic are returning to normal life is what europeans are craving many here hope that getting vaccinations will bring that life back but slow vaccination rollout in many european countries means it will take months before jobs are available to all this raises questions about whether vaccinated people should receive privileges they've been able to travel freely greece's prime minister has meant to tackle is floated the idea of an e.u. wide vaccination certificate to help restore crossbar to travel and tourism in his

country his fellow party member mary espied akki backs him it is akin to finn son development to say for the people to go forward to proceed forward to nation we have to motivate people into hiv to explain to them but it is important finally to create it oh space in order to protect ourselves in order to protect our way of life the e.u. executive says it will work with the e.u. states on a common approach it's a political and a legal decision what you allow to do with this or to fix it and i think this is something that we will certainly discuss on the common european level to have common rules but i think it's also indeed important always to find the right balance for example you can always combine either a certificate or and negative coverage test if you did not. access to a vaccination so far. opponents fear that attaching rights to vaccination certificate would divide europeans into 2 categories the vaccinated and the non

vaccinated watchdogs are warning there is a risk better certificate could be misused for example by potential employers. and the. humans which are dealing with health we have to be ready that we will use them for certain purposes only for this purpose the vaccines provide an amount of protection to those that have had them. but it's still not clear whether they also prevent people from passing on the virus the fear is that giving people who have been vaccinated the freedom of movement could also pose a threat to those who are not. here in germany chancellor angela merkel she is defending her decision to extend and tighten the country's national walk down she says too many people are still dying and she's urging germans to take the new variant seriously or risk facing a 3rd wave of infections. some unusual january sunshine in berlin

arrive for journalist questions with a more soil message to climbing in fiction writes fewer people and i say use just not good enough when still so many people are dying in germany from cars at 19. today alone we have lost over 1000 people this is terrible these are not just numbers these are people who have died all alone these are families who are mourning we have to keep reminding ourselves of this. the big worry now comes in the form of variant strains of coated 19 they have been isolated cases of them in germany so far they're one of the major reasons locked down measures were extended to meet february and some rules tightened a u. leaders want to stop the strains from spreading across the bloc without having to close its borders pongal americal says germany isn't planning to do that yet bosh.

be quite frank if a country with an infection rate twice as high as germany's opens all their shops and we still have ours closed then of course there's a problem. and when it comes to vaccinations another call for patience and enormous global demand and not enough doris's has led to a slower than expected rollout in germany uncle americal says things will improve repeating a promise that everyone in germany should be offered a vaccine by the middle of september. well these 32 people have been killed and dozens more injured in a double suicide bombing in iraq is the main 1st major attack in the capital baghdad in 3 years 2 bombers wearing explosive vest blew themselves up at a crowded market authorities believe the incident could mark the resurgence of so-called islamic state. security forces assess the damage from the deadly suicide blast and are met with who is of blood and widespread

destruction. medical workers tend to dozens of injured victims. and we were there by the stands someone came and fell to the ground and stacia complained that his stomach hurt then he pressed the detonator in his hand and it exploded immediately people were torn to pieces many died and were injured. these kinds of attacks were once common in baghdad but have been rare since the islamic state was driven out in 2017 tensions have heightened over forthcoming elections and in economic crisis no one has claimed responsibility for the bombing but authorities are presuming a terrorist link. is still well over. the way and the enemy are clear. as far as i know there has been no declaration but it is likely that the terrorist organization the islamic state is behind this criminal

incident. which. forces are on high alert in case a further attacks. now that was the 1st deadly suicide attack in baghdad since 2018 earlier we spoke with maya gable the gay journalist for the a.f.p. agency in baghdad and we asked her why this last happened now it's an interesting question there have been many details that have been revealed so far by security agencies about the incentives or the are the reasons behind the attack not all but one connection that people in the street and some some security officials have been making are the planned legislative elections that are set to take place later on this year iraq has seen similar rounds of highlands before previous legislative elections the blast that you mentioned 2018 actually came just a few months before the most recent parliamentary election that year and so some people are making the connection between increased political tensions right now

across the country and a potential rise and this kind of violence that we saw this morning. that was. the a.f.p. news agency reporting from baghdad all right the switch gears now and go to kids where 4 young flyers have taken on the world's most notorious downhill ski run in wing suits and parachutes just days before the hunting com race as the 4 daredevils walked out of the helicopter going to have to live meters above kids and executed 8 world at 1st quite take a look at this sweeping down the course known as these they reach speeds of up to 250 kilometers or not would. make. it's always good to land after that remark of the top story that we're following

for you u.s. president joe biden has unveiled his administration's strategy to combat. the measures include ramping up banks and nations in testing and safely reopening schools americans are being asked to wear masks for the next $100.00 days travelers flying to the u.s. will need to quarantine. you're watching news after a break i'll be back to take you through the day stick around we'll be right back.

how does a virus spread. why do we panic and when will all this. produce through the topics from cover and a weekly radio show is called spectrum if you would like any information on the chrono marash or any other science topic you should really check out our podcast

you can get it wherever you get your podcast you can also find us at dot com ford slash science. where the real talent resides. i come from there lots of people in fact new than a 1000000000 to do but now it is democracy really that's one reason why i'm passionate about people and aspirations and they can sense. to finishing the book is right here in berlin and after the floor of the sun in born and member thinking at the time if the barley in vulcan forward anything could happen to see her come together and unite for a call. but i do the news i often confront a difficult situation with more conflict between disaster i see to spot my job to confront goodspeed as one policies and development just put a spotlight on issues that matter most condom to food security oppression martian

eyes he seems. to not have been achieved it. so much more needs to be john and i think people have to be a constitution money miss on mcclatchy not an election to. the moment joe biden entered the oval office for the 1st time as president he found the worries and woes of a nation stacked in waiting a mountain of executive orders to undo what he describes as the greatest damage done by his predecessor and yet it's all eclipsed by the pandemic the trump administration never shared its plan for vaccinating the country today president biden discovered why there never was a plane i'm burnt off in berlin this is the day.