captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight: feeling the pain. as covid cases spike, the economic costs worsen for millions of u.s. families. then, making the vaccine. we travel to belgium, to the town where pfizer is making a vaccine shot they hope will change the world. >> we say now that the hope of the world is here in puurs, and we are going to save the world! from here, you can export products worldwide in a fairly quick way. >> woodruff: plus, it's friday. mark shields and david brooks analyze the biden team, president trump's persistent

false claims of election fraud, and the road ahead. all that and more, on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. >> fidelity wealth management.

>> consumer cellular. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> johnson & johnson. >> 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 contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: new numbers tonight show u.s. job growth is slowing sharply, as covid-19 spreads unchecked.

employers added a net of 245,000 jobs in november, that is the fewest since april. that was down sharply from 610,000 in october, and the fifth straight month of decline. the unemployment did fall slightly to 6.7%, partly as people stopped looking for work. the top democrat and republican in congress are talking up new economic relief after months of stalemate. house speaker nancy pelosi says that she and senate majority leader mitch mcconnell have agreed that a bipartisan bill, worth $900 billion, is a starting point. pelosi rejected a larger package in september, but she pointed to two big differences today. >> with a democratic president committed to a scientific solution for this, with the idea that we will have a vaccine, it's a complete game changer from then.

>> woodruff: pelosi says a new aid bill would be attached to an omnibus government funding bill. we'll return to all this after the news summary. the pandemic's human toll keeps hitting new highs. more than 2,800 people died on thursday alone, and today, the c.d.c. called for everyone to wear masks indoors, except in their own home. the guidance had applied only to public spaces. meanwhile, president-elect joe biden vowed that vaccines will be free to all, and safe. he acknowledged fears, especially in hard-hit minority areas. >> what i heard from my friends in the community, and not but blocks from here, as we stand, is that "we're not going to be the guinea pigs. we're not going to be the guinea pigs." well, fact of the matter is, they won't be. look, it's going to take some effort to rebuild confidence in

science, because it's been so diminished in this administration thus far. >> woodruff: also today, much of the san francisco bay area imposed new stay-at-home orders. a federal judge in new york state has ordered tonight that the daca program be restored. it bars deportations of migrants brought to the u.s. illegally, as children. the judge ruled last month that then-acting homeland security secretary chad wolf was not serving in that post legally when he tried to limit the program. now, the judge says officials must announce that it's accepting both first-time and renewal requests for daca status. the u.s. military is going ahead with president trump's plan to withdraw forces from somalia. today's announcement says most of the 700 to 800 u.s. troops will move to neighboring countries. they are engaged in a long- running mission against an al-qaida affiliate group. the u.s. house of representatives voted today to decriminalize marijuana at the federal level. democrats argued for treating it as a public health issue.

most republicans said there are more important matters. the bill is likely to die in the republican-run senate. on wall street, hopes for economic relief overshadowed disappointing jobs numbers. the dow jones industrial average gained 248 points to close at 30,218. the nasdaq rose 87 points, and the s&p 500 added 32. all three indexes finished at all-time highs. and, an alabama man has turned 104 years old, after surviving covid-19. major wooten was discharged from a hospital on tuesday, as staffers sang "happy birthday" to him. his actual birthday was thursday. he had been hospitalized just before thanksgiving.

wow. still to come on the newshour: all eyes on georgia, as the fight for control of the senate centers on the peach state. understanding the economic toll of the pandemic in the u.s. the belgium town where the world puts its hope for a covid vaccine. and, much more. president-elect joe biden will >> woodruff: president-elect joe biden is still seven weeks away from taking office, but the nation's troubles show no sign of waiting. today's economic news made that more clear than ever. the biden white house transition is pushing ahead, and the president-elect is already facing what may be his greatest challenges, as the pandemic fills hospitals and jars the economy again. he spoke today in wilmington delaware, hours after new numbers showed stalling jobs

growth. >> folks aren't looking for a handout. they just need help. they're in trouble, for no fault of their own. we're in a crisis. we need to come together as a nation, we need congress to act, and act now. >> woodruff: meanwhile, the trump campaign continues to lose its legal challenges in moving to dispute the election results. on thursday, the wisconsin supreme court rejected the president's effort to invalidate more than 220,000 votes. at the same time, the trump campaign reported massive fundraising numbers. combined with the republican national committee, it has raised some $207 million since election day. the legal loss in wisconsin further underscores that mr. trump's white house loss is all but settled. in georgia though, two senate elections are not, and

vice president pence went to the peach state today in support of incumbent republican senators kelly loeffler and david perdue in the run-up to runoffs. >> we're here to stand with two extraordinary leaders, and express our gratitude to support of people of georgia the past four years and four weeks. >> woodruff: on the democratic side, former president barack obama held a virtual event for senate candidates jon osoff and raphael warnock. >> the promise of the biden presidency and the harris vice presidency rests in part on their ability to have a cooperative posture with congress. >> woodruff: the georgia runoffs are january 5, and will determine which party controls the senate. in normal times, the monthly jobs report that came out today would not look so bad.

