on this edition for sunday, april 13th, the ukrainian crisis escalates as government forces battle pro-russian secessionists. in our signature segment from vancouver, canada, a radical plan to control the spread of hiv, helping users take illegal drugs safely. and what is this controversial document say about jesus? next on pbs newshour weekend. pbs newshour weekend is made possible by --

corporate funding provided by mutual of america, designing customized products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support is provided by -- and the corporation for public broadcasting and contributions from the pbs station from viewers like you. from the tish studios in lincoln center in new york. >> thank yous for joining us. there has been a sharp escalation of the crisis in ukraine. government forces today attacked pro-russian separatists who had seized government buildings and police stations near the russian border. there are reports of casualties on both sides. the acting president of ukraine called it the start of a major offensive by the ukrainian army. >> translator: the national security and defense council decided to launch a full-scale

anti-terrorist operation using the armed forces of ukraine. we won't let russia repeat the crimea scenario. >> the russian foreign ministry called that decision a criminal order and said it is now the west's responsibility to prevent a civil war in ukraine, despite the kremlin's denials, the united states has accused moscow of capturing the buildings where ammunition had been stored. during an interview, samantha power warns of new sanctions on moscow on top of those imposed when russian trooped invaded crimea. >> they have brought the ruble to an all-time low in terms of its value. the russian stock market has diminished by 20%. that's just based on the sanctions up to this point. the president has made clear depending on russian behavior, energy, mining could be on the table. >> tens of thousands of russian troops have been sent to the

russian side of the russia-ukraine border. for more on the intensive battle, we're joined by peter. what are you hearing, what are you seeing right now? >> earlier today, i was in a town which is about an hour and a half drive away from here, which has been occupied as of yesterday by a group of armed gunmen. what was rather interesting about what we saw today, as opposed to yesterday, was what we saw yesterday was groups of men in camouflage, clearly well trained and well prepared, toward their seizure of the police station, and later in the day, the security forces, but those people have since then been replaced by clearly what are sometimes jokingly referred to concerned locals. local people, many of them with guns. this has been a pattern we have seen in eastern ukraine over the

last week, let's say the future of the government buildings and the consolidation of the occupation by local protesters. >> when you talk to the local people out there, what's the mood? are they -- do they think that a showdown is imminent? do they think they will be annexed by russia? >> well, i mean, many of the locals who attempt to gather around the actual seized buildings themselves are actually very enthusiastic about the nation of autonomy first and then presumably annexation by russia in the future. it's very dangerous to assume that that reflects actually the general opinion in this part of the country. in fact, polling suggests that the prospect of annexation by russia is in fact not one that most people would welcome. but the mood is, i would say, extremely tense.

germans in particular, western and ukrainian germans coming from the base, consistent aggression, not only from the armed men who have seized the government buildings, but also from a lot of the local population who consider the western media to in some way be complicit with what they deem to be the broad western community's attempt to undermine ukraine. this is the outcome essentially of very sustained russian state television coverage of the event. ukraine has basically painted the political process in ukraine as the outcome of what they would describe as western meddling. >> and what about the prospects there might be large-scale anti-terrorism actions taken by ukraine? >> well, what this points to essentially is the fact that the government doesn't -- seems to have lost control of parts of

the east to the extent that they don't appear to really have control over the police in any meaningful fashion, and as a result, it would seem today that they have had to resort to deploying the army to regain control over this spart of the country. this obviously takes the whole situation from one of simply a law enforcement issue, which they have really proven very short of the task of actually coping with, to potentially a military offensive, and that seems like a very serious and worrying step indeed. >> all right, peter leonard of the associated press joining us tonight. thank you. >> thank you. there have been shootings this afternoon near kansas city. apparently targeting jews, and according to authorities, one person has been killed and another critically wounded. one shooting took place at a jewish community center, another at a jewish assisted living

