captioning sponsored by wnet >> stewart: on this edition for saturday february 7th: world leaders try to defuse the conflict in ukraine. we'll hear from a reporter on the scene. in our signature segment, from main street columbus mississippi: new jobs and new economic hope. >> modern manufacturing especially in the golden triangle of mississippi, definitely as you have seen, is not disappearing >> stewart: and what a search for germs on the new york city subway system might mean for scientists tracking disease outbreaks. next on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by:

corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we are 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. from the tisch wnet studios in lincoln center in new york, alison stewart. >> stewart: good evening. thanks for joining us. i'm alison stewart. hari sreenivasan is off. at a security conference today in munich germany, world leaders tried to find a way to end, or at least contain, the now- escalating 10-month conflict in eastern ukraine. this, as the united states and nato consider whether to send arms to the pro-western ukrainian government to help it thwart an offensive by pro-

russian rebels. it's an idea that one of america's most reliable allies, germany, has resisted. >> i think the progress that ukraine needs cannot be achieved by more weapons. i really, really doubt that. i really doubt it. i can't stress it enough. >> stewart: and, russian foreign minister sergei lavrov warned the west against sending more arms. >> ( translated ): there are growing appeals in the west to support kiev's policy of militarisation, to pump ukraine full of lethal weapons and to bring it into nato. this will only exacerbate the tragedy of ukraine. >> stewart: but vice president joe biden responded this way: >> we will continue to provide ukraine with security assistance, not to encourage war but to allow ukraine to defend itself. let me be clear: we do not believe there is a military solution in ukraine. but let me be equally clear: we do not believe russia has the

right to do what they are doing. >> stewart: today, at that security conference in munich ukrainian president petro poroshenko displayed documents which he said proved russia's deep involvement in the fighting. porshenko met in kiev thursday with merkel and french president francois hollande. they then traveled to moscow for meetings with russian president vladimir putin. a ceasefire was struck in minsk last september but was violated almost immediately and has been violated repeatedly since. we'll have more from ukraine in a moment. there were a series of suicide bombings in baghdad today. at least 37 people were killed and dozens more injured after bombers targeted shopping areas. the iraqi capital had been relatively calm in recent months, and a longstanding nighttime curfew is about to be lifted. north korea today test-fired what it described as an extremely precise, cutting edge, anti-ship rocket that it said would be deployed soon. state media showed images of north korean leader kim jong un observing the new weapon being fired.

the military display comes weeks before the united states and south korea are scheduled to begin joint military exercises. in the latest sign of strained relations between the united states and israel, vice president biden's office now says he will be traveling when israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu addresses congress next month. netanyahu's appearance was arranged without consulting the white house, something critics say is a breach of diplomatic protocol. as vice president, biden officially presides over the senate. the u.s. justice department has announced the indictment of six people on charges they sent money and military equipment to terror organizations, including al qaeda and isis. the six, bosnian natives living in missouri, illinois and new york, allegedly sent tactical gear, firearm accessories and u.s. military uniforms to foreign fighters with the terror groups. the bosnians reportedly used intermediaries in turkey and saudi arabia, who then forwarded the shipments. five of them have been arrested. the sixth is overseas.

major progress in the government's efforts to combat drunk driving. the national highway traffic safety administration says the number of people driving with blood alcohol levels exceeding the legal limit, .08, has declined by 30% since 2007 and 80% since the first survey in 1973. on the other hand, the same survey found that driving under the influence of marijuana and prescription drugs continues to rise. >> stewart: as we reported earlier, world leaders have been meeting to try to end the fighting in eastern ukraine, for more on the situation on the ground in ukraine, where pro- russian rebels are battling ukrainian government forces, we are joined now via skype from donetsk by peter leonard, who is reporting there for the associated press. peter, what one of the more striking events that's happened recently is in the small down of-- and i'm going to try to say this correctly-- debaltseve is

the fighting ceased for a short period of time so civilians could evacuate. both sides stopped fighting. first of all, what's the significance of this town, and why stop the fighting? >> to begin with, the significance of the town is essentially is lies along a railway line that connects the two main rebel cities and so if these rebel territories are ever to be economically sustainable and to exist as independent entitiesa as they would like they really have to have all of the trappings of a functional state which is to say, a transportation infrastructure and various other kind of industrial concerns. and so this is why the rebel offensive has concentrated so much on capturing this city. now in what came as a clearly unusual development the ukrainian and the rebel side agreed to suspend hostilities a

