captioning sponsored by wnet >> stewart: on this edition for saturday, december 31: american officials investigate a possible russian hack of one state's electric utility. post-traumatic stress, and how it affects reporters who cover conflicts and disasters. and, ringing in the new year. next, on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. judy and josh weston. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the john and helen glessner family trust-- supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. barbara hope zuckerberg.

corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support has been 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 at lincoln center in new york, hari sreenivasan. this is pbs newshour weekend. >> stewart: good evening, and thanks for joining us. vermont's electric grid appears to have been a target of russian hacking, an effort one vermont congressman today called "systemic, relentless, and predatory." vermont's governor says all americans should be alarmed and outraged that the same malware code associated with russian hacks of democratic party servers earlier this year has been detected on a computer at a vermont utility. burlington electric, one of the state's two largest utilities, confirmed yesterday that the malware was on a laptop not connected to its grid systems, and no operations were

disrupted. the department of homeland security had warned utilities only the day before that russian malware may have infiltrated their systems. now traveling in ukraine, u.s. senator john mccain, the chairman of the senate armed services committee, has scheduled a hearing next thursday in washington about russian hacking. >> when you attack a country, it's an act of war, and so we have to make sure that there is a price to pay, so that we can perhaps persuade russians to stop this kind of attacks, to stop these kind of attacks on our very fundamentals of democracy. >> stewart: in retaliation for the election hacks, president obama on thursday imposed new sanctions against russia and expelled 35 russian officials from the u.s. the united nations security council today unanimously approved a resolution that endorses the latest nationwide ceasefire in syria, brokered by russia and turkey. the resolution calls for the immediate distribution of humanitarian aid, and may pave

the way for peace talks in kazakhstan next month. the u.n. plans separate syria peace talks in geneva in february. rebel groups had threatened to abandon the two-day-old ceasefire, but despite scattered violations, it appeared to be holding. isis has claimed responsibility for today's double suicide bombing in baghdad. iraqi officials say the coordinated attacks killed at least 28 people and injured more than 50 others. the first suicide bomber, wearing an explosives-laden belt, blew himself up at a crowded market. and minutes later, as crowds were gathering, the second bomber struck. china, the world's biggest market for ivory, says it will ban ivory sales by the end of the coming new year. wildlife conservation groups hail the move as a "game changer" for africa's endangered elephants. poachers slaughter 20,000 elephants every year for their ivory tusks. but chinese-ruled hong kong, a major hub for the ivory trade, plans to take longer to phase it out-- until 2021. the u.s. adopted a near-total

ban on ivory sales in june. >> stewart: yesterday on the newshour, we reported the number of u.s. law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty this year: 64, up from 56 last year. today, we take a look at the number of people killed by police officers. this year the number is 957 people, down slightly from 991 in 2015, but still a very large number. it is approximately three people a day, according to reporting done by the "washington post." according to "the post," white men accounted for the most deaths, roughly half of them. however, when population rates were factored in, black men were three times as likely to be killed by police and accounted for a third of the unarmed killed. kimbriell kelly is one of the authors of this year-end report, and was part of the team that won a pulitzer prize for its coverage of police shootings.

she joins me now from washington. kimbriell, this is the second year the "washington post" has tracked these numbers. what have been the most noticeable difference friday 2015 to 2016? >> one of the biggest differences is that the number of incidents that are caught on video. you see about a 63% increase in the deaths that occurred this year that were captured either on officers' body cameras or by bystanders. so we see that there has been an increase over the last two years, but we know that there's an increase, also, in the number of police departments across the country. there are roughly 18,000 departments, and from what we understand, nearly half of them have officers that are equipped with body-work cameras. and that's important information, too, not just in documenting these incidents but in the prosecutions of officers as well, if they are investigated. >> stewart: now, the f.b.i. also keeps track of these numbers, but their numbers are nearly half of the post' reporting. why is that? >> and that's one thing that we

had found as well. for the first year -- those numbers are voluntarily reported. so police departments across the country aren't required to give that information to the f.b.i., and so what we found in our two years of reporting is that the number is still about 1,000 fatalityaise year, but that our number is two times the number that the f.b.i. is reporting. now, the f.b.i. the year before last, when our numbers first started coming out, acknowledged that they have a problem with their documentation, and they have made efforts to improve that. and next year, they are planning to launch new efforts to try to streamline this process and have more accurate information. >> stewart: two fact nors this data that are worth discussion-- mental illness and domestic disturbances. what do the data tell you? >> the data tells us that those two things you talked about are some of the key indicators or key things that the buckets in which people who are killed by police fall into.

