captioning sponsored by newshour productions, ll >> woodruff: good evg. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight:ov the transition ahead. president-elect biden moves quickly to make up for lost time, introducing key leaders of his national security team. then, the troubling surge continues. as covid-19 cases and deaths spike ross the country, we examine one wisconsin hot spot. and, "hungry in america." the coronavirus exacerbatesin widespread foocurity in the united states, as the focus turns to thanksgivin >> i just needed to come here and get food to make the rent, basically. and i've known about this place. i usedo volunteer here. >> woodruff: all that and more,

on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> architect. bee-keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life, well-planned. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has been offering no-contract wireless plans,lp degned to eople do more of what they like. our u.s.-based customer service team can help find a plan that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. >> johnson & johnson. >> bnsf railway.id

>>ity wealth management. >> the john s. and james l. fostering informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: anindividuals. >> this program was made possible by the corporation r public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbt n from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: president-elect joe biden has formally introduced his national security team to the nation. it came today, as the presidential transition officially got under way, after a three-week delay.

white house corresponden yamiche alcindor begins our coverage. >> alcindor: "america is back." elect joe biden and his first six cabinet picks hammered home today in wilmington, delaware. as they took the stage, mr. biden declared a with the last four years. fact that america is back. the ready to lead the world, nottr t from it. >> alcindor: the memrs of thatlu team i antony blinken, a former top state departmentec official, astary of state. alejandro mayorkas as secretary security-- the cubricanmeland former prosecutor in california is the first latino and first immigrant to hold this position. and, avril haines as director of national intelligence-- the first woman to head thete igence community. vice president-elect kamala harris prais the selections, and the man who chose them. alongside them, on behalf of the american people, and on behalfho of a presidentill ask

tough questions, demand that we be guided by facts, and expect our team to speak the truth. >> alcindor: if he's confirmed by the senate, blinken will inherit a legacy of global relationships in disarray from the ump administration. today, he spoke of his late step-father, who survived the holocaust as a child in poland. >> at the end of the war, he made a break from a death march into the woods in bavaria. from his hiding place, he heard a deep rumbling sound. it was a tank. but instead of the irocross, he saw painted on its side, a five-pointed white star. he ran to the tank. african american g.i. looked down at him. he got down on his knees andsa the only three words that mother taught him theat his war: "god bless america." >> alcindor: mayorkass also talked aboutis family history. >> my father and mother brought

me to this country to escape communism. they crished our democracy, and were intensely proud to become united states citizens, as was i. >> alcindo haines, who was deputy director of the c.i.a. aom 2013 to 2015, will take on the job of leadi revitalizing the intelligence community, which outgoingum president has frequently >> to our intellig professionals, the work you do, oftentimes under the most austere conditions imaginable, is jus>>indispensable. lcindor: mr. biden also introduced linda thomas- greenfield as the united nations ambassador, jake sullivan as national security adviser, and former secretary of state jo kerry as special presidential envoy on climate change. >> president joeiden will trust in god, and he will also trust in science, to guide our work on earth to protect god's

creation. >> alcindor: thomas-greenfield, a 35-year veteran in f service, emphasized the importance of re-establishing >> america is back. multi-lateralism is back. diplomacy is back. >> alcindor: all of this on the day after emily murphy, the he of the government services administration, offially ascertained that mr. biden is president-elect. that move authorized the t transitiofficially begin. president trump said yesterday that the move was in the country's best interests. but today, he fired off another tweet, saying, "the g.s.a. does not determine who the next president of the united states will be." he also made an historically quick appearance in the white house briefing room. in a one-minute statement, he praised his administra work on the pandemic and the economy. >> the stock market, dow jones industrial average, just hit 30,000, which is the highest in history. i just want to congratulate all the people within theha administrationworked so hard.

>> alcindor: the president did find time today to carry on the annual tradition of pardoning the national thanksgiving turkey. he again made no comment on the transfer of power, or his legal team's efforts to overturn the election results. meanwhile today, three me states: pennsylvania, nevada, and minnesota, certified biden victories. >> woodruff: and yamiche joins me now. ia mirn, you were at the news conference in wilmington delaware today where president-elect biden introduced his national security team. tell us what struck you aboutd what they o say about themiir ion, their outlook as theyiir begin this next administration. >> reporter: president-elect joe and his pics for cabinet level positions were all hammering home the pointa tht they are going to see a sea change away from psident trump and his view of america as isolationist and pulling back from the world