but, these are not normal times. today's report is weaker than many had hoped for, especially because of the deep financial hole that millions of americans fell into after getting laid off early in the pandemic. and, as amna nawaz tells us, this comes as a crucial deadline and financial lifeline are expiring soon. >> nawaz: judy, for many americans, the bottom fell out earlier this year. the department of labor estimates the economy has not yet replaced about 10 million jobs lost during last spring's economic plunge. and according to today's jobs report, 44% of those unemployed say this is a permanent job loss, not a temporary layoff that ends as the economy reopens. on top of all that, the safety net for millions provided by an extension of federal benefits expires soon. wendy edelberg studies all of this closely. she's director of the hamilton project, and a former chief economist for the congressional budget office.

wendy, welcome back to the "newshour". let me ask you now about those november numbers. it's the fifth straight moh of slowing in hiring. millions are already in pain, as we just mentioned. we're just a few weeks away from millions more losing, the extension of the unemployment benefits, when the extension expires after christmas, 12 million people there about to lose the benefits. what does all of this say to you now wendy about where we are in this recovery? >> well, you have highlighted some of the really important reasons we should be alarmed by this morning's report. we saw that the net gain in employment was 245,000, that might sound like a lot but, given the decline in unemployment that we've seen since february of 10 million jobs, it would take years for the labor market to fully recover. and you're absolutely right, millions of unemployed people stand ready to lose their benefits abruptly the day after christmas, and millions more in the following weeks, if the federal agent doesn't take action and if state governments don't take action. >> reporter: when you look

back at the recovery as it's unfolded so far, i want to ask you about the economictimulus bill and the funds that went out. the extension of benefits was part of that. what role did the economic stimulus from the congressional cares act this year, what role did that play in spurring any of the recovery so far? >> we have a huge amount of evidence showing ust that the fiscal support in the cares act was instrumental in getting us to this point in the economic recovery. we saw that, for many of the unemployed households, they were able to sustain their spending in a way that was absolutely due to the fiscal support from the cares act, and then the corollary to that is that we know that with a withdrawal of that support at the end of this month, that will have dire consequences for consumer spending and the recovery, to say nothing for being a source of extraordinary pain for those unemployed households. >> reporter: so, wendy, when you look, bi picture, at the

jobs numbers report so far, you can see this plummet in april. there was a spring surge of cases of covid and the closures associated with it. you see those numbers creeping back up and then slowing again recently. wenty, we should know we are in another surge. there are now record cases, record deaths. experts say the worst is still ahead, as the pandemic gets worse, if there are more closures, what are you worried could happen? could that graft it back down again? >> the resurgence of the virus as months have turned colder is not particularly a surprise. economists have been baking into their forecast a slowdown of economic growth. frankly, since march we knew this was coming and we at the same time have been calling for more fiscal support for this economy since the summer and what i worry about is that, without fiscal support, the short-falling g.d.p. in 2021 relative to what we should have seen in a pre-pandemic path will

be probably around $1 trillion, and then even about half that again in 2022. so without more fiscal support, we're looking for a slow, painful, protracted recovery. >> wenty, just the few seconds we have left, there's a lot of concern about additional stimulus money fueling the national debt that is soaring to unprecedented levels. what do you say to those concerns? >> we can absolutely afford more fiscal support. first of all, we're in an economy with vast resources. second of all, interest rates are at historic lows. financing this de would be completely and entirely affordable. third of all, it's completely appropriate to borrow from our future selves to ease the extraordinary pain that millions of people are suffering right now. >> reporter: extraordinary pain indeed, and more ahead if there's not more help. wendy edelberg, director of the hamilton project joining us tonight. thank you for your time. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: the first doses of the long-awaited covid-19 vaccine are on their way to the united kingdom, the first western country to grant emergency authorization. the vaccine, manufactured by u.s. pharmaceutical giant pfizer, is yet to be approved in the united states, but it's already making its way to the u.k. from a factory in a tiny town in belgium. special correspondent lucy hough reports. >> reporter: trucks are carrying the temperature- sensitive cod-19 vaccine to the u.k. from pfizer's plant in puurs, belgium, where it is being manufactured on a massive scale. it's a process which began hours after the vaccine was authorized by u.k. health regulators. 800,000 doses will arrive in the next few days. the first shipments mark a

