judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight. social media under fire -- the leaders of facebook and twitter face congressional questioning over alleged political bias on their platforms. en, essential work, the men and women of both parties who do the work at polling places across the countryonfront the condemnation of their service. plus. one year later -- as the worldaw aits a vaccine for covid-19, e are on the ground to se ere things stand at the virus' epicenter. >> this behind me is what's left of the huanan wet market what many people lieve is the original source of covid-19. there are no businesses operating inside any more, and many of the businesses aroundth outside, including eateries,

as well.cular, remain shuttered judy: all that and more on tonight's bs newshour." >> major has been provided by -- >> architect, beeeper, mentor. a raymondjames financial advisor taylor's advice to help you live your life. life well planned. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connt. we offer a variety of no contact plans andur u.s.-based customer service team can help find one for you. to learn more, visit consumercellular.tv. >> johnson & johnson.

bnsf railway. >> the john s and james l knight foundation, fostering an and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. this program was made possible byc the corporation for pub broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs .tation from viewers like you. thank judy: there has been another major shakeup in the federal government tonight.

president trump, while denying his defeat, has just fired chris krebs, the director of the cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency. he has been credited by many for securing the u.s. elections against domestic and foreign interference. to help us understand what e y be behind test move, nick schifrin is back. hello, again. remind us who chris krebs is and what his job was. nick: he was the elections are, one of the country's top cybersecurity experts. he took information from overseas and passed it onto local officials he also ensured domestic voting equipment was secure and he took domestic disinformation as well head on. he received bipartisan supportas ou said, in the days after

the election, that he a his team succeeded at securing the election but tonight, the president has tweeted ts. i will read the whole thing for you. "the recent statement by chris krebsse on thrity of the 2020 election was highly inaccurate in that there were massive improprieties an fraud, including dead people voting, ll watchers not allowed into polling locations, glitches in the voting machines, which changed. votes from trump to biden, late voting and many more therefore effective immediatelyh chris krebsas been terminated as director of the cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency. to be clear, the president is misleading the public. he is misinformed about the election and what his administration did in order to cure it. thes presidentferring not to a statement by chris krebs personally, but to a statement by not only his agency inside

th security, but the national association of state election directors. commission.n assistance the national association of secretaries of state, pretty much every single person involved in th electioade a statement that the president is criticizing. i should also add to that list, cyber command, which ds ended electiom foreign interference, also said theycc ded at protecting these elections and just in the last few minutes,hris krebs has tweeted, "honored to serve. we did it right. #2020."today, secure tomorrow. judy: both political parties said there was nothing untoward in the selection, one of the mo secure the have ever been involved in. have been reporting on this and

something like this might happen. is that right? nick: yes. late last week, h t begling officials that he would be fired people who told journalts like me that he was expecting to be tfired and w led up to that was a site called rumor control. this was a site born to essentially comba the mystic and foreign disinformation before the elections. what krebs and his team decidedw to do use the site to refute postelection disinformation, most of which came from the president himself as well as the president's alliluding rudy giuliani. some of krebs' posts and tweets on the rumor control website had a little f. he called one of the conspiracy theories that the president suggested happened during the election nonsense and used an

emoji to describe it. after that, i was told white house personnel targeted him, trgeted all of his work, to point that independent cybersecurity officials archived the rumor control site to make sure just in case the white house did not pull it down. the bottom line is there is bipartisan aeement that chris krebs was successful, and the 50 states that believe they were successful, that is what the president is attacking today. judy: the bottom line is he was doing his job and keepi elections secure, and for that, the president has fired him. nick schifrin back on the ram to report on this late-breaking story. thank you. nick: thank you. judy: -- stephanie: i'm stephanie sy with we will return to judy woodruff

afte the latest headlines. the wave of u.s. coronavirus infections hasit another high -- 166,000 in the last 24 hours. wthat's up 80 % inks, and it's prompting more states to iotake action. oday imposed an overnight curfew for businesses. and, iowa mandated masks in indoor public spaces. republican governor kim reynold gave the orderter months of resisting the idea. >> if you can't social distance and you're going to be in a prolonged interaction with an individual for more than 15 minutes, then you're required to we a mask. at is what is in the proclamation, that's the expectation. so i am asking iowans, once again, it's not where weanto be, but we need everybody to step up and do the right thing. stephanie: also today, 87-year-old republican senator chk grassley of iowa tested positive for the virus. he is 87 years old and president pd

