captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, president-elect biden moves ahead with the transition as president trump's moves to reverse the election results take a potentially dangerous turn. then, a surging crisis-- withs covid caiking across the country and hospitals reaching capacity, we talk with the governor of new mexico about grappling with the pandemic. and it's friday-- mark shieldsd vid brooks analyze the president's firing of a top challenges to the election results and refusal to concede defeat. plus, the light of a clear blue morning-- dolly parton talks with us about her new book, a christmas special and offers her timeless wisdom.

>> some good things about getting older is that you can look back on your life and see what you've accomplished and see what you can do to help otherpe le on their journey, which is what i'm doing right now. >> woodruff: all that and more tonight's pbs newshour. >> ajor funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving o economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.

>> the john s. and james l. knight foundation. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: and friends of the newshour. >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by c station from viewers like you. thank you.

>> woodruff: president-elect joe biden is nearing 80 million votes tonight, nearly six million more than president trum but mr. trump still shows no sign of conceding. instead, he is pressing lower- level republicans to try tohe overturn tesults. lisa desjardins reports. >> desjardins: in wilmington, delaware, a show of unity andlk f governing, as president- elect joe biden spent part of ths 78th birthday meeting house speaker nancy pelosi and democratic senate leader chuck schumer.on their topics, coronavirus relief. >> in my oval office, mi casa is your casa. hoping we'll spend a lot of ti together. >> desjardins: at the white house today, presidentrump was policy mode too, with his first public remarks in a week,t the at an event about drug prices, but which pivoted to the election.

>> big pharma ran millions of dollars of negative ads againstp me during the gn, which i won by the way but you know, we'll find that out. after a sixth day hand tally of ballots,he state of georgia certified after a six day hand-tally of certified its election results-- that president-elect biden won the peach state and its 16 electoral college votes. georgia's republican secretaen of state dd the vote count last night. >> as secretary of state i believe that the numbers that we have ped today are correct. the numbers reflect the verdict of the people, not a decision by the secretary of state's office or of courts or by their campaigns. >> desjardins: this as republicans in michigan are hiing singled out by the wte house, and by protes michigan state senate leader

mike shirkey passed a handful of demonstrators at the airport, after president trump personally asked him to come to the white house. the state is seduled to certify monday, and the trump campaign has openly raised the idea of subverting popular votpu results it ds by getting g.o.p. legislatures, likeig mi's, to overturn them. white house press secretaryna kailey m also didn't dismiss the idea of the president asking individual electors to break with their state and vote for him. >> the president, again, is pursuing ongoing litigation, taking it day by day and we'll wait for that litigation to play out. there is an entire constitutional process of electors casting their ballots and i will leave that to the president. >> desjains: michigan congresswoman debbie dingell condemned the move. >> clearly an atmpt by the president to change the results of the elections. set me be very clear: this g beyond partisan politics and it's an attempt to subvert our

democracy, and undermine the will of michigan voters.ot if they doertify the results of the election on monday, they are breaking the law.in >> desjards: outrage is coming from a few members of the president's own party, too. utah senator mitt romney tweeted: "it is difficult to imagine a worse, mor undemocratic action by a sitting american president." in a statement, nebraska senator ben sasse wrote, "trump campaign lawyers have stood before courts under oath, they have repeatedly refused to actually allege grand fraud, because there are legal consequences for lying to judges." now nearly two weeks from biden being declared the winner, it is still unclear when any formal white house transition will begin. >> woodruff: and lisa joins me now, along with yamiche u,cindor. so, yamiche, to irst, as we just heard in lisa's report, the president is meeting with these michigan state officials today on the same day georgia certifies its results for joe

biden. tell us what the president's strategy is here. >> we end this week much like we began with theup insisting that he won the 2020 election without any evidence to prove that and is continuing to not acknowln ge joe bi the president-elect. he is doing that and becoming more brazen and bold and as his people in his inner circle get sicker and sicker. donald, jr. has covid 19, t aat ds t long list of people including the white house chief of staff, the press secretary, a the president and a number of the others who have had the virus. critics of the president say what we're witnessing with president trump is someone wh's trying toeubvert rican democracy, someone who's trying to undo the vey foundation of americ tonight the president had two top michigan officials at the white house. i'm told they were herthis afternoon, they left a short time ago. it's not clar what was said but we know the president has been