and so one in four of those cases are people who were in some sort of mental-- had mental illness or were in some sort of mental illness crisis. and the second bucket has not been reported a lot, but it's the same as it was roughly last year cwhich is domestic disturbances make up about one in six of those fatalities. >> stewart: a small percentage of the people who were shot and killed by police were unarmed, just 5%. most had guns or knives. so what does this tell us about lethal force and what police face? >> there are some disparities, particularly when you look at an armed. the often armed percentage has gone down. last year was about 9% and this year is about 5%. what it tells us, at least what the experts tell us sthis is a universe of people who, with different training, through deescalation, if officers are able to slow down the process, that these are lives that might be saved. and so what has happened this year is a new training that was

debuted a couple of weeks ago in new orleans in which officers across the country gathered from 160 departments, and they're being trained on new techniques to slow down a situation, to de-escalate situations, and they believe that if more police departments across the country employ these methods, that you would actually see the number of fatalities go down dramatically. so they're estimating about 300 to 400 of the fatalities of the 1,000 people killed this year might, perhaps, not happen in the future with techniques like this. >> stewart: kimbriell kelly of the "washington post." thanks so much. >> thank you. >> stewart: post-traumatic stress disorder, or p.t.s.d., can afflict anyone who experiences or witnesses a shocking or dangerous event. it's particularly common among soldiers who've been in combat. and now, one journalist is

sharing his story about how covering shocking and dangerous events led to his personal battle with p.t.s.d. dean yates, a news editor for reuters, covered stories including the war in iraq and a major terrorist attack and tsunami in indonesia. over time, his family began to notice a change in his personality. after denying he had a problem for years, he faced up to his issues and checked into a psychiatric hospital. yates told his own story in the article: "the road to ward 17: my battle with p.t.s.d.," and i spoke with him recently via skype from his home on the australian island of tasmania. you covered major events all through the 2000ss. which ones stand out to you and tell us a little bit more about what it was like being a reporter covering these major events in the world. >> i think, alison, for me, two stabbestand out. the first was the tsunami. this was a natural catastrophe

on a scale no one has ever seen before. 160,000 people were killed in the space of 20 minutes. i saw what i believe was thousands of bodies during the month i spent there. the destruction was just unimaginable, the suffer, the survivors-- you can just imagine the shock these people were in. and the other story for me was, obviously, the iraq war. i was the reuters bureau chief in iraq from 2007-2008. and as you probably remember, 2007 was the year of the-- the year of the surge. there were extra american troops sent to iraq, and the violence in the first two months of 2007 was the worst in the entire iraq war. and during that time, in july of 2007, very tragically, we lost three staff from the reuters team, two killed by a u.s. apache helicopter, and another a translator who was killed by gunmen in the streets of baghdad, which was a very traumatic time for myself and for all our staff.

and, of course, the families of those men. >> stewart: when did you know that this went past having an emotional reaction to something, even though we're all reporters and we're there to do analysis and report the facts, when did you know that those kind of more normal feelings were morphing into something else? >> alison, to be honest, i didn't-- i was in denial for years they had a problem. i was in denial that i was exhibit, sympt osms p.t.s.d., and my sensitivity to noise, my agitation, my anxiety. these symptoms meant that i had a medical issue. it really wasn't until with my relationship with my wife at breaking point earlier this year that i agreed to see a psychiatrist who diagnosed me with p.t.s.d. and it was that moment they came to the acceptance that i had p.t.s.d. >> stewart: there was one incident in iraq where colleagues of yours were killed, and you had to absorb it as a

reporter, but that it may have been a trigger for you? you can tell us a little bit about that situation? >> as the bureau chief, i was responsible for everyone's safety, of course, and when-- so we had three staff killed in two days. the translator, it was just a random attack, a gunman on the streets. there was really not a lot i could do about that one. but the other two, they'd gone to just investigate reports that there had been a u.s. airstrike on buildings in east baghdad and they found themselves in a group of men, some of whom appeared to be armed, and they were attacked by a u.s. apache helicopter and were killed, along with most of the men in that-- in that group. and that was just-- i can't explain how difficult that was. it was, obviously, a story at the time, and so i was-- i was having to write the story of their deaths and i was investigating how it happened, what happened. i was, obviously, dealing with the u.s. military because it was one of their helicopters.