milestone for scientists at biontech, who partnered with pfizer, and are now at the forefront of a medical and scientific breakthrough. >> we started this program at the end of january. to see at the beginning of november actual product leaving the factory, destined for use in people, to start protecting them against this virus, was a really great feeling. >> reporter: the vaccine was manufactured on the outskirts of this quiet town in northern belgium. up till now, puurs, population 17,000, was best known forts notoriously strong duvel beer. puurs' mayor is proud of his town's pharmaceutical success. >> we say now that the hope of the world is here in puurs, and we are going to save the world! from here, you can export products worldwide in a fairly quick way. that's our greatest advantage,

our strategic asset, certainly >> reporter: pfizer began its operation here in the mid-1960s, when post-war investment flooded into belgium. it now employs one in ten people in the town, and has recruited extra numbers to cope with demand caused by the pandemic. ptc: luchough since the summer, the workforce here has been concentrating on the roll-out of the coronavirus vaccine. in the plant behind me is a sports stadium-sized facility packed with hundreds of giant freezers, ready to store supplies at gative-94 degrees fahrenheit, before they are shipped around the world locals are stunned to find themselves at the center of a global vaccine race. this plant will produce most of the 1.3 billion shots pfizer hopes to deliver in 2021. but, living next door to a major pharmaceutical hub doesn't guarantee better access to a shot. >> the only thing that's good for me or for this town is that

they give a lot of job opportunities for the people around here. >> we realize from the other day that people are coming from all over. we had some russians last week, some people from france. so it's like the whole world discovered puurs all of a sudden. very proud. >> reporter: a few miles south of puurs, brussels airport is preparing for its role as a key distribution hub. a united airlines flight has already flown from here to chicago with the first mass air shipment in preparation for impending approval. the pfizer vaccine requires extremely cold storage temperatures. others, standard refrigeration. the firm has slashed its original roll-out targets due to cold-chain obstacles. with each vaccine having differt requirements in terms of transportation, packing and storage, global distribution will be no easy feat. >> maintaining the right transport temperature to protect

the packaging against temperature shocks is extremely importt throughout the whole logistical supply chain. so, in order to do that, we need the right type of infrastructure, and we have more than 30,000 square meters of temperature-controlled rooms at the airport. >> reporter: the u.k.'s decision to approve pfizer's vaccine has put pressure on other countries' health agencies to follow suit. a decision is expected from the european medical agency and the f.d.a. within days. >> we very much welcome an approval, if it comes from the f.d.a. and the e.m.a. we've been manufacturing doses at rest in our factories before approval, with the process that will be approved, in order to ensure we can deliver almost immediately to these trading blocs or countries. >> reporter: pending authorization, the u.s. and europe share a hope to begin administering the first vaccines by the end of this year, prioritizing frontline health

workers and the most vulnerable. the u.s. expects to receive a total of 40 million doses from pfizer and competitor moderna by the end of this year, enough to vaccinate 20 million people. the vaccines are one of four that could be rolled out globally by spring 2021, offering hope for an end to the pandemic that has already claimed 1.5 million lives. for the pbs newshour, i'm lucy hough in puurs. >> woodruff: while a new class of congressional representatives join the halls of the capitol in the new year, we chat with departing members who lost tough re-election races. earlier this week, i spoke with outgoing congresswoman donna shalala. lisa desjardins continues our coverage. >> desjardins: while house democrats lost some races in

republican-leaning districts, one republican was ousted by a challenger from the right. we've followed republican denver riggleman of virginia throughout his freshman term in congress, and he joins us now. congressman, thank you. i know the charge and the headlines in your race were that you weren't conservative enough. but i want to ask you, why do you think you lost, and what does it mean to be in the republican party right now? >> i think one of the reasons i lost, lisa, and by the way, thanks for having me. i think one of the reasons that i lost was really my independent-minded way of doing things. and, you know, once i officiated that same-sex wedding back in the summer of 2019, and some of the things that i stood for as far as health care and rural broadband in a district bigger than new jersey, i think some of those things actually sort of conspired against me, right. and also, you know, i was new to politics and i thought an independent-minded person is what people want. and i think that's why i won. i think it's also why i lost. >> desjardins: what do you think