a number of senior positions on his white house staff today. anone is louisiana congres cedric richmond. he'll resign his seat to become a senior adviser to the president. meanwhile, two weeks after the election, president trump ha yet to concede defeat, or start the transition. the president continues to resist the finalco o, in michigan, republicans blocked certifications in the states largest county. unofficial returns show joe biden defeated president in detroit by more than 100,000 votes, but the county board deadlocked on certifying the results. a state boarwill decide. the election'sia and geoaid he is being pressured by fellow republicans. that status doing a recount after president elect biden won by 14,000 votes. but secretary of state brad raffensperger says south carolina senator lpldsey graham d that he should discard legitimate ballots. raffensperger spoke v intervie >> we want to make sure everyou lel vote cs and every illegal i've always been a conservative

republican and i want to make sure we have a lawful process , because i think integritys. still matt stephanie: graham denies raffensperger's claim. the pentagon confirms it's cutting u.s. troop numbers in afghanistan nearly in half -- to 2,500 -- by mid-january. today's formal announcement came despite warningsy nato secretary-general jens stoltenberg. he said afghanistan could again become a base for terrorists. we'lleturn to this, later in the program. central america was battered today by hurricane iota. the storm charged ashore in nicaragua overnight wis sustained wi 155 miles an hour. it also brought extreme rainfall and heavy flooanng. humanitaroups warned of a long-term disaster. >> continued flooding in countries like guatemala, honduras, and nicagua, is going to affect the incoming harvest. and this will severely strain

subsistence farmers and alreadyl it's still early days, it is quite, it is quite clear that this will extend the emergency even into mid-2021. stephanie: early reports told of widespread damage and drownings of two children in nicaragua. back in this country, the u.s. senate blocked judy shelton's nomination to the federal reserve board. secttor and vice president-e kamala harris cast the decisive vote, joining her fellow decrats and two republican they opposed the conservative economics commentator over her nunciations of the fed, among other things. still to come the leaders of , facebook and twitter face congressional questioning over alleged political bias. polling place officials from yross the country discuss their experience in thr's historic vote. president trump persists in his refusal to concede defeatwo weekafter election day, and much more.

announcer: this is the "pbs newshour,"roweta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state universi. judy: social media under fire, top executives of tech giants amna nawaz reports.akers today. amna: a barrage of itestions and ism for the ceo's of twitter and facebook, appearing virtually before a senate judiciary committee hearing on censorship, disiormaon, and the 2020 election. >>nc what evido you have that these labels are effective in addressing president's allies? >> 's time we took action against modern-day robber barons. amna: the tech buses defended >> we did exactly that.

amna: the head of facebook mark zuckerberg. >> t we haveen down more than 100 networks of bad actors. we are -- who wer trying to coordinate and interfere globally. we establish independent fact checkers to establish more than 50 lang goerges. amna: but senator blumenthal from connecticut insisted that is not enough. misinformation is aincendiary scourge on both platforms and on others. amna: democrats largelyocused on how to combat misinformation and disinformation even when it comes fr the president. two weeks after election day, the president continues to tweet baseless claims of voter fraud and bh twitter and facebook labeled some of the presidents posts as misinformation. senator dianne feinstein, the democrat from california, asked about this tweet saying "i won this election by a lot." twitter said, official sources have not called the race -th the

race whe was tweeted. >> does that label do enough to eeprevent the harms when the tweet is still visible and is not accurate? >> i believe it is really important that we show people the broader context, and that e intention of the label. it is not just texts below a tweet. it is a link to connect to a much largeconversation and these articles across the spectrum. amna: republicans today focused their fire on accusations of bi against conservative voices. chairman lindsey graham, republican from south colina, first called the hearing after twitter locked a new york post aridcle about hunter that violated the policy on sharing hacked materials. after backlash, twitter reversed course, amending to block only ckers and associates and adding a label to block content. >> i hope ts illustrates the rationale behind our actions and demonstrates our ability to take feedback and make mistakes and