openly saying michigan and other officials should be trying to overturn the results d these states should in fact be given to him as a winner. joe biden won the state ofig mi by 150,000 votes and when the white house press secretary kayleigh mcenany was questioned about the meeting that took place she sai quote, this is not an advocacy meeting and there are no campaign officials inehat meting. we know the candidate was in the meeting, president trump, so he s adocating for himself, of course. who president came to the podium to talk abo lwering prescription drug prices t slid in there, i won the so that's the president doubling down. all eyes continue to be on the gsa, emily murphy, who is supposedfo be signingf on the transition officially.ss that proemains frozen and we're continuing to watch to see if anything changes. >> woodruff: circle jeff,s

administration. yamiche, thank you for that. lisa, how concerned is the biden team? >> two fronts, let's talk about the ideaof governing. spokesperson jen seé today told reporters that patience is starting to run out. this is the week where biden tansition team, some ofheme are moving their e-mails from the campaign to the transition, review teams that the biden staff has set up, they were hoping to reach out to their agency counterparts. that's not happening. the legal front, this is whe hre eard sharp words and pushback from the biden team today. bob bower speaking for them, their atty, said no state legislature in the country's history has done what president trump seems to be asking the mihigan state legislators to do, which is ovturn the ctified results that were expected to be certified mony of a pular election.

the biden campgn is saying this is not legal and it doesn't have any historical precethnt. say they're not concerned about the election being overturned nor have they er been, and they also say it's dangerous. they point out one other thing. they say the trump camn pas shown a discriminatory pattern, that they're particularly goafig r challenges in african-american areas, cities that they think shows a very serious bias problem and say they will continue to raise i in court to every trump filing. >> woodruff: these are heavi democratic cities. lisa desjardins, yamiche ocindor reporti today's extraordinary events. thank you both. >> you're welcome. >> woodruff: and we continue our look at the president's actions >> woodruff: we continue our look at the president's actions and state of the republican party, with former arizo senator jeff flake. senator flake, thank you so much for being with us. we have the president still t refusiconcede, insisting that he won, in constant motion to try to overturn the rsults

today, meeting with state officials from michigan. what do you make of all this? >> well, frankly, it's just awful. it's for the country and for republicans. it's terible asl. stand it.t und i'm grateful some republicans are finally starting to speak up. i wish more of them would. this is unprecedented and it just does not speak wel obviously, for the president or for the party. >> woodruff: we heard there are some who are saying this is literally dangerous for our democracy. do you share that view?r >> i'm s. we're cutting up here. re woodruff: i think we having a connection -- having a connection issue. let me try one more time. speaking with former senator senator, do you be this is dangerous for our democracy what

the president is still trying do? >> sorry -- i'm sorry. i didn't hear the question. we cut out for a second. go ahead. >> wooodruff: logies. let me try it one more time, with thathn teogy. is this dangerous for democracy? >> it is. it is. when you have the rest of the world looking at uns ad watching we, you know, try to be anhen example for the rest of the world, if other countries wre doing what the president is doing, if other leaders were doing what the president is doing, we would be very critical. we have been in the past, and, so, this doesn't speak well for ff. it's a very dit time. i hope we can get it solved quickly and i'm confident we will by inauguration. >> woodruff: senator flake, we claims about conspiracying false

theories, about venezuela, about the clintons, and on and on. is any ofehat -- doany of it have any connection to anything that's real? >> i'm sorry, i pbably only heard part of the question there, but, yes, these clas are demonstrably false. f they're r out that i don't know how anybody, frankly, can presidentem, but th knows that some republicans will, and it's similar to the birther-ism theory. i don't think the president evea believedbarack obama was not a citizen, but he knew that a lot of republicans would, and he used it, and he's doing te same thing now. >> woodruff: snator jeff flake, would love to talk to you a little bit more, but i think we aving technical thank you so much r talking with us.