few hours yesterday so the civilians who have remained in the city could be evacuated. the town has been on the receiving end of sustained shelling for several months now, but especially intensive shelling for the last couple of weeks. >> stewart: the humanitarian crisis is growing about a million people are displaced at this point. is there anything being done on the ground to address this crisis? >> in fact the number of displaced people is actually a higher than a million. it's a million in ukrainian itself and another 600,000 according to u.n. figures, who have left the country mostly to russia. and as i say the efforts are mainly concentrated on resettling those people who have sought shelter in safer areas, although, as far as ukraine is concerned, with the disastrous state of its economy it's really sort of straining to support this huge displacement of people. russia, clearly, has greater

resources in that respect displiewr and what is is the situation in donetsk where you are? >> it varies from day to day, and even talking to you, from time to time i hear sound of outgoing shelling. so the fighting is close to the city indeed. >> stewart: angela merkel does not believe this will end on met lines. why the difference in opinion between the u.s. and europe. >> well, you know the thing is i suppose europe feels like it has a rather greater stake in the whole situation. ukraine is rightots doorstep and i think it feels as though european leaders would rather this whole problem went away. berlin feels like it has more than enough to deal with. the united states has been very supportive of the government that came in after the revolution last year and i think it feels as though the

possibility the dangling of potential military support in the month to come i suppose washington considers to be a continuation of its support for this very strongly pro-western government. >> stewart: peter leonard reporting for the associated press. thank you so much. and please be safe. >> will do. thank you very much. >> stewart: and now to our signature segment. our original in-depth reports from around the nation and around the world. tonight, we continue our main street series. stories about national trends told from a local perspective from main street usa. in this installment, we focus on the return of manufacturing jobs to america. newshour special correspondent john larson traveled to columbus mississippi, where a recent manufacturing boom is bringing jobs to a once-struggling community and putting a shiny new face on main street.

>> reporter: just a look at main street in columbus, mississippi and you can sense why travel and leisure voted it one of“ america's great main streets.” but it hasn't always been this way. as these images taken over the years by columbus's own renowned photographer birney imes suggest, mississippi has endured challenges throughout its history. unemployment, still 15% in some parts, including some of the poorest people in the poorest state in the nation. an unlikely place, you'd think, for an economic recovery. and yet at 516 main street that's precisely the story. the "columbus commercial dispatch" is the last, family owned daily newspaper in mississippi. the headline on this afternoon? a japanese tire company will be opening a new plant west of town. yokohama tire will employ 500 people, and possibly up to 2000 if all goes according to plan.

mississippi governor phil bryant. >> these are manufacturing jobs. and so hopefully, they are those type that will be transferred from one generation to the next. >> reporter: the tire plant is just the latest in what is now called “the golden triangle”-- a shining example of new manufacturing growth in an area that not too long ago was just the opposite. plant after manufacturing plant had closed here in the late 90s. and then in 2007, the area's largest employer for decades, sara lee, closed its food processing plant. yet, the area's rebirth was already underway. severstal, a russian steel maker, built its $900-million dollar plant here, followed by paccar, the american builder of truck engines. and, when airbus decided to build helicopters here, many felt it launched a new era. >> i jokingly tell people that all of a sudden people started walking upright. they started thinking, “hey, you

know, we build stuff that flies.” >> reporter: at 1102 main street, joe max higgins runs the link, the development group credited with attracting more than $5 billion in new investment to the triangle. higgins is the area's larger than life salesman, and you can get a sense how that happened. >> live every second like your ass is on fire. >> reporter: in other words, go for it. >> all the time. and and and and so that that that's that's typically how we look at this stuff. my license plate on my on my my vehicle says, “2eqlast.” >> reporter: so second equals last. >> every time. in this business, if you come in second, you might as well not have participated. >> reporter: to come in first with yokohama, higgin's group helped coordinate a state effort offering $130 million in incentives. it bought the land, developed the site and built a new access road. when yokohama raised concerns about the reliability of the local workforce, joe higgins

made an emotional plea to its top officer. >> i said “this is a community who that's heart was cut out when sara lee left.” i said, “you could be the phoenix rising up from the ash by building this new facility here. and you could replace sara lee as the community's hope.” and he looked at me and he said,“ i want to see this sara lee.” >> reporter: so higgins took yokohama's chairman up in a helicopter. >> we did two and a half times around the around sara lee. i let him look out the window. >> reporter: you're looking down at destroyed plants. >> looks like a bomb hit it. okay? and two and a half times. he looked up at me and he nodded. i kind of think back that that might have been the day that might have been the day, the second that we were picked. >> reporter: yokohama and other manufacturers were also drawn to the area's industrial mega- sites, pre-approved and ready for construction, as well as non-union labor, and