changes transrently. amna: both dorsey and zuckerberg repeatedly pressed on what content they allow or takedown. the facebook post from former trump advisor steve bannon. >> t content in question did violate our policies and we took it down. having a content violation does not automatically mean your tacco gets taken down and the number of strik varies depending on the type of offense. na: but when asked if facebook would take down bannon's account altogether -- >> > senator, no, that is not wt our policies would suggest we do. amna: central all this, growing calls to reform section 230 of the communications

decency act a 1996 rule designed , to protect internet companies lifrom lia. >> to both of you support change to reform of section 230? >> i do. amna: with the georgia special elections looming in january -- which willetermine senate control -- both ceo's pledged continued vigilance. for the "pbs newshour," i'm amna judy: president trumplind his continue to so doubt in the electoral process, at times questiong the intentions of election administrators and poll workers. yesterday, william brangham spoke to election offials across t nation, both democrats and republicans, about nteir work and why they are confident in therity of the 2020 election. >> my name is ben hovland. i'm chairman of the u.s. election assistance comm asion, which ederal agency dedicated to studying best practices in election

administration. as far as everyone who works in the space, everyone a committed professional to elections, this was the safest anection we've ever hathe most secure election we've ever had. >> my name is natalie adona, i am the assistant clerk recorder voters for the county of nevada . the e thing that we all have in common is that we care really deeply about democracy and making democracy work. so if we need to, for example, register a voter, it does not matter what that voter's opinion is about politics.ca what w about is, is the person qualified to register to vote. >> my name is reynaldo valenzuela. i am the co-director for maricopa county and i oversee early voting andeslection serv we' agnostic to the politic party when you go through these doors.

and we couldn't do it without having that kind of commitment from our staff that knows that this is important work to do. maggie toulouse oliver, new mexico's secretary of state and president of nass. if you see a state election official who is of one party or the other, and you see the outcome for the candidate of the jher party, the same at the county level, tht goes to show you when it comes to these jobs, that nonpartisan attitude of making sure that outcomes are accurate and that votes are counteand counted fairly is absolutely essential. >> my name is laurie elum and i'm the democratic director at the kansas city board of elections. i don't know that any of us signed up to risk our lives for people to vote. it made me feel really good when i looked in the distance downhe pastrain tracks and i could see 200 plus cars of covid positive people, that were ensuring would vote. i realized what we were doing was huge. a part of history. >> my name is james young.i'

'm a regional manager for inclusion solutions. previously i served as elections administrator in louisville, kentucky, and a special assistant to the kentucky secretary of state. part of what i do today is i travel the country full time. i work with election administrators. tsthis idea that balre showing up in the back alley at 4:00 a.m. is very insulting to the integrity of not just these p these carefessionals, but also to the poll workers thatse ovthe process. >> when you look at the way ou ection system was designed, all of the pieces of it have checks and balances, have bipartisan teams of republics and democrats working together to ensure that the process isfa ir and accurate if there's any credibility, any facts to these allegations, we should see that. but it needs to be presented in the appropriate place in a court of law where a fair arbiter can make that decision. and we just haven't seen anything of real concern. level >> a arizona hand count

audit. we looked at over foy seven -- 47,311, to be exact ovals. , we went from arrows to ovals, our new ballots, but 47,311, and not one had a discrepancy. that's amazing. and that's a large volume. so that in and of itself at least gives us the confidence that we have checks and balances so someone who says i don't believe, we have the dat >> we just want people to vote. it doesn't matter to me what your political leaning is versus somebody else, what i just want you to do is vote. i have nothing but the utmost and deepst respect for people'an political gs and their beliefs. the question is, do people believe that i find that important? i hope so. >>y i think like ection, there were hiccups, there were issues that came up. that's not unusual. but i think given all of the threats to this election,wh

her it be from the cybersecurity point to just the fact of covid-19 and its spread and all of the hurdles that that er ated, the fact that you h smooth flowing election process election day, that you had record numbers of americans turning out to vote, i think that in and of itsel demonstrates the fact that the election ran just about as well as it possibly ever could. >> it'important to remember i'm a registered republican. i voted a certain way that may not be reflective of the outcome of the elec'n. that doesnt mean the process should be burned to the ground and that we should question the individuals who counted the actual ballots. >> i get choked up talking about it because this was really important. my team really stoodor something. i'm proud to be a part of this team. at least i know that for a time in my li real purpose.ed with a