it means to be a republican? are you still a republican? >> very difficult right now. you know, i feel like that i'm willingly tribalist, right? and i think a lot of it has to do with what i'm saying, with some of the bizarre conspiracy theories i'm saying propagated by just certain people on the right. i really think the republicans should stay out of people's pocketbooks, but i think they should stay out of people's bedrooms, too. and i'm seeing a party that's just small enough to fit in the bedroom, and that's not really the way that i'm wired. and so, it's an interesting thing. i thought it was a constitutional republican in the mold of the teddy roosevelt and aaham lincoln's. but as far as the-- some of the specific portions of the virginia republican party, i don't think i'm a great fit. >> desjardins: you know, there's also the trump republican party. you are one of the few house republicans to have said openly that joe biden won the election. you are in the freedom caucus. you know the republicans who are saying the election is rigged, without giving any proof. i wonder, why do you think they're saying that? are they talking themselves into believing it? is this politics? why is that?

>> i don't know what's in their heart, lisa, but i tell you, my background as an intelligence officer. it is disinformation, it's radicalization, it's counterterrorism. and i'm not sure if they're afraid of voters, if they're worried about being tossed out of the tribe, or if there's something in them that that actually believe some of this, because i will tell you, i've seen sort of odd things in my life. some of these conspiracy theories that are coming out of the dark corners of the internet and now are getting life in the real world-- i mean, you know, what's next? you know, aliens are beaming information into voting machines? i mean, this is crazy. --and i think we need to be very cognizant about information that could radicalize others, that's really based on nothing but myth and conspiracy theories. >> desjardins: charlottesville is in your district, a place that has dealt with rhetoric turning into violence, as we saw in 2017 when a protester was killed. and now we see trump allies still saying things, like this week, that his opponents should be shot. how dangerous do you think that rhetoric is, or are we paying

too much attention to these sort of lone, extreme voices? >> for me, i think you drag everything into the light and let the sunlight disinfectant it. but i think what's also scary is, you have two retired generals that are talking about, you know, martial law. and i think it's very odd that that's not a bigger story, because what they're basing it on is ridiculous. whether it's n.s.a. trying to crack into computers, whether it's dominion having code that's been manipulated, whether it's the army storming some barracks in germany, all these things are just poppycock. and i think we've got to be worried about the radicalization of those, based on, again, based on information that's just not true. this is dangerous and this can convert into dangerous behavior. i've been warning about this for months and i think we're seeing some of that-- sort of that bizarre manifestation of conspiracy theories that are being made real by people that don't have proper information. and i think this is a massive grift. i think when you talk about the "kraken," i think the only thing they're "cracking" into are people's pocketbooks on this grift. >> desjardins: i don't hear you mentioning president trump and any responsibility he has for

this. >> welll, he does have responsibility. i think that's where i got in trouble. i think when you tweet something that says that "joe biden killed seal team six," i think when you retweet something where it says that "osama bin laden had a body double" and that's part of the qanon conspiracy theory, that is absolutely something you shouldn't do. and it's-- it's not just irresponsible. there are people out there who believe this stuff. so i would say, you know, stop this. let's stop this now. accept that you lost the election. we have a new vice president- elect, and joe biden, and let's push forward. but this is ridiculous. and again, when you see the type of money that they're making off of this, it's just sad. they're really separating people from their money on things that are just simply not true. >> desjardins: what did you learn in your time in congress about how washington works? or doesn't work? >> that the tribe is more important than facts. and that's what i learned. and it was something that i had to try to-- try to maneuver through. i knew what i had to do. i know. and i just rejected it.

and i think that that's why i'm a bit proud of how i went out. but i think that we have to have facts and policy be more important than belonging to a specific party, and put people over party rather than party over people. >> desjardins: and i'm curious, what adjectives would you use now to describe how you feel at this moment? >> i think the adjectives that i wld use now are, i would say, proud of what i've done. but also, there's trepidation. and it's also now a determination, a willingness to try to change the way tht we talk about each other, and to stop the dehumanization that's going on in politics right now. i think it's not just the politics of personal destruction anymore. i think it's the politics of group destruction. and that happens through propagating these conspiracy theories. >> desjardins: denver riggleman, outgoing congressman from virginia's 5th district, thank you for joining us. >> thanks, lisa. i appreciate it. >> woodruff: and since he sat down with lisa, congressman riggleman says he is receiving multiple violent threats, including death threats.