and going towd e biden-harris view of the worweld wherhould lead on climate change and the policies impacting globally, how the h environment isandled. they also in some ways were talking like thr experience in government -- a lot of the pics joe bidewent with were steeped in government. people who are alums of te obama administration. critics are saying some of the people are too elite. marco rubio are attacng some are ivy league graduates saying they are going to oversee the decline in america. etch though joe biden is feeling good about this grup of people, you're seeing partisan politics at play and many will have to be confirmed by the senate. >> woodruff: yamiche, you also reported on president trump's two brief appearances today at the white house. what more to w know -- do you know about how he's handling this moment? >> reporter: well, president trump and white house aides are really sending

contradictory messages. president trump is still lashoug still very angry, saying he recommended that emily murphy at the g.s.a. move forward an do this, whle emily murphy is saying this is an independent decision, and he saying he can still jon. biden said he felt the white and they were get lot ofperate i help. we see emily murphy with reporting today, she was ready assertion yesterday joe biden was the official winner of the election, so that tel you the mood within the federal government. there are things moving along with regard to the biden transition team, but things are tense as the president lashes out. he had the shortest white house nriefing, the shortest of his tenure. so we continue to watch the president continue to be angry. >> woodruff: no question about it. yamiche alcindor reporting again on the incoming and outgoing administrations. thank you, yamiche.

>> reporter: thank you so much, judy. >> woodruff: joining us are >> woodruff: joiningw are two men familiar presidential transitions. andy carwas the chief of staff for president george w. bush, and the former secretary of transportation in george h.w. bush's administration. and leon panet served as the chief of staff to president bill clinton, as well as the seetary of defense and c.i.a. director i administration. welcome back to "newshour". very good to see you. begin with you, leontaan what did you make of joe biden, the president-elect's introducti of his national security team today? what does it say to you about his world view? >> i think the most important thing is he really is reaching out to expernce people who kind of know the job, are not going to havto go through any training, know what it means to be in that particular area, and

will bring both their experience and advice to the president ofed the untates. so it's a very different approach. he is going to rel y agreat deal on getting people who really s know tbject matter and who will not be afraid to give himat ce, and i think that's a good approach for the country. >> woodruff: andy card, what was your take as you saw whatsi the prent and his pics, what they had to say today. >> i was impressed with the team thathe president is putting together. i think they all do have an understanding of wht the responsibilities are in their will not be aseep as somecurve others. t'sy have to catch up on wha happening in the world today and confident they canat.n, but i'm they also all have a history of understanding the pur care sis that they -- pure i don'burkeciesthey will be leadid

council, i think they have the courage to speak through to power and they have the capacitk tosure that the thoughts are one thing but th ability to implement licy is something else, and they will help demonstrate the ability to understand goopolicy but also talk about how wilit be implemented so that you can count on results showing up? i ink it's a good time. buffe both tunnel vision and peripheral vision and tht's important to help advise the president. >> woodruff: and leon panetta, we see joe biden picking people he's close to both inside the white house and i cabinet jobs. we've seen tension between the white house and different cabinet secretaries in the past. do you see that being an issue in this coming administration? >> you never know until it all plays out, judy. that's theture of bringing a whole teaming to. the fact that they've gotten along in developing policy in the past i think is extremely

important. these are people that have broad experience and have worked with each other, and, most importantly, joe biden knows them personally, having worked with most of these people and, for that reason, i think you'ree going se of that kind of competition that we've seen in past administrations. i think this is going to be a t joe bidenffort tha is putting together. >> woodruff: and, andy cad, we know that its taken two weeks since president-elect biden was declared the winner, three weeks since the election before the team how much does that affect get done and, in particular, the president's the denigrating th election saying it was

fraudulent, that the election was stolen. we know most people who voted for president trump tell pollsters they don't thi joe den is a legitimately -- is a legitimate president. so how does joe bidrk around that? >> i would say just be can have nt depth in doing the job. he is the president-elect. i wish that theon transiad started earlier because to have the paemic in particular, but there's also a lot of things happening around the world that i want to make sure the incoming president understands and his team understands. but i'm glad that they were now ascertained to have the transition take a formal role and get started. but the president-elect deserves to have a team on day one that can do the job because thees ent will have to do the job on day one. so as soon as he takes that oath office, joe biden will be the president, and we don't know whatould happen, but it's not unusual for our enemies to try to take advantage of a this pandemic, and i think it's critically important that president-elect biden's time