william: so judy, that is just a cross-section of the tens of thousands of people who wor every year in every election to make sure elections are safe air nd transparent and as accurate as possible. i spoke 12 those people yesterday. we reached out to them today nce the news that senat lindsey graham might have been contacting elections officials and in one case miavt suggested to one official that he toss out certain mail-in ballots. all of them, or many of them that any conce political pressure was being exerted on secretaries of state, especiallyecause these people are already facing bogus allegations that they are part of a massive conspiracy. many of them are receiving death threats and violent emails. the secretary of state from new mexico, who you heard, mary to lose all of her, said if the south two stations -- these

accusations are te, that there s an encouragement to throw out ballots, she called it disenfranchisement. dy: so glad to hear from these lines and around the country. we thank you. we turn now to our lisa desjardins and yamiche alcindor. hello to both of you. lisa, i will start with you, lindsey graham, admitting he did reach out to officials in states where the trump campaign the resu. this is ghly unusual. as we know. what can you tell us about it? lisa' is also significant because he's the chairman of the judiciary committee that oversees law enforcement in this country. chairman graha spent the last day explaining to reporters what he believes he said. explains it.ow he he said "i wanted to find out

how you verify mail-in ballot signatures, and that was the extent of the conversation with the secretary of state of georgia." senator graham is saying technology and georgia was up to the snuff for figuring out those ballots, and whether the signatures are accurate for mail in votes. but the secretary of state says li part of the conversation, senator graham i large numbers of ballots should be thrown out in ballots that the technology did not meet whatever senator graham's standard was. at he said ieral.tions gbout i think when we talk about senators and how they look at this, a lot of senators have been state officials. e of them,t, from connecti said if he's trying to get information, that'st fine. he's trying to influence ballot counting, that's problematic. it's hard to tell, this is a he said said with what senator

graham was trying to say. another thing is whether republican senators are actspting the res they seem to be tiptoeing toward acceptance. senator rprio today says iminary results indicate a bite and when. senator john cornyn says he doesn't think anything can change the outcome. and notably, vice president-elect harris,rr senatr was on the floor today and received congratulations, i hearfrom republican senators, langford, brown, tim scott and senator graham gave her a fist bump. he reportedly said "if it works out, congratulations. " judy: interesting, since these are senators who by and large say they report the president's challenge. yamich what is the latest on the president and his allies election results?william: -- yaa

string of failed legal challenges, the president is continuing to fight on and not exalt -- acknowledge he the is doing a number of things including leaning in on senators and elected officials and having alliesmping they should reach out to state officials to try and see whether or not there can be things done to sway the states in the president's directio the president is also keeping up his rhetoric. he talks about that the eenction was strom him. he string that in fundraising emails and text messages. critics say that's going through a loof money that will end up in a slush fund and at times help him lead an expensive lifestyle. the president claims it is part of his legal defense fund. on the legal font, the president continues to have lawsuit after lawsuit filed. we also saw the president coded court in pennsylvania, while lawyers are starting to quit

saying they cannot defend the president's legal challenges. today the pennsylvania supreme court ruled against the trump campaign sayin that there are gal challenges who did not have the proper access, that was not founded. when you look at the other strategy, the shifting rhetoric. before, people were saying if we can get recounts, we can wrestle back some states. now people close to the president tommy, maybe me, ybe what we are doing is auditing the system, seeing what the flaws were. one other thing they were saying over and over aga, they wanted recounts at each and every state. we are bei told now that the president is not going to be demanding a recount in wisconsin. that would have cost $8 million. what you see is the trump campaign continued to say we can win this, but when it comes to actually putting money towards that, they are not doing it. we should always watch thatou ad ofe local officials feeling pressure. we have been making calls.