>> woodruff: now, it's time for the analysis of shields and brooks. that is syndicated columnist mark shields, and "new york times" columnist david brooks. hello to both of you. i want to pick up with what we were hearing, mark, from congressman riggleman of virginia, talking about putting party over country. that was something he wasn't comfortable with, and talking about conspiracy theories, all of this stemming from president trump insisting that he's won the election, that the election was completely riddled with fraud. we're now hearing a number of republicans calling for -- other republicans to call the president out. how much damage is being done by what is going on right now, mark? >> i can't calculate it, judy, in concrete terms, other than it's dangerous. i mean, america has been the

envy of the world, it's been an example to bring millions of peopleo to our shores, a free and open democracy where every voice is heard, and to have the elected leader of that nation charged, it is not that it's corrupt, it's criminal, it's damaging beyond my calculation. i hope it's reparable, but it will be a while before we find out just how much damage has been done. >> david, how deep is the damage that's being done? >> well, 77% of republicans or trump actors say the election was stolen by fraud according to a monmouth poll. a lot of those don't believe in manmade climate change, a lot of those people don't believe masks can save your life. so there's a section of the country that has been detached

from reality and under trump paranoia has a resurgent style. this derives out of a sense o menace and threat that people feel unsafe and they grasp for conspiracy these are because it makes them feepowerful that they can expose the evil. a lot of people just feel scared economically, socially, racially and out of that fear comes paranoia. but i've got other e-mails from people, like a one from a guy in palo alto, says the neurosurgeon down the block believes this stuff, so where's his anxiety? i don't know the answer to that question. so there's a lot of anxiety and fear and out of that has arisen an entire industry of paranoia mongering. newsmax, the far right wing media news station, their viewership has gone up 20 times since the election so that paranoia is pretty deep and

widespread right now. >> woodruff: mark, as a news organization, the "newshour" is tryg to understand. this i know other news organizations are as well. we want to understand, you know, the orin of this and how deep it goes and how long-lasting. how much does it matter that we try to tackle this right now? i guess what i'm trying to understand, is this a flight of fancy that we're just living through a brief period and we're going to wake up in a few weeks or months and going to be past it, or is this with us for a long time? >> well, no, i mean, i think david put his finger on it, as he does regularly. this also has a commercial aspect to it. i mean, there is a profit upping viewership if you're spinning paranoid theories to your listeners and explaining that the other side -- that you never

argue on the merits. what it comes down to is the other side is evil. that is the first thing i learned when i came to washington that you don't question the motives of somebody on the other side, that they love their country and their children as much as you do, and they may be mistaken, they may be ill-informed, they may be illogical, but you don't start off with they're evil. that's where these arguments begin is that it's a sinister, criminal collusion, all out to get the american way, to destroy the american way. it is anything we can do to rebut it, and one hopes that the new administration with a fresh start will be a start in that direction, and the fact that ths now receding in the rearview mirror, you know, inevitably i

think has to be helpful. >> woodruff: and, david, i guess my question is his predecessor disappearing in the rearview mirror? he's raised over $200 million and counting since the election day, for his legal defense fund, but we're now learning most of that money can go toward his new political venture, whatever it may be. president trump may be here for a long time to come. >> he's certainly talking like he'll run again in 2024, and the senator from missouri said if trump ran again he would endorse him and expect him to win. he might win the nomination. i don't think we've maybe seen the last of him. the problem with the paranoia and the conspiracy theory is you can't talk people out of it. the research is if you try to fact check people, you only entrench their believes. you can't talk people out of an emotional state. i think the two things we can do is try to have more contact between, frankly, those have us

in the expert class who tend to live in blue america in the metro aries and people in the rural country. coved doesn't allow that but traveling around the country is a good way to alleviate the barriers between us. secondly, life has to become more secure for a lot of people and i'm hoping that the new administration will pass legislation that makes life economically more secure so that sense of existential anxiety goes away. >> woodruff: we can certainly hopet not only the economy gets better that we'll be able to travel more, get around, see our fellow americans, family and friends in the not too distant future. but, mark, let's talk about joe biden, the president-elect. since i saw you last before thanksgiving, he's named more of the senior members of his team, his secretar secretary of statey blinken, secretary of the treasury janet yellen, a number of others. what do you make to have the team so far? >> well, i tell you, judy, the reviews that are in are quite

positive. they reflect joe biden as their experience, they believe in public service, they're people whom he knows. again, unlike his unnamed predecessor who chose the srk of state who had a very active passport and traveled a lot and looked like a secretary of state, he's choosing somebody with whom he's worked with close to a generation. experienced people, people who believe in public service and i believe competent. i'm impressed. janet yellen is a ten strike. you have the former chairman of the fed, former chairman of the council of economic advisors, of her stature, figuratively speaking, and just her values as secretary of the treasury, i think, is just awfully important, especially with joe biden who has great experience in foreign policy, but not deep?