and then there was the grief within the baghdad office. it was just enormous. there was so much anguish. and we had to-- obviously, there were the funerals that had to be organized and it was-- it was just a very-- it was the most difficult period of my life, those few days, and then weeks in the aftermath of their deaths. and as time went on in iraq, while i worked there, i tried to just observer these thoughts and emotions. and over time, i think i successfully compartmentalized that, but it eventually came back to haunt me and was really one of the major triggers, i think, for my p.t.s.d. >> stewart: now, that attack was released by wikileaks. so you had repeated exposure to it because you could see it happen, right? >> that's right, alison. and ping for me, one of the things they feel is a deep sense of guilt and shame because when that wikileaks-- when wikileaks

released that video in april 2010, i was actually on holiday in tasmania at the time, where i live now, and i knew just about-- more about that incident than anyone, and yet, i just was so-- so frozen. i was so shocked to see that, to see that come out. it was an-- it was in a newspaper. i picked up a newspaper, and there it was spread across a couple of pages. i just went into i guess shut down, lockdown. i just didn't want to have anything to do with it. i wanted others to deal with what was a major global story at the time because this was the first time really anyone had heard of wikileaks. and to this day i just feel very guilty about that, because i could have added really important context, i think, as to what happened that day in you two 7 and during the aftermath as well when we were pursiewght u.s. military-- we wanted that tape. we were filing freedom of information requests to the u.s. military. they never gave us the tape. >> stewart: knowing now what you know about p.t.s.d. and

about your own health, were there times when the p.t.s.d. kept frudoing your job in the way you wanted to do your job? >> i wantic i i i think in the e years, probably. there were times i couldn't get out of bed. i would be so depressed, i would lie in bed and i barely had enough strength to send an email to my-- to my boss at the time and say, "look, i just can't-- i can't get out of bed. i can't work today." and figot really stressed, i would actually-- it would feel like i was backing in my office in iraq. i'd feel like i was transported back to that place. and when i got stressed, i would just react very badly. i would bang my fists on the table. i would shout. and i look back now and i think i just wish i taken much more notice of those symptoms and been willing to accept they had a problem. >> stewart: at one point you tried to heal yourself. ese long hikes, but you haven

since learned that that probably, the behavior you were exhibiting, really wasn't safe behavior. tell us a little bit more about that. >> one of the things that my psychiatrist suggested to me was to do a little bit of bush walking, get out into nature. and, of course, tasmania has some of the world's most incredible reign forests. so i did. i took that advice, and i would go on some nice day hikes and i really enjoyed that. and then after a couple of months after being diagnosed, i started to do some multi-day walks, stayed out in the rainforest, stay in canes, that sort of thing. and i really found peace in the reign forest. it was where my mind was still. i could breathe. i could just leave all of that emotional baggage at home and just look at the trees, walk these beautiful trails and feel really, really at peace. but with p.t.s.d., one of the symptoms is risk-taking behavior. and it got to the point where i was planning multi-day hikes, up to a week, a week's walks,

through some pretty rough terrain in tasmania, on my own, in the middle of the winter. and my wife was worried about it. my father-in-law gave me a personal locater beacon to say, look-- he said, "you really should consider this because it is quite dangerous." >> stewart: being a journalist can be a very stressful position. do you plan to stay in it as your career and what's next for jew i think we have an obligation as journalists to talk about mental health issue because i think we're uniquely equipped to communicate what it's like to live with mental illness. and i think as-- i think it's just something-- it's something i would like to really do. and in fact, i have a facebook page-- i've only just recently reactivated -- but i'm posting the stories that other journalists have written about their mental illness on that page, because i just think we need to do what we can to raise awareness and break down the stigma that still surrounds

mental illness. >> stewart: dean yates, a reporter with reuters, thank you so much for sharing your story and being so candid. >> my pleasure, alison. >> stewart: in the past decade, companies like 23andme and ancestry.com, which offer d.n.a. testing to help people learn more about their biological traits, have boomed. african-americans are increasingly using these tests to explore their genealogy and answer questions about their family histories lost during the transatlantic slave trade. alondra nelson, dean of social science and professor of sociology at columbia university, looks at the intersection of d.n.a. and history in her book "the social life of d.n.a.: race, reparations, and reconciliation after the genome." newshour weekend's hari sreenivasan recently spoke with nelson. >> sreenivasan: first of all, why are people doing it?

is it for a story about themselveses? >> those things are related, identities and stories, you know. and i think that people want identities that they can use to tell a rich story air, richer story about theirs lives. and in the case of african americans, part of that story has been lost. so what the attempt to use genetic ancestry testing, to find a nation state, ethnic group, information you department have access to before, before we had new technologies that allowed to us make some best guesses about where people of african descent and the u.s. might be from and then allow you to complete a story. so the identity piece and story people are very much connected. >> sreenivasan: there is also a notion of ownership. >> yes. >> sreenivasan: for a second this is i am opting into it. >> yes. >> sreenivasan: and i own this. and i will take this piece of information i and know i have this to myself. >> that's the critical piece because we know for communities of color, that genetics has not always been a rosy space of research, and that there have been historical tragedies in the past that would lead,