on that hopefully we get more reporting on what happening there. judy: and the president continuing to say the election has been stolen in most of his statements. yamiche olso, lisa, thank you both. how to end our longest war. we heard the white house and the pentagon both promise today to bring u.s. troops home. nick schifrin has the details. nick: judy, the u.s. is reducing its forces in three countries -- afghanistan, iraq, andia. there are currently more than 4,000 forces in afghanistan, and re000 in iraq. by january 15, till be 2,500 u.s. forces in each country. here's what acting defense about the withdraw fromoday afghanistan. >> this is consistent withta ished plans and strategic

objectivesupported by american people, and does not equate to change in u.s. policy or objectives. nick: we now turn to a man who was at the center of president trump's decisions, serving as national security advisor. former national security advisor h.r. mcmaster, a retired general has spent multiple tours in iraq and afghanistan. his latest book is "battlegrounds: the fight to defend the free world." acting defense secretary saying that the -- the mission is not changing. gen. mcmaster: i don't think it changes. i think it goes beyond the paltry nbers of troops. these are historic lows anyway. i think it is the overall strategy. essentially in awehanistan, what

ave done is we partnered with the taliban against the afghan government. the afghanovernment officials are sitting across the table from the taliban at doha, and defeated the world's greatest superpower, why are we talking we are going to dictate the terms. nick: i spoke with a senior afghan official today who ecru --choed the fear. but i also spoke to other afghan officials who sa' they don' know if the military's capacities will go down. actually afghan officials are holdg out and saying that if the capacities of the military brings to afghanistan today are continue, which the u.s. military says they will, f's ok to draw down thousand, it's not a big difference. gen. mcmaster: of course that remains to be seen. i would like to know j what miller thinks and the assessments on the ground. the number doesn't matter. your point is right, the afghan officials point is right.

it is more about, what is the capability?do we have enough soup -- capacity to support the afghan government and security forces in their plight to maintain the freedoms 200 have enjoyed since and prevent jihadistni terrorist ortions from gaining the strength to commit mass murder again on the scale of 9/11? nick: with all due respect, the military has not been able to do that with 100,000 troops, so ery does it maf there are 4200 or 2500? gen. mcmaster: it's fficult to prove a negative, but i would say our sustained commitment abroad has prevented jihadist terrorists from committing another attack on the scale of 9/11. we should remember it is not a theoretical case. we know it was the safe haven and support base in afghanistan and it is this terrorist echo systemsting between afghanistan and pakistan that poses a great threat because it gie s these groups ility to recruit, train, plan,

organize, and also fund their mass murder attacks against all civilized people. the argument i would make is not for hundreds of thousands of troops in a region. american people don't need to suppor that. what we do need to support are those bearing the brunt of the fight. about 30 afghan sdiers or police give their lives every day fighting these groups. i think they are worthy of our support. when i say our support, the u.s. and a coalition of nations. actually, u.s. forces are lower in number than the rest of the coalition supporting the afghan forces these days. puck: somalia did not discuss icly, but the u.s. is drawing down in somalia where the u.s. trained somali troops to fight al qaeda linked al-shabaab as well as drone attacks in somalia. can the u.s. continue that if there is a drawdown in somalia? gen. mcmaster: i woulday that

there are officials who know better, but what'eay important is if you look at the math, the forces we have, highly capable forces, extremely courageous servicemen and women who operate with a partners compare the small number to the can now access to fight against theseerrorist organizations, it is a win for us. economical, actually. it'smportant to recognize these groups, many of them are more dangerous today than they were september 10, 2001. the reason we have not seen massive attacks on ouroil is because forces have been eaged againsthem and these terroriston organizahave to worry about their own security more than they can worry about whatdo they wilo us next. i think sustaining the ey ort is certai our interests. in 1998, al qaeda had alreadyar declareds earlier in that

decade. thenhecommitted the first world trade center bombings. then they attacked our embassies. under the bill clinton administration, we fired some cruise missiles and calleit a well, we know what happened on septem1.r it's not theoretical. we have to rain engaged militarily but also diplomatically, and amkig partners w together to secure humanity from these jihadist terrorists. nick: you worked for president outrump. areoncerned in what he might try and do in the 60 days before inauguration? gen. mcmaster: i hope he prioritizes a smooth transition to the biden administration. anytime you have a change in administration, it's turbulent. i think our adversaries and rivals internationally are looking opportunistically for ways they ca advance their inrests while we are distracted. thk the emphasis should be on a smooth transition, and i hopehat everyone rises to the

occasion. enthe pres, any position in eygovernment, hould all be bigger than any individual's ego. we should all want what is best for the country and i hope that sentiment prevails here in the last two months of the trump ministration. ni former national security advisor h.r. mcmaster, thank you very much. gen. mcmaster: thank you, nick. judy: despite denial by the president, the transition tora biden adminion is moving forward. one of his closet allies in the capitol democratic senator chris coons of delaware. he joins me now. thank you for being with us. before i ask about the transition, i want to ask about the georgia recount.