universities, including the local community college. the community college had a record of training its students for the high-tech factory work. for training purposes, airbus provides the students with helicopter components. paccar offers truck engines. east mississippi community college's dr. raj shaunak. >> reporter: what do you say to the line that we've all heard for decades now, that american manufacturing is either dead or it's dying? >> modern manufacturing in america, but especially in the golden triangle of mississippi, is not disappearing. >> reporter: so how much does the area gets out, for all the incentives it gives industry? in the steel mill's case local efforts provided $12 million in land, infrastructure and tax breaks. the county now receives more than two million a year in revenues, which will soon grow to five million every year. so the investment will more than pay off in the long run. ♪ we shall overcome ♪

>> reporter: the area's rebirth, however, is only one of the stories we encountered on main street. we were in town the week of dr. martin luther king day. >> if reverend dr. martin luther king was here today, what would dr. martin luther king to? the gathering took place on the courthouse steps within a few feet of a civil war monument honoring those who defended the values of the confederacy. >> mississippi is still a very segregated society. a lot of people like to put blinders on and act like it does not exist. >> reporter: kamal karriem is a local preacher who helped organize the event. >> in mississippi there is a psychosis of poverty. in other words, i've been poor for so long, until i think that that's the way that it's supposed to be. >> reporter: the counties around columbus include some of the poorest people in the poorest state in the nation. in some areas, one-third of the people live in poverty. the columbus public school system has been largely abandoned by its white residents. 40% of the city is white yet

only 10% of the city's school system is white. mississippi public schools are poorly funded and the worst performing schools in the nation. >> this school district traditionally has always had a failing grade, a "d." this is what we have to overcome. not just in education. but in every aspect of life we have to overcome the psychosis of poverty. >> reporter: which begs the question, to what extent will the area's poor benefit from the new manufacturing? manufacturing taxes supply more than a quarter of the county's school budget, but they contribute only a fraction to the city's struggling school system. cedric brownlee and his wife sharika both worked at sara lee until the plant closed. >> all of a sudden, it was gone, you know? it was, like, “wow, you know?” it was devastating for the community. there were a lot of people who

really didn't know what tomorrow was going to bring. >> reporter: while both worked minimum wage jobs, cedric enrolled at east mississippi community college. he worked hard, earning several certifications. seven years after losing his job at sara lee, he was finally hired. a full-time job, with benefits, at paccar the truck engine plant. he now earns $15 an hour, double his minimum wage jobs. >> we came a long way, you know. now, here we are. we are living better than we ever lived. >> reporter: same for genice allen, who doubled her pay when she landed a job as an engineering specialist at airbus, and the company is now paying for her to pursue a business degree. >> and it happened for me. so, i'm very thankful for the opportunity. ♪ i'm gonna hide behind ♪

>> reporter: before we finish our story, meet yusef karriem, kamal karim's son. he sang that night at the courthouse. a high school senior, yusef washes dishes at his family's soul food restaurant. listen to him sing for a moment. ♪ i was born by the river ♪ ♪ i been as we show a few more images from photographer, birney imes. running ever since. it's been a long, long time ♪ most everyone we met on main street says any discussion of the town's future must remember the past. ♪ it's been too hard for living ♪ before we left main street, we learned that five out of the first 11 yokohama's hires are african american. young yusef will not be one of them, because he plans to attend college to become a biology teacher, and then a public school administrator. ♪ but i know change gonna come ♪

>> it was tough not knowing when >> it was tough, not knowing when change was going to come. >> reporter: and as for cedric brownlee, who after years of struggle was hired at the truck plant? the manufacturing boom has already changed his life. he and his wife have bought their first house, and last year took their first vacation. >> reporter: you mean literally, your first vacation? >> our first vacation. >> reporter: since when? y ou know, it it was our first vacation. >> reporter: how'd that feel? >> it it f it feel wonderful. >> stewart: see more of the images of life in the mississippi delta by photographer birney imes. visit pbs.org/newshour. >> stewart: you might have seen the headlines the past day or two, about how scientists in new york searched the city's subway system and, perhaps not surprisingly, found all kinds of germs that could cause everything from the common cold to meningitis. health department officials immediately downplayed any serious threat and wise-cracking new yorkers joked about the story, but the work is actually part of a very serious effort to