particularly african americans, to be suspicious of genetic testing. and so the aability to opt in, the ability to now in the 21st century to use genetics to do something powerful, to tell a powerful story about your identity and your life and to choose how you want to take that story up. sometimes people get information that they find useful or interesting, and sometimes they don't. but because you have opted in as a consumer, you get to choose, you get to adjudicate whether or not you think that information is useful for your story. >> sreenivasan: how does this change our sense of community on who i identify with? because this moment, i might be african american or indian american, but fireally go back through my genetic roots, wait a minute, i'm from this country, also? >> we use african american synonymous muffle with things like iron american or scottish american, but those are countries, and africa -- >> africa is a continent. >> africa say continent, and there are 54 countries on the continent of africa. to be able to say i'm

nigerian-american, is actually a significant difference. and that ethnic story, being a hyphenated american is really part of the american story. it's how politics happened. it's how we do forms of social and community organizing. so it addaise level of spis 50 for americans that might not have been there before. >> regardless which have communities died disooid to do this for themselves, one of the things that concerns me is where does this information reside? after they do the test, after they get my genetic cheek swab, and after the lab figures out what is it is about my story to tell me, they have a copy of my d.n.a., in their lab, and i probably pressed "i agree" without reading the fine print. >> we know 23andme has committed to doing pharmaceutical research and aggravating their data for potentially drug patents and these sorts of things. in their fine print it tells you that. countries like african ancestry,

the one i spent a lot of time writing about, says they throw out the sample. but, you know, there's a way in which data lives forever. so even if you throw out the actual tissue, the saliva, the data can still inform. and all of the companies, i think, if they're smart, are using the data that comes in from customers to make their databases more robust. you can get more robust findings if you have more expansive databases. it's on the company-to-company base that we know what happens to the d.n.a. but we can suspect it's being kept around, similar to when one goes to the hospital and has to give-- is having an operation or has to give a tissue sample around. >> the social life of d.n.a., race reparations and reconciliation after the genome, alondra nelson, thank you for joining us. >> thank you very much. >> stewart: to learn more about how d.n.a. tests help african americans understand their connections to the transatlantic slave trade, visit www.pbs.org/newshour.

>> this is pbs newshour weekend, saturday. >> stewart: and now to "viewers like you," your chance to comment on segments you've seen here on pbs newshour weekend. we brought you the story of america's first offshore wind farm, whose turbines started spinning off the coast of rhode island earlier this month. while the project is small, it could have large implications for america's supply of clean energy. many of you expressed frustration that offshore wind power has taken so long to arrive here in the united states. larry richmond said: "it's absurd that it's taken us this long. this is a no-brainer and should be a national priority." fred krass added, "crazy we are so far behind europe on this. people say they want energy independence, what better way to reach this goal." james sees empathized with residents who consider the windmills eyesores: "i wouldn't

want a hydroelectric dam, solar farm, or least of all a nuclear power plant in my backyard either, but until we can start harnessing cold fusion in our basements, we have to have large power production facilities somewhere." border lord added: "many people purchase oceanfront property for the unobstructed views, as do many who purchase homes in the mountains. others travel great distances to vacation in places where technology does not intrude on their enjoyment of nature." ellen dawson had some questions: "...can anyone point me to studies of how, or whether, this proposed wind farm will affect migrating mammals that use sonar to navigate? or how, or whether, vibrations resonating down the posts and into the sea bed create stress in the fauna of the surrounding habitats?" and finally, this from jackson marshall: "i think they are ugly." as always, we welcome your comments at pbs.org/newshour, on our facebook page, or on twitter @newshour.

>> stewart: the chinese-american artist whose deer paintings inspired the film "bambi," has died. tyrus wong's paintings impressed walt disney, who produced the animated film in 1942. tyrus wong was 106 years old. and finally as the year comes to a close, northern michigan's lake superior state university has released its annual list of words that should be banished for misuse or overuse. the 2017 list includes echo chamber, guesstimate, dad-bod, listicle, and post-truth. that's all for this edition of pbs newshour weekend. i'm alison stewart. good night, and happy new year. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

>> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: bernard and irene schwartz. judy and josh weston. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the john and helen glessner family trust-- supporting trustworthy journalism that informs and inspires. sue and edgar wachenheim, iii. barbara hope zuckerberg. corporate funding is provided by mutual of america-- designing customized individual and group retirement products. that's why we're your retirement company. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

narrator: you'd better watch out, you'd better not cry, you'd better not pout. i'm telling you why. because mary and paul are coming to town. paul?! merry christmas, mary. these are all right, you know? narrator: this christmas, mary and paul's bakes are inspired by the delicious cakes, buns, and sweet treats of europe. smells like christmas, mary. i just love baking at christmas. all the wonderful goodies that you share with the family and then in come all the oohs and ahhs. "ooh, mum, that's fantastic." narrator: mary makes a luxurious alternative to the christmas pudding