other -- what are the plans fort the distribution of vaccines and p.p.e. as thstis pandemiill rages on in the coury. >> woodruff: leon panea,ow much difference do you think it makes that there has been this delay and this seeding of attitudes on the part of president trump that this was an illegitimate election? >> this hasn't been good for the country or for our democracy. s it's -- t a terrible message to both our allies and adversaries about the ability of our decracy to follow the constitution, follow the processes that we have esta'tished. so i dhink it's been a particularly good thing for the country to go through this. having said that, i do think, because joblbiden is pro one of the most experienced presidts that we've had in a while, he knows the job, he knows what is involved, and the team around him is also equally

experienced, so i think they well.hit the ground running as g problem is what andy pointed out, which is the security briefings. i'm glad they're starting now. but theability to really know what is going on with regards to arreats in the world, whae are our adversaries up to, that's somhing they have not been provided, and they're starting a little bit late her trying to catch up and realize what are the potential threats, what's involved, obviously, in the whole process of distributing the vaccines under covid 19, all of this is going to be a tremendous learning curve in a very few weeks. so i think the danger is that a new administration is not going to be able to hit the ground running, it's going to takhim some time to really understand the implications of all the issueshat they're going to have to deal with. >> woodruff: finally, andy

card, quick words of advice for joe biden as he steps into thisr arious and fraught moment in american history. >> well, understand, he knowswh the baton will feel like when he has to grab it, that's a good thing. i'm really glad he appointed his ief of staff ron klain on the first appointment. he should be helping him build the white house staff. we forget how they have to build that so quieyly. tart noon "time" on january 20th and that should be in place. you need awhite house counsel, secretary, advanced teamat communns individuals, press secretary, you've got to get that done quickly. i think joe biden will be ready on day one and i pray that the world will watch us ha a successful transition. i am the chairman of the national endowme for democracy. we've got to polish our knock si. it is very tarnished now. the world is watching. the signals sent on the day of

e transition are very important to the rst of the world and the united states is most vulnerable at that moment.n >> woodruff card and leon panetta, two men who have been teere at center in the taken place in the past.ns have thank you both. >> thank you. , judy. >> woodruff: in the das other news, wall street made history, powered by the start of the presidential transition, of reports that joe biden will name former fed cha janet yellen as his treasury secretary, and by hopes for a coronavirus vaccine. e dow jones industrial average gained nearly 455 points and finished above 30,000 for the first time. the nasdaq rose 156 points, and the s&p 500 added 57. re-imposing covid curbs,re

two days before thanksgiving. los angeles county moved today to issue a stay-at-home order, and a state judge refused to block a ban on outdoor dining. california's secretary of health warned, things will get worse. >> just as we are exceeding our highest-ever number of cases, and beginning to see our hospal systems pressed with covid beyond where they have ever been essed before, the idea that the numbers of dedths could exhere we've been before is also indeed real. >> woodruf a number of other states are also hot spots. we will examine the situation in wisconsin later in the program. human rights groups sounded alarms today over ethiopia's imminent aack on a rebel region. government tanks are surrounding ultimatum for its surrenderan

expires tomorrow. in three weeks of fighting, re from tigray into neighboring sudan. an unknown number have been killed. in central afghanistan, twin explosions today killed at lea 14 people and wounded 45 more. the roadside bombs blew up at a bazaar in bamiyan city, an t art had been relatively free of violence. there was no immediate claim ofp sibility. and back in this country, davidn dinkin york city's first black mayor, has died. he served one term in the early bid to rudy giuliathe cityction battled crime, unemployment, racial violence and homelessness. david dinkins was 93 years old.l to come on the newshour: the pandemic pushes moreic ams into hunger. wisconsin struggles to handle the major increase in covid

infections and deaths. thhosts of the "bombshell" podcast discuss the diffulties women face in the field of national security. and, much more. >> woodruff: now, the first of a two-part look at the impact of covid-19 in the country this thanksgiving week. as americans prepare to celebrate the holiday, millions of americans are out of wo, and struggling to put food on the table.lisa desjardins takest the reality of "hunger in america," and how the pandemic has made it worse. desjardins: a chilly morning, and a patient line of people outside this food bank in arlington, virginia, not far

from washington, all waiting their turn for fresh fruits and vege >> chicken noodle?s: >> desjardin..canned goods, and this week, a turkey. >> before corona came, this line was never this long. so, it's definitely bringingmo people here, more people out here. >> we try to address long-term food insecurity. >> desjardins: charles meng is the executive director of the arlington food assistance center, which has spent more than three decades helping feed a diverse population. but they have never seen ts amount of need. weng says that since the start ma the covid-19 pandemic, has soared 45% over last year. >> we're seeing nemifamilies, faes that have never come to us before, families that are-- have been struggling to just survive, and have been very successful at doing that. but with covid, with the ls of jobs, we're seeing those families returned to us and returned to a situation where they need us on a much more