he woodruff: in the day's news, drug maker pfizer applied for emergency use authorization for its covid-19 vaccine in the u.s. if the so-lled e.u.a. is approved, vaccinations could begin next month, on a limited basis. in dueling tv interviews today, outhe trump administrationd its vaccine plan, while president-elect biden's team argued it'not getting accurate numbers or information. >> we have about 40 million doses of vaccine gexe or take tly when the e.u.a. comes out and what we're goi g to do is we'ng to execute fair and equitable distribution based on the population of the 50risdictions, jurisdictions identified as thtates, eight territories and six metropolitan cities. >> there was a plan for 300 million doses to be available at

the end of the year. what they're reporting now is 20 to 30 million doses available. why? where are the bottlenecks? what are the shortages? how are they addssing them, and what are the gaps that the next administration needs to fi? that alone means delays that could cost lives.dr >> wf: the nation is averaging more than 1,300 deathv a day from, with a record of nearly 188,000 new cases on thursday. treasury secretary steven mnuchin is rejecting csm after he ended some pandemic emergey lending at the federal reserve. in a rare rebuke, the fed said thursdayhat it needs every tool to shore up the economy. mnuchin shot back today, "that's not their job." he also denied trying to limit president-elect bideonomic options. the u.n. refugee agency warned today that fighting in northern ethiopia could create 200,000 refugees in the next six months.

hiopia's military is battling rebel forces in thtigray region, and hundreds of people have been killed. avat least 32,000 refugees already fled to sudan.n american jonatllard, who sold.s. secrets to israel in the 1980's, completed his parole today. that frees him to go to israel, which has long lobbied for his cause. he was released from a u.s. prison in 2015, after 30 years. some of the material stolen by pollard ended up in the sovietio including information on u.s. informants.st the trump admition has issued new rules to cut drug costs for seniors. medicare would pay the same as the lowest price in otherri advanced cou. and, drug mabars would pay s tomedicare enrollees, instead of to insurers. the industry is expectedano fight the s in court.

and, wall street retreated today amid worries about rising covid infections. the dow jones industrial average lost 219 points to close at 29,263. the nasdaq rose 49 points, and, the s&p 500 slid 24. still to come on the newshour: the governor of new mexico discusses e troubling surge in covid cases. mark shields and david brooks eak down the president's continued refusal to concede dolly parton on how even in dark times we can see the light of the clear blue morning. and more. >> woodruff: as coronavirushe

cases acrossountry continue to rise, only three states currently have a stay-at- home or curfew order in place. amna nawaz takes to one stat under lockdown. >> nawaz: it took nearly 100 days for new mexico to reach its first 10,000 coronavirus cases. but the state went from 60,000 to 70,000 in just seven days. today, covid numbers there are increasing exponentially and hospitals are at 90 to 100% capacity. issued stay-at-homrsjan grisham earlier this week and she has called the state legislaturesi into special s to deal with the virus's spread and the economic fallout. she joins us now. governor, welcome back to the "newshour", and thank you for making the time. we sho number of covid cases inw xico topped 70,000 deaths. you've had to call in travelings , brought in mortuary trailers. you need the shutdown to workpr now. iously you said enforcement is part of the problem.

how about now, are you ain't enforce the shutdown? >> so it depends on personal compliance really incredibly hard to attain in any state. this one's no different. we've had a mandatory mask mandate since may. gettg our businesses to support us more productively, i think it'been a bit of a challenge, but i have to say, today they get it, and we have been incredibly firm about if you've got four different rapid sponses positive case, wcome in, close for 24 hors and get everody tested. if you get four in a two-week period, you're closed for two weeks. so they're rlly coming to the table with solutions. i'm feeling better about enforcement and compliance. but we need a reset in our state and we're going to get it. >> reporter: what about on the individual level especially with the thanksgiving holiday. the virus spread is largely due to small famgsily gather

you ask them to limit it to five. >> there's no way in the cou we'll be able to say you brought another household together, there was ten of you having thanksgiving dinner, but we are hopeful people will really take heed. you know, we lost our first child in m nico. we have more in the hospital. this deadly virus doesn't care how old you, are doesn't care who you are, where live, your political affiliation, and we are very nervo about what thanksgiving could produce a month later, and b we haen doing as much productive messaging, and while we appreciate tha dr. fauci is doing that, this is really what the federal government did by telling people you don't have to don't have to care about public health issues or the public health order, and this virus is a hoax, and its just gieople