center. a man tweeted he saw a man taken into custody by police. he quoted the man as saying meal hitler. >> there's been shootings in chicago in a series of incidents across the city yesterday afternoon and evening. some neighborhoods in chicago have been plagued by gang violence in recent years. the city's violence rate had declined dramatically last year and has been falling again this year. >> beef levels in the u.s. are at the highest levels since the late 1980s. experts acontributtribute the r prices to a dwindling number of cattle and rising export demand from places like china and japan. prices are likely to stay high until cattle producers can rebuild their herds. >> the third installment of a u.n. climate change report was released today and warned time is running out to address the problem. report found some reason for optimism, noting that the cost of certain renewable sources of energy are falling, making their use more practical, but it said

carmen emissions rose twice as fast between 2000 and 2010 than in the '90s and must be slowed to avoid a potential disaster. visit pbsnewpbsnews.org. pope frances celebrated mass by urging the thousands in the square to look into their own hearts and examine how they're living their lives. in what was described as a major departure from tradition, he spoke extraneously. after, he posed for selfies with many in the crowd. and now to our signature segment. though the story has faded from the headlines, aids continues to claim an estimated 2 million lives around the world every year. thousands are still being infected with the hiv virus,

especially those using iv drugs, but researchers in british columbia, canada, have developed an aids prevention program aimed at addicts which is becoming a model for much of the world. one word of warning, some of what you'll see in this report is difficult to watch. >> vancouver, british columbia, is considered one of the most beautiful, livable cities in north america, but there's a small part of the city that is stunning in a different way. the downtown eastside neighborhood is a grim reminder of the toll drug addiction takes. everywhere you look, emaciated addicts walk the streets. police generally don't see the point of locking them up. drugs are exchanged openly in broad daylight. women on the street prostitute themselves. over the course of a few concentrated blocks, you'll see people smoking crack on the sidewalks or injecting themselves in an alley with heroin or cocaine. not surprisingly, this neighborhood has been visited by

another plague. back in the 1990s, this was the epicenter for one of the fastest growing aids epidemics in the world. >> vancouver experiences what has been described as the most explosive epidemic of the aids virus since subsaharan africa. things have changed. it's happening, supporters say, by giving free hiv medication to addicts who share needles. they're also steering addicts to this controversial facility where medical staff might actually help them inject illegal drugs. the strategy being deployed in british columbia is being studied closely by the u.s., by china, and by europe for how it's successfully fought an epidemic in a very hard to reach population. so how does it work? sometimes it starts with people like tracy, pounding the pavement. she's a registered nurse, one of a small army of nurses working

this neighborhood. >> i thought nurses always wore white shoes, what's the deal? >> you don't wear white shoes on the downtown east side, that's for sure. >> with her madical kit strapped to her back, she's off to see one of the dozen or so hiv-positive patients she cares for wherever they are. >> if i have to come in the alley to find you, no problem. if i have to come to your home, no problem. >> de souza is working with colin today, who she's known for several years. he likely contracted hiv through sharing a needle, and even though he's still using, he's seen de souza or other nurses every few weeks and he diligently takes hiv retroactive drugs on his own. >> it's a fallacy just because people are using drugs or selling sex, they don't care about their health. i think they care very much. i think because of their mental health and addiction issues, it might be tougher. >> this early and consistent hiv treatment is a central pillar of

british columbia's strategy and one that began with important discoveries by this man's team. >> i say, oh, my god. this is huge. this actually can turn it around. >> dr. julio is one of the world's experts on treating hiv. born in argentina, he's now a canadian, he helped found the british columbia center for slenls in hiv/aids. back in the mid-1990s, his team was one of the first to demonstrate what was then a contested idea that aggressively treating hiv in individuals not only helped them but can prevent the spread across an entire community. here's how. it's well known that people with untreated hiv are full of the virus, and if they share a needle with others, they're likely infect them and spread the disease, but treating those original patients with hiv medicine dramatically suppresses the amount of virus in their blood, which research has shown makes transmission to others

much less likely. according to the doctor, it's over 90% less likely. >> in fact, the single most powerful predictor of you as an injection drug user to contract hiv was the amount of virus that was in the community. which upon bringing treatment to that community, came down and so the number of infections came down. in other words, it's not the needle, stupid, it's the virus. >> these findings triggered an even more aggressive campaign to test as many people as possible and get anyone who tested positive onto the meds as quickly as possible. this overall strategy is now called treatment as prevention. >> we'll get the results right away. >> but public health advocates in british columbia didn't stop there. the doctor along with many others pushed for the creation of this facility which is called insight. >> so insight is a very unique facility. it's the only one of its kind in north america. >> dr. thomas kerr is an aids