regular basis. >> desjardins: we saw that in those we met, like mounir oujri, who moved here in 2015 from morocco. he's a food delivery driver. pandemic, he's now back to 50 hours a week.t, with a new baby, a toddler, rent, and sending money back home, he says it's jusghnot enou. >> i wake up every day, early, i have to go to work, and i come home late. so i didn't have enough time to talk to my famil i don't have any day off. so i'm just like working and, u know, it's a little bi hard. >> desjardins: katherine horn told me she's come to rely on hethis food, after quittin job at a grocery store for fear of contracting covid-19. >> i just needed to come here and get food to make the rent, basically. and i've known about this place. i used to vonteer here. >> desjardins: that's so interesting, you used to volunteer here, and now... >> now i'm like, i need it.

>> there's a lot of us that lost our jobs. >> desjardins: alice dade is a cook who says during covid-19, her job has been touch-a-go. >> i'm not working right now because of my job. we did open up, but we closed back down because my manager was positive for corona. we had to close our store ck down. >> desjardins: we also saw some of the group that is the most affected by hunger in america: kids. right now, by one estimate, one out of every four kids inkn america doesn' where their and that could rise.atom. igure comes from feeding america, the nation's largestor hunger relienization. they estimate that before the pandemic, 35 million americans of all ages were already livingo withinsecurity, meaning they couldn't reliably providety enough quaood to everyone vi the household. now, because of 19, feeding america forecasts that

nwill skyrocket to more t 50 million people-- with the hardest-hit being children and communities of color. >> we're still right in the middle of a food csis. >> desjardins: claire babineaux- fontenot is the c.e.o. ofer feeding a. >> we're seeing an average increase across our network of about 60%. now, embedded inside of that 60% would be some of our food banks that have seen as much as a 400% inease in need. >> desjardins: wow. >> yeah. so, one example of that would be a recent example out of north texas, where maybe your audience would have seen images of lines and lines of cars, of people who were lined up for food distribution. we're continuing to see that happen. >> desjardins: freelance photojournalist brenda ann kenneally has seen that, too. she spent months documenting american families struggling, and coping, with food insecurity during the pandemic for the "new york times."

for some, it was an awakening. >> the last family that i photographed, in san diego-- you know, almost the lastba ion of the middle class-- the woman had been wplking in evenning and things that require social congregating, anh ch, she lo job. and she has thredren. and so she started going to food pantries, first for herself, and then quickly realized that of her neighbors did not have access to these resources. >> djardins: her photos also show the way these families come together, how teachers and communities pitched in to get theryone through. >> so, every daygs emerge out of nothing. and i think that, at thanksgiving, how thankful i am that i now-- and it hasn't been the case-- have extra to give. or even if i don't have extra, i certainly have enough to share. even if it's not food on that day, it's in life.

>> desjardins: kenneally's photos show the mass mobilization to fit hunger during the pandemic-- struggling families with food on the table. but federal aid for some programs will run ounext month. she hopes this new awareness of those in need will lead to greater efforts to stamp out od insecurity once the pandemic ends. back in arlington, there is shared thanks and concern. person after person was positive, thankful that places like this are trying to keep upi the tide of need. >> thank god this country is so great that it's lcomed us and lps to provide this support that's so important, food for the family. >> desjardins: bute also heard concern, that things again are turning for the worse. and, for many here, a concern that this holiday season, l long line this, for food, are again about to grow. for the pbs newshour, i'm lisa djardins.

>> woodruff: in this thanksgiving week, covid ces are on the rise, with the country averaging about 180,000 new cases a day for the last several days. john yang reports on one hot spot. >> yang: judy, wisconsin is in the midst of a month-long surge in cases. over the past week, new cases the state have been averaging abou5,800 a day, and an average of 52 people have died each day. heather storch is a nurse at marshfield medical center in marshfield, wisconsin. >> as a manager, i've been in nursing for 14 years, and i never imagined that this is something that we would have to go through. the decisions that i need to make on a daily basis, of irlowing a family member to come

and see one of tamily members, who is dying, for the last time, is extremely hard. >> yan >> yang: the hospital, which works is parof the marshfield clinic health system. dr. william melms is chief medical officer for that network of hospitals and clinics, which serves mostly rural,l orthern, centd western wisconsin. dr. melms, thanks so much for joining us. heather storch recorded thatvi o last week, late last week. what's the latest? what can you tell us what it'sow liken the-- in your hospitals? >> well, really, it hasn't gotten a whole lot better. i have to say that. the number opositives in the state, as you have mentioned, continues to be quite high. that drives the inpatient hospitalization. our staff is pushed to the limit, and it's been difficult to care for these patients because of that. >> yang: you're talking about the staffing. and we heard certainly in that-- in that video, what-- what it's like on the stf. what is more critical for you