senator lindsey graham of south carolina himself has said he phoned georgia's republican secretary of state, and i'm quoting, mr. raffeperger says "mr. graham asked about possible ways ballo could be disqualified, including whether the secretary of state could reject all absentee ballots in counties that had a highig numbr ofture mismatches." what is your reaction to this? senator graham is denying it. wh is your view? se coons: this election is over. the election is two wks ago tonight and the saturday news outlet was beg to, every call the election for en.it ist-elect joe b longpast time for the presidento accept this transition and begin moving forward. these actions by senator grahain of south carare greatly concerning, and certainly the account by the repub secretary of state of georgia of thatn conversatggests he is

mucking around in eeorgia internctoral politics, and trying to suggest or move the secretary of state in a direction that would not bhe supported by law and my understanding of these facts. dy: is this unethical? sen. coons' that' a question i can't speak to, i am the vicee chairman of nate ethics committee so i should not give you an opinion on that. judy: let me move on. do you at this point know if any republican senators who are at the pointhere they are prepared to acknowledge joe is the president-elect? sen. coons it has been a striking week on that front. ere are quite a few republican senators who have conveyed their congratulations indirectly to the vice president w electn she appeared on the floor of the senate this afternoon, to thees ent-elect. i am encouraged by each of them to -- i am encouraging each of them who hav done so to me to step forward publicly, and say

that the election is over, it's time for a transition. you just had general mcmaster on and he made clear its in the ,st interest of our count our national security, of the this transition be promptlythat and be smooth and appropriate. judy: let me ask about something general mcmaster just said to nick schifrin. debtors the move by the trump administration to draw down u.s. troops in afghanistan for 2500 by january. we heard general mcmaster say he thinks this is a huge mistake. what is your view? sen.oons: when i last spoke with p tsident of afghanistan and when i was last briefed on the circumstances on the ground in afghanistan, which has been a number of months, my impression i it was american policy that we would make a conditions based decision about when to draw down troops further by a political timeline.riven

this strikes me as an effort by the outgoing trump administration by president trump himseo make a significant change in our security profile in three could -call countries without critical countries without consulting allies and without changes on the ground to justify it and a way that would putid prt-elect biden and his incoming administration on their back foot in dealing with security on this critical area of the world.judy: do you beliee president-elect biden, upon taking office, would reverse cese moves? sens: i can't speak to whether he widow wouldn't do that, but it isin cer unsafe and unsod for an outgoingni adration, within acting secretary of defense in the role for just one week, to make abrupt decisions or changes. althere wer some alarming reporting in the new york times that there was a meeting ine the whouse to seriously discuss a possible strike against iran last week.

these are the sorts of things that should not be done in the midst of a transition, where there's no intelligence sharing with the incoming administration, and where any one of these sudden moves, either a drawdown in the three countries or aggressive action against another counould put us in an insecure and unstable position right in the middle of a presiden transition. judy: separate question, a lot of conversation about your being in the running to be secretary of state under president biden. you he said you would be honored to accept, if you were invited. do you think you are under serious consideration? sen. coons: i think the president-elect is seriously considering quite a few people to fill his cabinet from a wide range of backgrounds. he's blessed to have a team from a number of folks who have very senior experponce in foreign cy who served with him when he was in the senate, when he was vice president.

he has great selections in front of him and i look forward to doing everything i can to work with the biden administration here in theene or in some other role, if that comes a possibility in the fute. judy: very quickly, what is your sense of how the transition is going given the fact that the trump administrion is not cooperating, not agreeing to move ahead with ? sen. coons this is putting american lives at because we are not seeing a smooth and professional transition around the vaccine and response to covid-19, or a professional transmission -- transition around telligence and national security. vice president-elect harris and president-elect biden are continuing to work diligently and consult experts on security and public health and moving ahead. that sort of responsible leadership should be responded to in kind by the outgoing administration and by leaders here in the republican caucus in

the sena. but so far, we are just not seeing that responsiblvior out of president trump or republican caucus here in the senate. judy: senator chris coons of delaware, thank you very much. one year ago today, the first known case of coronavirus infefction was recorde china's hubei province, home to wuhan, now known the world over as the orinal virus epicenter. special correspondent patrick fok went to wuhan to try andth piece to parts of the puzzle and see how china is shaping the story of what happened there. patrick: it's hard to imagine this place was once on the frontline of china's coronavirus outbreak.