researcher who works at the doctor's center and has done several published studies of insight. >> it's a place where people who inject illicit drugs such as heroin and cocaine can come and inject under the supervision of a nurse. >> every morning, a group of addicts file in, the first of 700 who come every day to shoot up. all thephernalia is laid out. addicts take a seat as one of a dozen different booths to do whatever drugs they have been able to buy illegally on the street. insight opened in 2003. it had to be granted a special exception by the liberal government of canada to allow the use of illegal drugs in a facility that is partly funded by taxpayers. >> on this morning, a woman named jody allowed us to film her as she injected. she said she's been an addict on the street for more than a decade.

she's been shooting up for so long that many of her veins are collapsed or covered in scars and this morning, after repeated tries, she can't find one that will work. so one of the insight nurses comes over to help her. >> it's itty-bitty. >> i know. >> ever since it opened, critics have been trying to shut this facility down, but now conservative national government says insight enables drug use, not prevents it. it's tried to close this facility and prevent others from opening in canada. in 2005, the canadian prime minister stevphen harper said w as a government will not use taxpayer money to fund drug use. that's not the strategy we will per sue. but in 2011, the supreme court of canada ruled insight can stay open. insight supporters argue that not only does the facility cut drug overdose deaths, reduce disorder in the area, and get more addicts into treatment

programs, but they argue, it's crucial in the campaign against hiv. addicts who come here can get tested for the disease and referred for treatment if they're positive. they're not sharing infected needles, and they're in regular contact with nurses and medical staff who want to help them. >> any luck? >> yeah. >> if this facility wasn't there, these people would be injecting in alleyways, running from the police, and would continue to be disconnected from the health care system. but we've now found a mechanism to connect with these people and provide them with much needed care. >> your critics would argue having someone on sight who can help someone, even a nurse who could help someone find a vein, that is partly condoning and making it easier for them. what is your argument against that? >> you know, i used to think the same way as you just described, that all of this was enabling. you mean that i'm going to ask

my junior staff, my residents, to actually witness somebody injecting? geez, i'm out of my mind. well, the problem is that this is not about doing the right thing or the wrong thing. the addicted person is injecting. >> they're going to do it regardless. >> this is happening. this is happening in every single city in america. so by pretending that this is not happening, then you're taking the same approach that the prime minister of my country is saying, saying this shall not happen. and so what? it's still happening, and he wants to criminalize it, and he's making it so it doesn't work. >> the data shows their strategy has been working by dramatically increasing the people treated for hiv in british columbia. the number of new cases of hiv has been decreasing, cut by more than half. even as they're looking more for the disease, they're finding less of it. the doctor says not only are they helping people, but they're

spending money. for every person who doesn't contract hiv, the government saves an estimated quarter of a million dollars it doesn't have to spend treating that person. >> investing more on the strategy is cost saving. not just cost effective. it's cost averted. >> so you're arguing if you spend more money on treating active hiv cases, in the end, you will save more money because you're not adding new patients to the pool of infected people? >> i'm not arguing. i'm telling you. this is the way it is. i don't mean to be too provocative about it, but the data is in. you know, we have randomized clinical trials that now show that treating stops -- virtually stops transmission. what else do we need? it's obvious. >> british columbia's success has prompted chinese health officials who are also grappling with twin epidemics of hiv and

iv drug addiction to help for vention. the u.s. is doing pilot studies in washington, d.c. and new york, and treatment as prevention has been adopted as the principle hiv strategy by the world health organization, u.n. aids, and the international aids society. see how a nurse and a drug dealer are working together to fight hiv and tuberculosis in tans ania. experts at columbia, m.i.t., and harvard have concluded a small fragment made public two years ago is from ancient times, not a forgery, but its contents continue to provoke controversy because it quotes jesus making reference to, quote, my wife, and also includes the words, she will be able to be my disciple, for more on that, we're joined by michael, a professor of theology and author of the book "the son of god in the roman