bolster the public health6 )kjpsystem. joining us now is the scientist whose work generated those headlines. dr.christopher mason is a geneticist at weill cornell medical college. doctor, what did you do exactly in the subway? >> so we wanted to build the first molecular map of new york city, kind of like a google maps, where you can zoom in and see what molecules are present at different areas of the city to better classify, track and understand how the dynamics of the services we all touch every day, how they change over time. to do that we needed to build a baseline. >> stewart: how did you do that go into the subway and start swabbing? >> we did we had graduate students, high school student, medical student down scwarming the subway system with nylon swabs and swabbing for three minutes bring it back to the lab, track d.n.a. and sequence it. >> stewart: what was the thing you found that you thought didn't expect that? the most surprising part of the

study was that about 48% of all the d.n.a. molecules we find don't match any organism that's known to humankind. there's really a wealth of discovery, literally under our fintertips, that we've never seen before until this study. >> stewart: what is the broader mission of this study? >> so we're trying to-- with this baseline, we're trying to then expand out to see how does this change within one city over time so you can look at sort of seasonal shifts of what happens to the microbiome which is the ecosystems of microorganisms we touch every day. in a larger sense we want to be sort of a smart city so we could use this to look essentially, for changes in this baseline that might indicate changes for disease surveillance or potentially could contextualize a bioterrorism event if it were to occur. >> stewart: is this something that can be applied to other public transportation systems? >> absolutely. part of the context is not only within the city over time, but comparing new york to other cities.

so there is some work being done in boston. we have begun swabbing in sao paulo in brazil and paris and tokyo and some work is in hong kong, and we have collaborations with shanghai. the larger goal is to have molecular views of many cities. >> stewart: i'm curious if this applies in any way to all the discussions we have been having about measles? >> looking ahead what, we could do with this type of study and data is to make it even faster. there are technologies and some of them are in my laboratory today where you can actually sequence d.n.a. as it appears in real time. so in that case, you would then know not after someone got sick essentially, but you'd know as the piece of d.n.a. or r.n.oosmed, or virus or bacteria appears in a city you could potentially track it in real time and respond to it much faster. it could impact millions of people who live in the cities and billions of people who ride the subway or mass transit every year. >> stewart: dr. christopher mason, thanks for sharing your

science. >> thanks for having me. >> stewart: we shook hand, by the way. >> and fist bumps. >> this is pbs newshour weekend, saturday. >> stewart: and now to "viewers like you"-- your chance to comment on some of our recent work. many wrote us about our interview describing a recent pew poll, a poll that found a large gap between what scientists believe and what the public believes. on the issue of genetically modified foods, this reader commented: "scientists are so busy creating 'bigger and better,' they fail to consider the penalties of their creations. after water, fruits and vegetables are the staff of life, and life should, at the very least, be real." gary guthrie said: "what's scary is that 12% of scientists apparently believe that g.m.o.'s are not safe to eat. that is the group to look to for facts." and from yaang: "the general public may distrust science on questions of what constitutes a healthy diet because they were led astray so many times.

think of how scientific thought has changed on dietary cholesterol, good/bad fats, carbs equivalence of different sugars, food pyramids. etc. etc." linda baetzel szulczewski added: "i agree that g.m.o. is probably ok. i do think that we have a right to know what is a g.m.o." there was this from fredric dennis williams: "in the end, surveys of the ignorance of the population only serve to show: one, people lack a decent education and the ability to discern fact from fiction; two, government misleads people, usually intentionally and for its own purposes; and three, the media look for sensational stories that inspire fear. welcome to dumbocracy 2015." mary bethune jordan said: "i guess i'll have to look into who is behind the pew research center. i don't buy this poll." and finally this, from rolfe eric tikkala: "i'm with science on this, but then again, i bet on the seahawks. as always, we welcome your comments at pbs.org/newshour, on

our facebook page, or tweet us @newshour. >> stewart: some more news before we leave you tonight. embattled nbc news anchor man brian williams said he will take himself off the nightly news for the next several days. williams has been accused of fabricating a story of coming under fire while covering the war in rawks in 2003. adnan syed, in prison after convicted of murdering his girlfriend has been granted an appeal. the appeal will be heard in june. his story was the subject of the popular podcast "serial." and a painting by gauguin has sold for $300 million, the most ever paid for a piece of art. the 1892 work was reportedly sold by a swiss collector to a group of museums. join us on air and online tomorrow. i'm alison stuart, have a good night.

captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we are 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.

"rick steves' europe" is made possible by generous support from... thoughtful travel can engage our minds challenge our assumptions, broaden our perspectives and completely surprise us just like public television. and by... bread for the world, an advocacy organization working to end hunger and poverty at home and abroad. hi, i'm rick steves, exploring a city that in many ways is the capital of our western civilization. for the next hour, we'll enjoy eternally entertaining and endlesy inspiring rome. thanks for joining us.