number of beds, or capacity in terms of the number of staff you have and the number of hours that ty can be working and, quite frankly, their emotial reserves? >> we havenough space to take care of these patients. we cannot create more people. and it is the staff. it's physically demanding to and more importantly, it's an emotional, demanding thing to. >> yang: how concerned are you about what happens after thanksgiving? if people are gathering, perhaps not doing all the things they should be doing? you've also got a large number of college students going home and then going back to campus. how concerned are you about that period after thanksgiving? >> we're extremely concerned about that. we feel like we're in a little bit of an eye of the storm right now, but we will be on the leading edge of that stormin wine to two weeks after thanksgiving. i have no doubt about that. >> yang: do u worry about the long range or long term effect that's going to have on-- on

doctors and nurses? >> do. you saw heather's report that she gave-- that was from the heart, very sincere. this is trauma that these individuals are dealing with on a day in and day out basis.yo >> yang: dworry about burnout? do you worry about that you're going to see some turnover in staff? >> absolutely. b we worry aboh. we worry about burnout. we worry about turnover. we are trying to mobilize aff least to be able to help ther at inpatient staff, to provide them some relief for the duties that they have to do. we are looking to get contracted staff wherever we possibly can. that's a difficult thing because surging is occurring around the country now.

so, staff is rare. >> yang: i saw an interviewt you'd done lek, and you talked about at the beginning of this pandemic, you were watching the numbers surge in places like new york and you were getting reeey, preparing yourself to that come to you in rural wisconsin. it didn't come then, but now, six months laterhere it is. why not then, but-- and why now? >> we were definitely the sideline at the beginning of this pandemic. in fact, many of our staff wt to new york to help, and we were proud of them for doing so. but probably becausee rural nature of our delivery area, just did not have the close contacts that that occur within cities and now it is caught up with us. >> yang: there's been a slight and i stress "slight"-- dip in new cases across wisconsin in the past couple of days. are you opmistic about that

trajectory? and if not, what's it going to take for you to feel confident that cases and numbers are heading in the right direction out there? >> well, we're pleased with any day that has a drop in number of new cases, there's no doubt out that. but again, with the holidays coming up, there's nothingt magical abis. every time people come in contact with one another, it's a potential exposure. and those potential exposures turn into positive cases, which then turn into hospitalizations. we will deal with many more hospitalizations that will push our ability to care for these patients to the brink. >> yang: dr. william melms, marshfield clinic health system. i wish you and your staff a meaningful and safe and healthy thanksgiving. >> thank you vy much.

>> woodruff: with president- elect biden's nomination of highly-experienced women to top national security positions, he is following through on a campaign pledge to pursue gender parity in an area of government where women are historically underrepresented. as producer ali rogin reports, women in the national security field are already hard at work correcting those imbalances for generations to come. we also want to note that some parts of this story were filmed before the covid-19 pandemic. >> reporter: for women in national security, it's hardou to get a seat at the table. so, the creators of the podcas"" bombshell" built their own.>> heck, check, here we go. grea >> reporter: the three hosts, erin simpsdha iyengar and loren jonge shulman, are all national security professionals. ey've worked inside and outside the government, advising

decision-makers on matters of foreign policy and defense. 's a field-- like so many in government-- dominated by men. following the 2016 presidential election, the co-hosts wanted to make sure women's voices could still be heard. >> we were all out for drinks,lk and we were g, and, you know, as we moved into a new administration, part of the discussion was just, like, how do we keep this kind of conversation where it's women but talking vis-a-vis their expertise, not just on women and security or diversity initiatives. >> reporter: it features strictly female guests-- with one notable exception. each january, they celebrate their new season by hosting an episode with only men. they call it their "ma iversar" >> this is our annual episode where we bring the men of the foreign policy world on, to explore such questions on, "what is it like to be a man in national security?" " w do you decide what to wear, to be taken seriously?" >> "what do you think about doing with your hair?"ep