world." so first of all, what is the scientific finding confirm and why does it matter? >> right, when this came to light about a year and a half ago, there was a lot of uproar about why wasn't this tested? how do we know this isn't a forgery? typically, they're tested by the study of handwriting. but because there was such a bombshell in the phrase, my wife, and they commissioned this to be sent out for testing. the truth about the scientific testing is it cannot authenticate something as much as it can prove it's not fake. what i'm saying -- >> there's a difference? >> as a fake, there's a difference. the testing did not falsify anything, so that kind of tilts the scale a little bit back towards authenticity, but the scholars who study christianity are in this middle ground of mysteriousness about the text. that being said, some of the critics on the forgery side argue that there is bad grammar, that there is -- there are other

indicators, bad penmanship, that kind of stuff, but peprologists, nerds like us who study ancient pupiery, we see bad handwriting all the time. the apostle paul in the new testament talks about his bad handwriting. it's a skill that's acquired and we might think of typing in the modern world, right? >> right. >> it doesn't mean you're smart or something like that. >> to a non-christian scholar, what are the religious ramifications if jesus did have a wife? why does that matter so much? >> right, so what we have here is probably in seventh or eighth century pupieerous, which if authentic, preserves an earlier text which really doesn't tell us anything about the first century. we have layers of history. i would say most scholars don't think jesus was married and i don't think that's a pious answer. it's about historical plausibility that he was an

itinerant teacher. he says very controversy things critical of biological and domestic family life. already there in the scriptures, and i think that most scholars and most christians will say, well, we don't think jesus was married and we think this is a later discussion about the roles of women dusipals and sex and family life, but that is interesting for a different reason to most scholars in which we would say this papyrus gives us another window into what were live debates in early christianity, such as is procreation a vehicle for holiness or is voluntary celibacy a vehicle for holyness, and a second debate, is the worthiness of women as disciples, especially two of the figures discussed. >> michael, thank you so much. >> thank you.

>> this is pbs news hour weekend sunday. it might never have occurred to you, but a single round-trip flight between chicago and frankfurt, germany, burned about 3.5 tons of carbon dioxide. that's about what a medium sized car in the united states burns for an entire year. this week, a couple of swiss aviators announced another step to reduce the carbon footprint of flying. they may have read the myth abouticerous dying after flying too close to the sun, but that hardly has deterred these two men. this is a huge solar powered plane that has a wing span wider than a 747's, as big as it is, the big aircraft is no heavier than a large car, and it carries just the pilot. it's covered in more than 17,000 solar cells.

the designers and pilots have made several long trips on a previous version of the plane, including a flight across the mediterranean from switzerland to morocco. they say the new plane is even better. >> we have the best electrical motors, the lightest possible structure, the lightest -- the most efficient consuming electricity product in the airplanes. >> all this, he predicts, will mean the plane's thousands of solar cells can harness enough energy from the sun to keep the plane in the sky day and night. he better be right because he and his partner are planning to fly the plane around the world some time next year, a journey they expect will take 500 hours of flying, many of those over the world's vast oceans. >> when we leave the coast of china, we go towards what looks like the other side of the ocean. >> it is that uncertainty which is both the risk and the adventure.

we're turning to that story from overland park, kansas. authorities are reporting at least three people were killed in shootings at a jewish community center and a jewish assisted living facility. a teenager is hospitalized in critical condition. a suspect has been taken into custody. the fbi is reportedly involved in the investigation. that's it for this edition of pbs news hour weekend. i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

>> the sheryl and philip millsteen family, bernard and irene schwartz. rauz lean p. walters. corporate funding is provided by miechual of america, designing customized, individual, and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support is provided by -- and by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

sethi: this week on "quest"... sea otters combating climate change... sizemore: to see that change almost overnight was amazing. sethi: ...cars fueled by hydrogen... holloway: i was promised flying cars when i was a kid. this is as close as it's going to get. sethi: ...and scientists trying to build a more resilient forest. pecore: some of the best old-growth stands that we have are in the menominee tribal lands. announcer: major funding for "quest" is provided by the national science foundation. sethi: known as "science on a sphere," giant digital globes just like this one