an opportunity to say, we don't have to worry about it, and that is the mst dangerous set of circumstances moving forward until we get a vaccine. so we're nervous, but we're doing all the right messaging, and that's part of the reset, right, ifu limit where people go after they have been exposed, then i can limit the spread of the virus. soe're taking callf that into consideration -- all ofco that intsideration. >> reporter: new mexico is seeing the same trends nationwider which is disproportionately black and brown communities have been t. the navajo nation has had the highest per capita rates in the country. how are you helping this communit what additional steps are you taking in coordination with your neighbors, surging help to thse communities? what specifically are you doing there?>> i would say new mexicos been very effective and led, i'd like to say without diminishing the very difficult challenges

and decisions the governors in states that neighbor us utah anh arizone the navajo nation is embedded in all three states, we have not been as ective in coordinating. again, the indian health service which is the federal effort here is also notat coordg and are not very supportive. we have a ve strong relationship with the navajo nation, so they have a veryri sort of containment issues, and we are engaged in that. we provide traffic support, food, water, personal supplies, educational sport, testing, contact tracing, we're doing virus in indian country and in new mexico three times, and we n were luct to have it get community. single tribal don't think we're going to be that lucky this time. given the rhetoric right u until the election, it just created that perfect stormha whatpens around the country states will find ay rightther back here.

so, basically, all of those tribal nations are containing themselves. we're providing all the t necessary support so they can do that effectively. but it's been really tough, and i give them great credit for their leadership and courageous actions which, no question, are saving lives in new mexico. >> reporter: governor, we should mention you are now par of the bind harris team. you dissed the pandemic response. trthout the officiasition in place and without the coordina your state and so many others are facing this dire situation with the pandemic response, do you thk that the transiti should be doing more to force cooperation? they mentioned legal options being on the table. do you want to see them force those kind of options specifically when it comeso pandemic cooperation? >> you know, i have to say i think the biden-harris team is

doing this right, and i know we'rall frrated and the current ocupant in the white house is behaving in this way which will result in more deaths from the pandemic and more ecomic harm, whichmeans it will take us longer to address all of that, and that's before we talk about the complicationsr for vaccine dution in each of the states. i think what biden and harris are trying to do, and i agree with them, is build support fro ound-up at the state level. we're making all the decisions, io're doing all the execof efforts because we're not getting any help from the federal overnment, and i think and i agree that they see that as the quickest way to get congress to act, it's the quickest way to get information, the national governor's association is going to proved data about our hospitals, plans, efforts, infection rates, cases per hundred thousand, all the kinds of outbreak strategies that get you ahead bcause here's what happened, we don't want any of these false choices. i want a strong economy and i

want to save lives. but if you don't haplve peowho believe the virus is real, then you end up teeter-tottering between those two parameters, and we don't want to do that. believes that pubalthident who efforts can and will work, who will modelhat beavior nationwide, who will work with each of the governors to bolster their responses, who will create region systems that keep me, right, not having to fall apart when something goes on in arizona and texas and vice versa so that arizona andtexas gets the support they need. that makes sense to me. they are clear we havto have robust testing and contact acing another year all the way through vaccine distribution. i felt very optimistic and eery governor weighed in ability need ago stimulus package, and this is an administration that is dedicated to that priority immediately. i think that's the ral focus, that's going to make a huge difference in trust, credibility and getting the pandemic under

control. >> woodruff: governor, we're wishing you and everyone in new mexico a sfe thanksgiving holiday, and thank you very much for your time. that's new mexico's governor michelle lujan grisham. >> thank you. >> woodruff: it has been a week like no other in u.s. politics. to help sift through the perils and the promise, t analysis of shields and brooks. that's syndicated columnist rk shields and "new york times" columnist david brooks. hello to both of you on this friday evening. david, it's been at two weeks since joe biden was declared the winnerouner of this election. president trump said he won by a landslide and he's doing