>>ter: those sorts of stereotypes-- questions women still often get-- are why the podcast exists. co-host erin simpson previously served as an adviser to military officials in afghanistan. sh is now an executive at a defense technology company. >> there's still a kind of a "talking dog" aspect to women in national security, especially on the defense side, whi q is, they cante believe-- by "they," i mean men-- they can't puquite believe that we caon eyeliner, take out high-heeled shoes, blow out our hair and talkbout a force deployment plan or the next set of con ops or new tecologies that might be emerging that are relevant to american national security. >> reporte co-host radha iyengar, an economist, says the podcast shows what else gets left out when women are exclud. >> people are willing, and do have conversations about how women should be included. but, at the end of the day, if they can'tind a women to be included, or it's too inconvenient, that's still okay. and so i think that's really the sort of bridgehat needs to be crossed next, which is to say,

"hey, if we end up in a situation where we don't have any women, it means you'resi probably m some critical expertise, so we need to go back to the drawing board." >> reporter: recent studies show that women's expertise is missing at the top levels of government. according to a 2018 study by the new america foundation, womenke p less than 40% of the state department's leadership, and 26% at the pentagon. the numbers during the same period of the obama administration were similar. >> it was challenging. i didn't see a lot of other women in the space. >> reporter: that was lauren buitta's experience when shen becamealyst focusing on national security law at a chicago-based research institute in 2002. >> i was depriveof certain e portunities that i had cultivated, by mlleagues who, again, didn't necessarily acknowledgthe value of women in national security. >> reporter: that's what insped her to create girl security, a program that gets young women and girls interested in national security and foreign affairs.

>> so, this is an emerging crisis scenario. >> reporpar: before the emic, buitta hosted in-person events like this one, where high school girls worked to solve a simulated diplomatic cris. >> most people still harbor those same perceptions about the role of women in security. in other words, women don't necessarily belong in national security. and so, part of our work has been changing the narrative around that space to empower those gis who are interested in the field. >> reporter: girl security has suspended all in-person events, like this one, for nt buitta said covid-19 provides real-time training. >> we're living thugh a pandemic, which is a national security crisis, and it's having implications for every facet of our society. and this is precisely the situation that we're training girls to cope with and to excel at, as decision makers in national security. >> reporter: 20-year-old sruthi katakam hopes to be one of those

decision-makers.ed she was suppo spend her summer doing research at a u.s. naval laboratory, at the nexus of biology and national securityit but just wheould have been most relevant, her internship was cancelled. >> i felt like this ible opportunity, that would have really helped me gain some arity on what i wanted, terms of my career and moving forward, that i had just lost that. >> reporter: she applied for, rl security progrinto, a new college-age women. >> i think it's more than a it's an incredible opportunity that i'm really excited to get.w >> reporter:she's writing a report recommending ways to strengthen the government's bio-defense strategy. >> a lot of the directives and sort of goals laid out in that strategy, if they were followed and properly implemented, we wouldn't be here right now. >> where do you ultimately want to see your recommendations end up? >> you know, best case scenario, hopelly being incorporated into the next bio-defense strategy. >> reporter: katakam also hears

from guest speakers at the highest levels of government, last year, gordon stepped down as principal deputy director ofi al intelligence, after learning president donald trump was passing her over for the top if you ask me what my best three years, i would say the last three years. so, hardship will come, but hardship doesn't have to define you.go i'g to give you my business card. one of my favorite things aboutr having onities like this, to be with you, is for the rest' of your time, going to have me on your teamik >> reporter:sue gordon, katakam says she's eager to y it forward, before her professional career has even begun. >> now, me as a young woman entering the space, you know, o , 15, 20 years from now, i know that i want involved in programs like girl security, giving back to younger women. >> reporter: with katakam already looking so far ahead, she and her peers are sure to

have a lasting impact on the future of policy-- and the people who make it. for the pbs newshouri'm ali rogin. oo >>uff: megan rapinoe is best known for her scessful soccer career leading the u.s. women's national team to two world cup championships and an olympic gold medal. she is also known for her fierce advocacy for social justice. i spoke with her recently about her career, causes, and her new book, "one life." and she started by explaining why she credits her family for her success. >> there are six of us in our family. i'm the youngest, although i'm a twin, i definitely claim the youngest. it'sust always been something that's important to us. we are a very loving family, a very opinionated. i think anybody who knows my family knows at least a littl

t of where i come from. but they're the people i trust and love thee most in t world and even as, you know, my life's kind of exploded and things have they're the backbone i go back to. >> woodruff: the closeness comes through. there are so maasy things to you about in this book but, of course, athletic, soccer, big wart of it. you write about you were, i think from as far back as you can remember, you were cking a soccer ball around. come from, do you think? soccer >> i think it goes back to those days either playing in our front yard with my sister, my older brother bra n who i talt about in the book, not only his life now, his struggles but also the amazing parts of him.on he was thejust above us, so he's only five years ol'er than us, he introduced us to soccer and played and we were on theli sis of all his games growing up. so i have to credit a lot of my passion and love for soccer to