financial matters. so i'm encouraged by them. >> woodruff: david, what's your take on these folks joe biden is naming? >> yeah, i'm super encouraged, too. it's biden being biden, biden picking people he's comfortable with, knows, and people who you could wake up in the middle of the night and they could do the job. janet yellen is super prepared to be treasury secretary, jared bernstein has been on this program many times in the economic world, tanden will be our flashiest omb director in history but someone who's been around and who just knows the job. so you can rest assured that these are the people who have experience and often served in the job right below them in the obama administration, so we can expect fewer owned goals among them. >> woodruff: we're seeing,

mark, a number of women nominated for prominent, powerful roles in the new administration, but there are still interest groups out there saying there's not enough diversity here. naacp saying where are the blacks in senior cabinet jobs. how much pressu is joe biden under to name a more diverse leaders to his team -- for his team? >> well, i mean, the diverse at this, so far, judy, i mean, i don't think anybody can make the can case that it's for diversity's sake. everybody who's been chosen is somebody who is qualified for the position to which they were named, irrespective of race or gender or whatever. i think, as far as women are concerned, joe biden's campaign was run by anita dunn and janet o'malley dilan, two women.

he's used to having women. his sister valerie ran all the campaigns at the senate. that's natural, that's not window dressing. that's a very natural development. the most important joyce to joe biden has to be that of congressman jim clyburn, and jim clyburn has been critical of the lack of african-americans in the cabinet. joe biden came limping out of new hampshire, dead on arrival out of south carolina until african-american voters led by jim clyburn endorsed him and made him the nominee. so if he's going to hear any voice, the voice of jim clyburn is the voice that joe biden will be responsive to and legitimately so. >> woodruff: and, david, how much pressure do y think biden is under to name -- get some more diverse figures in this cabinet and top jobs and how much does it matter? >> well, pressure implies

resistance. i don't think there's resistant, joe biden wants to have a cabinet that looks like america because it's a betr cabinet, bigger diversity of viewpoints and backgrounds, the better decisions get made. i don't think he'll have a problem finding african-americans. he found linda thomas-greenfield, choice for u.n. secretaries, ambassador to the u.n., and someone with a long-time career in the foreign service, someone who ran the africa desk under obama. i'm sure he'll find more people like that. i think it's important to have diversity. i hate when it gets reduced to a demographic label and a person is filling in a slot. the person is the person and all the people he's picked so far and in the future are a team, they're super talented, so i would hate to see it even appear like, you know, it's just because of somebody's skin color or anything because i don't think it ever is going to be that. >> woodruff: well, he's saying he's got more to name. he said you will know who they are in the next few weeks, and

he said you can judge it then. so we will keep talking about it, keep looking at it. thank you both, david brooks, mark shields, thank you. >> thanks, judy. >> woodruff: as another week of this devastating pandemic comes to an end, we take a moment to honor some of those we've lost to covid-19. dr. joshua yasuo suzuki worked as an obstetrician-gynecologist for 45 years, delivering over 5,000 babies. his colleagues said he was always there for his patients, treating them with compassion and kindness. he chose to be an ob/gyn because delivering babies brought people happiness, said his family.

born in japan, joshua settled in seattle, where he spent time hiking the mountains with his sons. described by his loved ones as quirky and often donning a bowtie, joshua had a hearty laugh and insatiable curiosity. he was 78. 70-year-old iris meda was a lifelong protector and provider, said her daughter. born the eldest of six kids in south carolina, she helped raise her siblings. that care-giving spirit led her to becoming a registered nurse. after working 35 years, iris retired in january. but when the pandemic hit, she couldn't stand idly by. iris became a nursing teacher, preparing her students for the challenges of the pandemic. a loving wife, mother and grandmother, her daughter said iris was the foundation of their family.

zulfikar gunja had an innate sense of love, care and joy, his family said. he went by zulfi. raised in a close-knit muslim community in bombay-- now mumbai-- india, prayer brought zulfi enormous comfort. he immigrated to the united states in 1981, living between california and new jersey with his family. zulfi enjoyed celebrating life, traveling, eating and connecting with kids. zulfi was 68. massachusetts natives reed and barbara anthony were devoted to serving their concord community, preserving nature, and most of all, each other. barbara was born into a family of teachers and became an educator herself. a member of the concord school committee, elected twice in the '60s, she was also active in the league of women voters. in 1968, reed left his job in

investment management for the massachusetts audubon society, where he combined his knowledge of finance with his love for birds. barbara shared reed's interest in the outdoors. during their nature walks, reed would watch the birds while barbara enjoyed the plants and wildflowers. parents to three; reed was shy, while barbara was outgoing. after 68 years of marriage, they died three days apart, both from the coronavirus. barbara and reed anthony were 91 years old. as always, we want to thank these family members for sharing their stories with us. our hearts go out to you, as they do to everyone who's lost loved ones during this pandemic. and we ask you to stay with us. we look at any ways -- we look at new ways to combat maternal mortality in the u.s.