everything to change the result and get himself reelected. >> yeah, the trump administration is a bit like the ofvid pandemic, you can see the light at the endhe tunnel but the last chapter is just the morst. this has been tht unsuccessful, the most just horrible in every way transition of power in arican history surpassing rherford b. hayes in 1870 by a country mile. he's throwing everything at it. i don't thi there's really much chance he will bem successful iy ways for a million reasons i can get into. but a friend of misays it's like a fire hose of falseio informstrategies that disinformation campaigns have used against the united states and that's where you fill the air with lies.sa it's not necly that people believe your lies, it's people don't believe in anythin the long-term effect on american society, american politics and american culture is a country that's even more cynical, even more disabusre and, wou have a majority of republicans now who thinkn

trump and what does that mean for the next four years? it's a poisonous spewing thatot shouldbe underestimated. >> woodruff: mark, how do you make sense of all this or do you? >> first of all, i'd like to associate myself with the previous gentleman's remarks. joe biden, who has been the model of restraint, said that tht'presidactions were irresponsible. they are irer responble, but they're also reprehensible. the president shows absolutely concern for the president-elect and his group's efforts to prepare, govn,o lead the country, just go through the myriad of problems facing the country. he has refused to support a covid relief bill with benefits running out just after christmas. he has no interest in th.

the president has had no interest in showing the new incoming adminiration its best way of providing the vaccineo the millions of americans who so deceer pray will need it. -- desperately will need it. it'those who wish us ill in the world can take advantage across the board. and what david said, i mean, he's -- sowing -- he's sowing doubt d mistrust. americans have historically given the benefit to have the doubt to the new president, it's a wonderful quality of ours, wen wallow partisanship. what donald trump is doing is his best to his 90 milion twitter fllowers is toreach the 70-million-plus who votedan for hid said don't trust

your government, don't trt your nation, and it's reprehensible. it'seyond irresponsible. >> woodruff: david, but it's not just thathey're saying that there was a problem here or a problem there, they are alleging massive fraud, conspiracy. rudy giulii yesterday speaking about a venezuela being behind n conspiracy, the clintons and on and on anda on, firy tail-like information. i mean, i wonder, is this something that you believe the american people are wise enough, smart engh to reject? >> i want to say yes, but, you know, this is really what i wonder about. holding nd documents claiming you have evidence when you have no evidence is litelly what joe mccarthy did. and now we're seeing a repicture of it.'v always had in this country paranoid style.

s chard hofstetter wrote a book about 50, 60 yeo, the paranoid style of american politics, alleging the mafia killed john f. kennedy, that's always been here and is not new. the question i have is to what extent is that spreading, to what extent is q anon just become like a large religion out there and hall the distrust built up over the decades now created a paranoid ring that's just bigger than ever before? i just don't know the ansatr to i know every time we have an election, we ratchet down our quality of politics. you know, people claim thackt babama was a legitimate president, hillary clinton and jimmy carter said donald trump was an illegitimate president, but that's nothing compared toat happening now. there's some evidence we're seeing a bigger alienated, paranoid wing of our country wha believe in this or just

nobody. it's pure nihilism. >> woodruff: what mes it more, in my mind, a question, mark, is tha most elected republican officials are backing the president in what he's they're saying he has every right to challenge. very few of them are yingt that what he is doing is wrong. >> judy, they have take an vow of silence, apparently. the most amazing moment of the week to me politically was to find out that meet the press st sunday called every single republican senator and invited him or her to be on the show that sunday, and every one of them turned to "eet the press" now. that is unheard of to be invited to anmportant forum ke that. senators jump at that opportunity, historically. what you're back to is dante's great quote that the hottest

places in he are those at time of moral crisis remain new central. that's what they'vdone. they've taken this vow of silence with conspicuous consumptions, they are enabling him, ande they undoing democracy and they're doing enormous damage. they're saying, well, humor him along a little while. we're facing the greatest public health c isis we've had 100 years. we're facing an economic crisis proportions and dimensions. people's lives are really at risk, and what they do is putz around on this and pretend we're not going to tell the emperor that he has no trousers on or no shirt on, there's no attempt to win here, nobody believes that donald trump won the election. it's ju to sow doubt and mistrust and distrust, and what a terribly, dishonorable