>> woodruff:'ve already come so far in your field. how far do you want to go? where do you see megan rapinoe >> oh, gosh, i getting asked this more and more. it must be a product of me getting older in sports. i love the game still. i want to keep pla.yi there's an olympics coming up next year, hopefully, if we can pull that ofidwith cov and everything. orand then there's a w cup a couple of years after that, i would love to keep playinga through after that, we'll see, might be running on borrowed time by then, but certainly i want to keep playg, i love soccer, and then everything else, i think, will always be there people ask what do i want to do after soccer and probably will be something similar sto now jut without the soccer. >> woodruff: your political activism clearly comes bthrough in tok. you do write about the advantage you feel you have, the privilege of being white, but you also, of course, write about the

disadvantage that women have living in a world created by men. how do you balance that out? >> i try to just lookt at it, you know, readlly honestly just sort of keep it real. clearly, being a woman, ing a gay woman in this country comes advantages. i have been underpaid my entire life. i've only been able to legallyfi marre years in this country federally, so, you know, there are some things, obviously, we still need to work on, but wh it comes to then putting that in comparison to, you know, the really so brutal and cruel racial history that we have in our country, i can see where i'm also incredibly privileged and incredibly advantaged, and i lookt at it not aset somng that's negative but i have this privilege, so i get to use this privilege in order to help cruel systems and frankly just down-right wrong systems in or country.

so i look at it almost as an advantage in breaking everything thdown rather an something i don't want to acknowledge. >> woodruff: one of the big battles you have been engaged in, megan rapinoe, has to do with racial justice. given joe biden's victory in this presidential election, even though it's close, the fact that he won, does that get any easier, do you think? >> i think it puts us in a better position, of course, than if we have what we have right now, which is a president who's just insistent upon flaming racial tension in this country. i think that, you know, th biden administration has already pointed to a willingness to work on racial justice and take it seriously. "black lives matter" movement tore the incoming biden administration of, you know, wie delivered the vote, blackomen

have delivered the vote, they've organized, they've gotten out the vote, they'veime and aga really been the backbone of the democratic party in winning elections, and they not only deserve to have a seat at thet, table, ike, it's their right. they should be reflected ine thlicies. the needs of those communities which are not better known by anyone than the activists and e organizers and the wmen on the ground in those communities, they deserve to be at the table and have the policies of the r natiflect that, and ii thnk president-elect joe biden, vice president elect kamala harris have a responsibility to those entities, for the history of the nation. >> woodruff: is there aco ition that they can get less done than perhaps donald trump got at least 71 million votes? >> i think it's going to be very difficult. it's disheartening in a lot of

ways to know that 71 million people sort of put the thumbs up on the last foure yars, particularly as we've seen over the summer with the ptests around george floyd's murder and ahmad asherid ianna taylor and so many more, that so manpey le would second term a president who has been so clearly racist and white supremacist and, if nothing else, very sympathetic to them. but it is going to be difficult, t progress is difficult, as we well know, and that can't stop us fm trying. i'm always hopeful. i'm definitely hopeful, having this administration come in knowing that i think they are very serious abt addressing lot of these issues in our nguntry that we haven't addressed for a ime. >> woodruff: megan rapinoe, life."k is "o thank you so much for talking h,with us. >> yhank you for having me.

>> woodruff: we return now to our series on the arts in mexico, a country that in recent years, has become one of the centers of the art world. jeffrey brown was in mexico ty before the pandemic to see how the country grabbed the that means for itsrtists.d what it is part of our ongoing coverage of art and culture, "canvas." >> brown: it's called "zona maco," and it's become latin america's biggest annual art fair. enrongs of art lovers, packing a sprawling conf center on the northwest edge of mexico city. major galleries from the u.s., europe and south america, as well as mexico, showing art of all kinds.>> always thought it would work, but i never thought it would become as big as it is

now. >> bzelika garcia founded zona maco 18 years ago, and has0 seen it grow tplus exhibitors showing some 800 artists-international in scope, but now the center of a thriving local scene. >> i think an art fair has to rely on their local collectors first. and we grow with the local rket. if the local market had not started buying more, the fair would stl be 70 galleries >> brown: over five days, the a faracted some 72,000 visitors. >> i think we are a good part mexico. >> brown: mexico has beea cosmopolitan art center for at least a century. just think of the mous murals of diego rivera and others. but today, signs of its place as a contemporary art hub are all around, with new museums whose spectacular architecture has changed the skyline of this ancient capital.