but first, take a moment to hear from your local pbs station. it's a chance to offer your support, which helps keep programs like ours on the air. >> woodruff: there's perhaps no one whose name is more synonymous with documenting the natural world than film-maker sir david attenborough. he's been at it since the 1950s, and in his latest book and film, he offers an alarming "witness statement" about the crisis facing our planet. this encore report by william brangham is part of our arts and culture series, "canvas." >> the living world is a unique and spectacular marvel. >> brangham: no one has given us a more intimate or stunning look at our planet than sir david attenborough.

>> dazzling in their variety and richness. >> brangham: but now, after a near-70 year career, he says we're running the planet headlong into disaster. >> yet, the way we humans live on earth is sending it into a decline. human beings have overrun the world. >> brangham: in his new netflix documentary and companion book, both titled "a life on our planet," the famed filmmaker wants us to recognize what's happening, and to act before it's too late. i spoke with him recently from his home in london. sir david attenborough, it's a great honor to have you on the newshour. thank you very much for being here. anyone who knows your work knows that you've increasingly talked about man's impact on the natural world. but this film really hits this point very directly. was it your sense that things had just gotten so bad that that needed to be the focus of this project? >> yes, i think i've been

speaking about this the last 20, 30 years, really. it's just what anybody who knows the natural world, and spends time looking at the natural world, stares it in the face. and anybody with whom that happens feels a huge responsibility to talk about it. >> brangham: as you say in the >> brangham: was there a moment where you first recognized and said, "i see it now? >> yes. the problem is making global assessments like that. i mean, you can go to a glacier that you were there maybe five, ten years ago, and it has retreated, but you think, "oh, well, that's just this glacier. maybe there's another one that's increasing." but there are some things that are irrevocable, and so dramatic and distressing that you can't brush them away. the one which i suppose was the tipping point, was when i dived on a coral reef, which i'd known well, on the great barrier reef in australia, and suddenly saw a cemetery. suddenly it was dead.

and these-- these corals, this extraordinary, wonderful construction of corals, was dead, white. and that was a shock. >> brangham: there is, if i may say, a genuine sense of sadness and melancholy that is throughout this project. i mean, in the past, youould often talk about man's impact on the world, but would move on, in a sense, then move to the next story, to the next scene. >> well, you put it very well. that is exactly what i think. and we-- you know, you-- you i mean, i'm an elderly chap. and i look at my grandchildren and wonder what's going to happen. and all i know is that if you see these things and realize what they mean, you simply can't sit back and say, "well, i'm not going to bother." >> this film is my witness statement, and my vision for the future. >> brangham: attenborough argues for a rapid shift to renewable energy, to sustainable agriculture, for a slowing of population growth, and for what

he calls a "re-wilding" of the land and the oceans, to give them time to rebound. how confident are you that we will, in fact, move from these isolated examples to a true moment for change? >> i'm not. i'm not in the least confident that we will do so in time. and i certainly feel, although the situation is worse, i believe that the world is becoming more aware of what needs to be done to a much greater extent than only, say, five, ten years ago. it does seem to me a worldwide realization of the crisis which we are facing, and it's been spearheaded, of course, by young people, and quite rightly, too, it's their future. but the kids of today, that's their life, you know. and-- and we owe it to them to do everything we can to make sure that disaster's averted.

>> brangham: what about the role that our own human complacency plays inll of this? we all love the benefits of our gas-powered cars and our air-conditioned homes, and when we talk of a sixth extinction or global climate change, it's-- it's still very easy for so many people to put this view out of their minds and ju keep on. >> but actually, in your country is more unlikely for that to happen than in mine. i mean, you have faced disaster after disaster. you've got rising sea levels. you had the cyclones, hurricanes moving through with greater ferocity and frequency than ever before. we see on our television newsreel coverage of appalling things that happened in your country. devastation, because of climate change. seemed to me, overwhelming. and it's nice to say, "oh, it's nothing, it's just a passing phase." it isn't. and the statistics show it isn't. it is a major movement that's

happening. and your country and my country and the rest of the world have got to do something about it. i mean, can-- we know what to do! >> brangham: do you have to dig deep down to come up with this optimism, or is the-- is the long arc of your career that gives you this optimism? what is it? >> i don't regard myself an optimist, to be truthful. but having said that, if i am to and if that's to happen, it's got to be supported by the electorate, who says "we want it to happen. we want to solve it. and tell us what the price is. but we want to pay it." >> brangham: the book and the film is called "a life on our planet: my witness statement and vision for the future." sir david attenborough, thank you so much for talking with us, and thank you for your remarkable career. >> thank you so much.