objective. >> woodruff: well, it appears that he believes it, and a number of people who are backing him may believe it. it's not clar. but, david, as you look at how joe biden has responded to this, the comments he's made, he's aen asked about it dayter day, is there anything -- i mean, what do you make of tha iishat a response that is likely to win opinion, win what do you see?? what do you hear? >> first, i want to acknowledge the republicans actually have stood up. mitt romney, first and foremost, jeff flake early, but even this week lar alender and ben sasse, senators from tenannessee nebraska, really have put out statements so i think they get credit. as for joe biden, i think he's handled it reasonably well, not overreacting, getting down to business, focusing on covid, that strikes me as vry sensible. his transition put out an email

today raising money. so we've got a country,re we' living in a country where th president-elect has to raise money to pay for the transition because he canpu't get lic funds. it's like we're not a first-world country anymore.vi >> woodruff: you mentioned republicans, but i think 's still the case,itch mcconnell, the majority of elected republicans are still not challenging the president. >> yeah, i would say there are four levels.th e's a very small levels of heros like romney, there are the 80%ers who are moving way, the 90% are completely silence including cory gardn, the guy who just got defeated in a senate race who has nothing left to loose plitically, evene's still silent, and then the hard-core giulianis. you're right, there's a core group of republicans who are disgraceful in their silence. >> woodruf mark, what abut joe biden and how hes dealing with this? what's your assessment?

>> i think joe biden has handled i it well. an, you can feel his mounting frustrati, a greater sense of urgency as time goes by, and the enormous task confronting him and his ey're beingion, robbed of the chance just to consult, judy, just to consult eeth the people who have there, who are there, who are working. i mean, you know, the republicans mantra during impeachment, you recall, is let's wait till the election, let's let the voters decide, let's let them cast their ballots. well, they've done that, and it's time to accept it. i acknowledge senator romney's leadership. lamar alexander, after three terms in his retirement did make a statement today, and ben sasse independence. shown some but that's three.

that's three. and, you know, i'm still waiting for the leadership to move on it and stop pretending. i mean, this is a fantasy land we're living in and a dangerous one. we're playing with people's lives. 250,000 americans are dead because of this pandemic, and the president seems -- he just seems consumed with his own -- his own ego, his own vanity. thk about this, judy, if he were really even shrewd, he would be lar-spirited and magnanimous right now and do everything he could and take credit and earned credit for his administration to produce a vaccine in eight months, nine months. it's an ama achievement, potentially save millions of lives. but he hasn't even -- that isn't anywhere near his interest. he's not concerned about that at

all. i mean, it would be in his interest to go out as a magnanimous and large historic figure and serve his purposes, whatev they are in the future. but, instead, he's going out as small, mean, vindictive and >> woodruff: i guess he did make a statement one day this week about the vaccine, the progress made on t vaccine. but, david, i do want to come back to something else theha presidendone and that has announced pulling the u.s. troops out of the middle east hereksn the last weemonths of his presidency, makingo mves that raise -- i think raise some questions about where this administration wants to lea u.s. power, and what he wants to leave for the next administration. t yeah, there's no question that america wan get out of afghanistan. the question is how. and when ymeasure that, there's always a conflict between the political fors and the military, and sometimes the

military probably wants to st y inlittle too long, they're probably a little more confident in their abities to tur things around than they should be, but i'm really struck about how the military leaders, especially the former military, the retierdz have reacted with apoplexy to the way we're drawing.un for all the ymen and women who served in afghanistan over these many, manay yers, if we stay in a couple more months and leave a last lasting legacy they it.ld be proud of, that's wor what you see from trump is pure politics so he canbrag. >> woodruff: mark, just 30 seconds, thoughts about the present and the military. >> well, judy, 25 people peopl iraq and afghanistan are too few to fight and too many to die. so that is a strategic decision. but the reality is tt we have

never had, in this country, any exit strate in iraq of afghanistan, the two longest wars in american hiswetory. on't know how to measure what victory or success wouldan bethat is a failure, it's been a failure for administrations, and the fact that we got into it witnh nod strategy, with no end in sight is a terrible indictment, and it's t only war since the mexican-american war longer than mthree months thaterica has fought without a draft and with tax cuts istead oax raises. and both republican presidents during this war, their pincipal domestic policy has been to cut taxes. spent 5 ther $trillion, thoandsf lives and disrupted millions of lives, and i ask for what? >> woodruff: a week that's raised a lot of questions. mark shields, david brooks, w thank u bth.