an annual "art week" in february that's grown up around za maco and features smaller fairs like seven-year-old "material," which takes place in an old jai alai arena and attracts a decidedly younger crowd. indeed, younger artists from the u.s. and elsewhere are flocking to mexico city these days, attracted by the lower costs ani hip be. and galleries like "house of gaga" in the leafy condesa neighborhood exhibit both local and international art stars, like american artist laura owens, who painted theur space with a of local gallery co-founderndo mesta: >> she thought of ever of the architecture plan. she did her research and she thoughof the context. i mean, young mexican artists love to see this stuff. >> brown: so it's an americanst arbut making a mexican... >> well, making something specific for here, yeah. >> brown: like others we talked to, mesta is welaware this is a mexico different from the one

the rest of the world typicall sees. >> i feel like a responsibility over it, because i think always like some of the best news about mexico are related to culture, you know, like our filmmakers, our traveling shows.titutions, and when people come here, they're fascinated to see how relevant culture is ino, how rich culture is in mexico.: >> brot the other side of life in mexico-- the poverty, the violence and the horror ofar drugl murders and disappearances-- all that is never far away, and many artists are addressing it directly. m we watched lia sanchez test an interactive sound she'd joined a group of women is the northete of sinaloa in search of remains of loved ones who'd disappeared amid drug violence. her art piece, an eight-channel recording, presented the

sounds-- footsteps, chatter, thpicks and shovels workin dirt-- to take us right there. this is art that aims for social impact. >> how do you build empathy? th was one of my main questions. first of all, how they survive within this context of extreme violence, because their ved ones are taken away, and we don't know if they're dead or alive. >> brown: it's very real for them. >> it's very real. but second, how you make all their groups of citizens in mexico to understand and maybe have some empathy with them. >> brown: and there's nothing abstract about this for sanchez: guen she was 11, her father was murdered in theialajara home. >> i know how i did e. i don't know how these other people have, are coping and having tsurvive as well. ybe that's one of the reasons i started doing art, maybe i >> brown: today, sánchez is also a college professor, and she

sees her students tackling serious issues in their work: violencepollution, freedom of speech. >> they are putting together these kinds of exhibitions and ey're always very critical about their surroundings. >> brown: trying to address the social issues through the art. >> because that's theireality, yes, yes.ar >> brownt does stir passions hre, including recent protestsac at the famed p de bellas artes, which hosted an emiliano zapata.lutionary hero some of the works weree documentary, sverential. but many were angered by a painting that showed a naked dpata in a pink sombrero high heels. art and gay rights advocates defended the work. ultimately, the museum installed a wall text saying zapata's family disagreed with depiction. people we spoke with also worry budget cuts by the administration of president andres manuel lopez obrador will have negative consequences for cultural life here, where

government support has traditionally been strong. but at the influential university museum ofpo contry art, chief curator cuauhtemoc medina says global trends in art are firmlydd em here. >> contemporary art has become a significant part of theg understand people of what culture and cultural consumption means. i mean, you just need to go 30 years ago and this was really a clique sector that only a few people werinterested in. that is true all around the world. and now, no.ld now, i wouay that this is a space that people in general have in their minds, that media part of the tools by whichit's people are asking the questions they need to ask about their lives and eir times. >> brown: not only that, says medina, but the world has changed, and today places like mexico city are at the forefront of contemporary art and cultures >> i wou the french and new yorkers are parochial and they don't know it. ( laughs ) >> brown: they just think that they are the center. >> they used to think that they were the center. they haven't noticed that they are not any longer, and that

this centehas vanished. >> brown: for now, organizers of the zona maco art fair have tentativy set a date in late april for next year's exhibition-- hoping toeep the momentum going for this new global art cente for the pbs newshour, i'm jerey brown in mexico city >> woodruff: thank you, jefferey. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online, and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and we'll see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> fidelity wealth management. >> consumer cellular. >> johnson & johnson. >> bnsf railway. >> financial services firm raymond james.

>> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancementp of internationce and security. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadsting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ns captioning sed by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org hello, everyone.

welce to "anpour & co." here's what's coming up. with more vaccines coming online, whators the duty to the most needy? i'll talk to the archbishop of canterbury, the head of the anglican church, justin welby. then can a prite education be for the public good? i asked for the conductor and long time college president leon botstein. >> if technology functioned ideally during this pandemic, we would have had had a lot of truthful information spreading. we would have had a contact tracing system that works of the. >>ig ten dropped the ball throughout the pandemic. nicholas tom soson and chief,