hejinyintan hospital, inorth of wuhan, treated some of the world's first covid-19 patients nearly a year ago. few cars, or even people, come in and out of the premises now. in the early days of the outbreak, wards here w bursting. just a short walk around the corner from the hospital authorities converted this expo centre into a shelter to treat the sick. wuhan was the hardest hit place in china, accounting for more than half of all the country's cases, and the bulk of its officially-reported, roughly 4500 the centre is now housing an exhibition, commemorating china's battle against the virus. >> i think pride belongs toer evy one of us chinese, because we have successfully fought against the ronavirus under e call of the party, and the untry, and actively fought against it under the leadership of the government. patrick: this is an audio-visual journey. stat details chinese commu party-led efforts against covid-19 -- complete with a timeline of events, accordinto chinese authorities, of how they unfolded.

there's a tribute, also, to medics who died fighting the outbreak including li wenliang -- the whistle-blower doctor silenced by officials for trying to warn the world about the disease, and whose death sparked outrage. anger over his fate and a perceived coverup in the early days of the crisis has beest turned into y of sacrifice by a national hero. it's the story wuhan the government wants to tee this hhind me is what's left of the huanan wet market, s what many people believee original source of covid-19. there are no businesses operatininside any more, and many of the businesses around the outside, including eateries, in particular, remain shuttered as well. filming here is not welce. that's despite there being little to see. people used to sell everything

fromive animals to seafood a this market. there's barely any sign, now, that it ever even existed. scientists believe the virus may have originated in bats, and i thwas passed on to humans via another animal species. but there are doubts about whether this is where the outbreak began. although many early cases were linked to the market, no animal here was identified as a source of infection. lai yun owns a japanese restaurant in wuhan. he lives close to the market, and before the outbreak, used to buy some of his supplies there. >> hubei is not a province that likes to eat wild animals. there is no such thing as bats , as mentioned on the internet. certait. patrick: if true, that wouldle seem to ut the possibility of any "jump" from bats, at least, in huanan market. chinese scientists have alsoy backed aom assertions they made previously that the market may have been the source of the virus.

meanwhile, beijing's resisted global pressure to allow outsiders access to get to the bottom of its origin. in may, mont after that first case and the virus exploded worldwide, president xi jinping endorsed a world health organization-led investigation. reports say a two-rson team t fr who came in july. but they never went to wuhan during the entire three-week trip. s still been no independent probe on the origins of covid-19 conducted from china's outbreak epicentre. dr. bruce gellin is president of global immunization at the sabia ine institute and a regular consultant to the who. he says it's now too late. >> looking at something x nths later is maybe hard to reconstruct it, so these kinds of investigations need to be possible, getting the teams in there that know how to do these as quickly as ssible to understand what's happening and to unveil any evidence that may be there. patrick: the lack of access

given to outsiders has raised doubt over china's enmmitment to fying the source of the virus. it's also helped fuel alternative theories, including the possibility that it might have leaked from the wuhan institute of virology, which had been conducting research on coronaviruses. there's no known evidence to suggest that happened. professor ivan hung is the chief of hong kong university's infectious diseases division. he says he thinks the criticism of china is unfair. >> the only thing you can probab comment on is that the local government in wuhan, probably they ve not been very responsive and they cleaned up the market before they are able to have any propernvestigation being done in terms of there ou investigation. patrick:sh in a o curb theth spread ovirus, it's understandable, experts say that local officials might have rushed to disinfect huanan market, instead of evidence. still, china could do much more

to shake off accusations of a lack of transparency. and there are calls for the who to be given greater poweor to obtain ition. >> they are terfacing with their member states and they have to abide by what the member states wishes are.at 's obviously a problem if e member state doesn't wish to tell others about that information. i think we need to take a hard look at those to make sure the international health regulations which are put in place for things like this, so we have global health security, are they able to do what we need them to do?patrick: unless that's addressed, the world may be no er off at defending itse against pandemics in the future. for the "pbs newshouic" i'm pafok, in wuhan. judy: now a day of reckoning for the boy scouts of america. as membership drops, a deadline