>> woodruff: the u.s. passed another heartbreaking milestone this week, with more than 250,000 lives lost to covid-19. we remember five of them now. 64-year-old isabelle papadimitriou of dallas, texas had a warmness about her that drew people in, said her daughter. isabelle's calling was to help people. she worked as respiratory therapist for nearly 30 years, and had a way of making her patients feel seen, heard and loved. mily meant everything to she always showed up for her children, nephews and nieces,

giving them her love and compassion. after two years with the army, jim herber spent more than three decades as a postal worker in his hometown of sheboygan, wisconsin. was a career perfectly suited to his lively pemmonality and ment to public service. old sought to help others as a hospice volunteer and loved makingew friends as a rtender. in his free time, jian avid outdoorsman. he visited countless national parks and even motorcycled to alaska. he passed down that love of nature to his four cn and eight grandcldren. emergency room doctor juan fitz practiced medicineor 34 years. he cared for his patients at his hospital in lubbock, texas like they were family, said h daughter. a gregarious jokester, his

daughter said her dad's laughter would fill a room and that he was the type of person who would give you the shirt of his back. desps hectic schedule, juan, a father and grandfather, always managed to make time for his fami to ski trips.ll games juan was 67 years old. 70 year old james mcintyre was a bus operator in pensacola,ea florida for 39. his regular passengers knew him for his warmth and kindness. a man of faith, james hoped to one day each before his own congregation. heften talked about god wi his frequent riders, offering words of wisdom or support. it was on his bus where he first set ey on his wife. e two were together for 36 years. 17-year-old elivia ramirez, or "rnse" to friends, had big p for life after high school.

among them: college, an engagement to her longtime boyfriend, and a trip to disneyland with her younger siblings. curious and creative, rose loved learning about her family's native american history and culture in north dakota, and spent lots of her free time drawing. she also had a silly side, on full display on her social media, where she enlisted her brothers, sisters and friends in dances and lip syncs. we thank family meers who share these stories with us. our hearts go out to you as thet doo all who've lost loved oes during this pandemic. d

>> woodruff: we is week focusing on a force in american life: dolly parton. her million dollar contribution to vanderbilt university's coronavis research helped in the development of the promising moderna vaccine. c she has eer top 10 country , a record for any artis and more than 100 chart-topping singles over the past 40 years. now with a new book and christmas musical, she told me this week, she is more productive than ever before. the story is part of our ongoing arts and culture series, canvas. ♪ ♪ she's here. here. and here. and, here. everything is coming up-- dolly! all part of the dolly empire.

you are writing songs, you're singing, you're acting, you are doing philanthropic work.re younning your business, you're producing musicals. what's going on? how >> you do this? ell, i have a lot of passion. i have a lotf spiritual energyat and a lot of ce energy. and that's a pretty big force, actually. i have to say that i'm a lot busier now than i was when i s first started because i st trying to get things going and i get things going. i think energy begets energy and i just love being creative andg gett do things for other people and especially working during a time like this and when everybody feels kind of shut down from their normal life. >> woodruff: that energy y never have been more evident than iis right now, with the release of a 19-set dvd collection of her music." a hoery dolly christmas," first holiday release in 30

years, a musical out next wee"" christmas on the square" on nelix. and a book out this week, "song teller: my life in lyrics." is there more of you that's the singer. more of you that's the writer? are they equal parts of who you are? >> i have to honestly say that i think i'd take myself more serious as a songwriter than anything else. there are many writers greater than me, but that's just been the thing that i've seem to enjoy the most because it's my therapy, it's my pleasure, my job is my joy. >> woodruff: dolly parton grew up the fourth of 12 children in a one-room cabin on the banks of little pigeon river in the tiny east tennessee town of pittman center. ldshe began singing as a cn local radio and tv. by 13, she was recording her first records and appeared at cash encouraged her to followny

her talent. she lives in nashville. tennessee has always been home base and she's kept family and her own life experiences central re her work. >> there's also s of me in everything that i write, almost like little secret, little secret pces of me that even i myself don't really realize. rhymei have the gift o and i love to write songs and i can write other people's sorrows, other people's happiness. >> woodruff: she's composed an including: "coat of manys, lors," "9 to 5" and "i will always love you." ♪ i will always love you f