>> woodruff: women in the united states are more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than anywhere else in the developed world, according to the commonwealth fund. native american women face some of the highest rates of death. and in arizona, those disparities are even more profound. from the cronkite school of journalism, jennifer alvarez reports on a unique effort to combat maternal mortality among native americans. this story was filmed prior to the pandemic. ( laughter ) >> okay! sweep your teepee, sweep your teepee. >> reporter: on the navajo nation... >> make fire! ( laughter ) >> reporter: ...native women finish up a day of training with a traditional game. they're learning how to be doulas, or people traineto support women through pregncy and birth. >basically, they're helpers, and i always compare it to how we help each other in

ceremonies. that's how we should help each other during birth and pregnancy and parenting. >> reporter: melissa brown knows just how important these helpers cabe. >>y first birth that i had when i was a teenage mother was very traumatic. i didn't understand how my body worked, i didn't understand how labor and delivery worked. i was very scared, i didn't have very much support, and so, when i got pregnant with my second daughter, when i had an indigenous midwife, it made all the difference. i had an unmedicated, beautiful birth. it completely changed my life. >> reporter: it's the first time they've had a training like this here, and workshop participant becki jones says it's a community without a lot of the same resources afforded to urban or suburban areas. >> we're a desert for everything. food, reproductive health care, maternity care. >> reporter: ramona anton-nez is senior epidemiologist at the navajo epidemiology center. >> theospital isn't "just around the corner," "just around the block." a lot of our care takes probably

an hour or so just to get to health care facilities. >> reporter: as a result, many women may miss screenings, prenatal check-ups, or other appointments at which early problems might be identified. the c.d.c. reports maternal mortality jumped from 7.2 deaths per 100,000 births in 1987 to 16.9 deaths in 2016. and black and native women are two to three times as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. >> something needs to change. not only, you know, here, but in other indigenous communities. what happens in a lot of communities is, we're bringing in non-indigenous people who don't have that lived experience and delivering health education in a way that doesn't make sense to a lot of people in the community. >> reporter: so brown teamed up with nicole gonzales, founder of the changing woman initiative, to teach women how to use traditional practices to improve maternal health. >> we are our own experts in our community. we can help ourselves.

we can empower ourselves. we can educate ourselves. >> reporter: gonzales says indigenous women are lucky to have just half of the prenatal visits they're supposed to. the changing woman initiative held its indigenous doula training inside this hogan, which the women say was representative of a mother's womb. we weren't able to film inside during the workshop because they wanted to maintain a safe space for indigenous women. together, they hope to help native women cope with trauma and loss. >> to have a really, like, frank conversation about death and miscarriage and abortion and pregnancy was really, like, the heart of the issue i think a lot of people wanted to know about. >> it's so much more than just the doula training and learning about birth. it's about learning about ourselves. connecting with our own healing. and there's a lot of healing that happens in this training. >> reporter: a lot of that healing especially happened during these moments. >> seeing everybody laugh and enjoy themselves and, like,

being in their traditional dress, i wish the world would see native women like that. that we're not sick, we're not dying, we're not vulnerable, we're not our disease. >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, i'm jennifer alvarez with cronkite news, in window rock, arizona. >> woodruff: such an important program. and that is the newshour for tonight. 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: >> before we talk about your investments-- what's new? >> well, audrey's expecting... >> twins! >> grandparents. >> we want to put money aside for them, so, change in plans. >> all right, let's see what we can adjust. >> we'd be closer to the twins.

>> change in plans. >> okay. >> mom, are you painting again? you could sell these. >> let me guess, change in plans? >> at fidelity, changing plans always part of the plan. >> consumer cellular. >> johnson & johnson. >> financial services firm raymond james. >> bnsf railway. >> the william and flora hewlett fountion. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better world. at www.hewlett.org. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and thr solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour.

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hello, everyone. welcome to "amanpour & co." here's what's coming up. >> america is back. ready to lead the world. not retreat from it. >> president-elect joe biden promises to restore america's global leadership. how does the rest of the world feel about that? a look ahead with foreign policy commentator peter beinart and kori schake. the first vaccine delivery to new york will be 170,000. >> the covid cavalry is on the way to new york. as hospitalizations rise there, i asked new york mayor bill de blasio if the worst is still to come. and --