has now passed for sexual abuse claims that could lead to a $1 llion compensaton fund f victims. john yang reports. reporter: judy, more than 95,000 people have come forward with sex abuse claims against the boy scouts. experts say that's far more than the number of accusations against the catholic church in the uned states. the oldest in the case is 93 years old. the youngest is eight. for some, even the process of filling out the claims for was -- form was traumatic. gill gayle, who is 58 and works in the movie industry, was abus by two separate outmasters in the 1970s. >> it was the hardest thing i have ever done. it was more difficult than thefi t time i told a friend or family member, it was more difficult than the first time i told a thepist or the first time i filed a police report.

it is gut wrenching, and i believe that is why several men weren't able to go through and join us in this process. for me, it -- it's colored and informed every decision in my reporter: this is rt of the boy scouts of america's bankruptcy filing, which they say is the onlly way to deal with all the claims. attorney of a group that represents thousands of survivors of abuse. thank you for joining us. one of your colleagues was telling me that in the vast majority of these claims, each claim is naming a different erab, that it's very unusual to find even two claims that name the same abuser. what does it tell you? >> it tells me that even though close to 100,000 men came forward, there were millions

that did not. each one of the men that did coment forward repreone of probably 100 victims that perpetrator abused. we know from statistics that pedophiles have on average 100 victims over a lifetime of offending. however data shows 95% of our clients identify abusers that have never previously been identified before. we have a handful of people abused by a common abuser but the overwhelming super majority were abusedy different scoutmasrs. reporter what is the next r these people who filed the claims? it is the next step in the process? >> that's a good question. perslially, i don't e there is going to be a next step in terms of a plan to allow boy scouts to emerge and go back to i think it's inevitable this will end in liquidation, and soon. the boy scouts don't have money

to continue and it seabs highly impr that any deal would be worked out that would be acceptable for the victims. in fact, i think liquidation is the best avenue for victims to receive adequate compensation. but0 with 100, victims and the fact that the boy scouts have had no revenue as a result of covid and will have no revenue for the next year, i don't see a viabath for them to go back into business. i think they are finished. reporter: there's the boy scouts of america, the national ganization of umbrella group which has filed for bankruptcy, then there arehe local uncils across the country that also have assets that are not involved in thisankruptcy. with that be the whole kit andhi caboodle you would go away? or with the local councils be able to survive? >> it has been a fiction that the bsa and councils are pushing

that they are somehow separate. the assetsf the organization including the councils are all claims of the predators, the victims. what i foresee is tha all the council assets would have to be sold off as well. the councilasaintained they have a separate existence, but under the rules and regulations and bylaws, they are totally owned and controlled by bsa national. reporter: but if this were to happen, if they were liquidating, with the proceeds of that liquidation g tonight if thousand people who claimed >> filed claims? yes. not just the assets, but also the insuranc whi is ample. the boy scouts are a melted ice cube. they don't have but a few months to live. i don't see a deal coming forward in time to save the boy scouts of america.

the whole c thing waspletely mishandled by the boy scouts and the bankruptcy attorneys. and i predict it will turn in a liquidation and i think that's the best result that these survors can hope for. rerter: timothy kosnoff, thank you very much. >> thank you. reporter: on its websi, boy scouts of america says scouting contins, and today released a statement "we are devastated by , the number of lives impacted by past abuse in scouting and moved by the bravery of those who have come forward. we are heartbroken that we cannot undo their pain." stephanie: one breaking news update. the county board of canvassers in michiganer rd course since we first reported the deadlock on certifying election

results. they have now unanimously voted to certify president-elect biden as the winner in wayne county. and that is the "newshour" for tonit. i'm stephanie sy. for all of us at "pbs newour," thank you for watching. announcer: major funding for the "newshour" has been provideby -- when the world gets complicated, a lot goes through your mind. with fidelit wealth management, a dedicated advisor can tailor advice and recommendations to your life. that is fidelity wealth management. announcer: consumer cellular. johnson & johnson. bn railway. financial services firm raymond james. carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations and education, democratic engagement, and the advancement of international peace and security at carnegie.org.

andfith the ongoing support these institutions. this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you this is "pbs newshour west," from weta studios in washington and our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. >>s. you're watching [captioning performed by the national captioning institut

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