dolly became tirst country artist to chart a top 20 billboard across seven consecutive decades beginning in the '60s. another parton passion is literacy: her "imagination library," now in its 25th year, will donate the 150 millionth book to children around the world next month, all the result, again, of partonng respono something close to home:l, >> w am proud of the imagination library, as i ever will be, anythg i ever do for the rest of my life, and i have told the story many times of how it came to be because my own father, who couldn't read and write, grew up in a big family in the mountains and so when i saw how crippled that had made my dad

emotionally, i wanted to do something to help him. and he just loved being part of that. and he took such pride in it. and that gave me such pride in myself that i could do that for my daddy. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> woodruff: in this song, "when life is good again," released in may, parton, says she, was addressing the pandemic and the crushing effect it's had acrosso thtry: >> it's affected me in many ways. it's affected my businesses,t everything tstand for, my this whole year has taken a major toll on everybody. e.is is craziest year i've ever seen in my whole i didn't want to be crippled with fear about it and that i had e freedom and the abilit and the equipment to doso thing about it. so i kept trng to work, write >> woodruff: i saw that in yourv in the museo you released in the spring. you did say at the end, wear a mask.

>> so if wearing a mask is going to keep some germs off of you or or somebody else, why no even if, you know, some people say it's crazy, is crazy, not >> woodruff: well, we also know this year, dolly parton, we've seen a gaping political divide in this country, it's come we'v ve in a very red state, tennessee. tell me how you seit there. >> i've en what a great divide it icaused even within my ow family and among my own friends. i don't know what to me of how people acting these days, how we have to take even our political views to such degree to work, just destroying our whole families and our whole lifestyle. we need to pay a little more attention to beira human beings er than getting so caught up in so much other stuff. >> woodruff: she defines herself as non-partisan, but parton does speak out on some importantus >> when someone blatantly asks

you, do you think black lives matter? well, of course, black lives matter. we all have a place in this world. we all need to be loved and respected. >> woodruff: in the 1980 feature n championed," par e rights of working women. she told me about her own d proach to overcoming barriers in making music nning her estimated half a billion dollars-plus empire, including the dollywood theme park. >> i protest in my own way through my songs. i actually am able to speak for women and for myself. and i had it easier than most because i just-- i wasdent in myself and i didn't think about it in another way that i had a talent that i thought could make-- make us all a bunch of money. and that's what i go into buness meetingwith men. but of course, i've be hit on all my life and especially in those early days. but i knew how to manage that myself. i never sold out i never did anything that was going to take away from who i was as a human being.

i don't caref you're, like i say, black or white or whatever. i don't care if you're gay or lesbian or transgender. everybody should have an equal chance. >> woodruff: you have said a couple of times you've been quoted as saying anyway that you didn't want to look old, which of course you do not. but is there anything good about getting older, do you think? things about getting older is that you can look back on your life and see what you've accomplished and see what you can do to help other people on their journey, which is what i'm doing right now. i nt to live young. i want to think young. i want to do young. i want to always be important.be i want tseful. and as i've often said, i would much rather wear out than to rust out. >> woodruff: for someone in upat rarified gf enrtainers toorave received nominations grammy, tony, emmy and academy awards, and has projects backed

up for the future, "rusting out" seems highly unlely. ♪ and it's gonna be good again >> woodruff: she is a force of nature. one powerful woman. thank you dolly parton. online, we look at the pldge joe biden and online, we look at the pledge joe biden and his team have taken to achieve gender parity in the male-dominated ndrld of national security the groups that have been helping the team achieve it. find that story on o web site, pbs.org/newshour. and tonight. newshour for i'm judy woodruff. have a great weekend. thank you, please stay safe, and good night. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> when the world getscomplicath your mind. with fidelity wealth management, a dedicated advisor can tailor advice and recommendations to that's fidelity wealth

management. >> the william a flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas anitsupporting inions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour.

>> ts program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contr test test test test test test captioned media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org

tonight on kqed newsroom. california impos a new overnight stay at home order and travel restriction as covid cases spike. but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. the pandemsurges in the nation and the state we talked with mayors of san jose the virus on their city. plus, this week's look at something beautiful, the mosaic in san francisco. the u.s. reached a grim