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 millions of s. families. we travel to belgium, to the town where pfizer is making a vaccine shothey hope will >> we say now that the hope of the world is here in puurs, and ld are going to save the w 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 s newshour. >> majorunding for the pbs

newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. us.f, the engine that connects >> felity 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 nr. >> this program was made possible by the corpn for public broadcasting. and by contributions to yo pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> woodruff: new numbers tonig show u.s. job growth is slowing sharply, as covid-19 spreads unchoyked. ems added a net of 245,000 jobs in november,

plat is the fewest since april. that was down shfrom 610,000 in october, and the fifth straightonth of decline. the unemployment did fall slightly to 6.7%, partly as s peoppped 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 thith with the idea 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 ther

the news summary. the pandemic's humanoll keeps more than 2,800 people died on thursday alone, and today, the c.d.c. called for everyone to wear masks indoors,h except ir own home. the guidance had applied only to public spaces. meanwhile, president joe biden vowed that vaccines will be free to all, and safe. he acknowledald fears, espe 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." we, fact of the matter is, they won't be. look, it's going to take some effort to rebuild conf in science, because it's been so diminished in this administration thus fa >> woodruff: also today, much of the san francisco bay area

imposed new stay-at-home order a federal judge in new york state has ordered tonight that the daca program be restored. it bars deportations of migrantt brought 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, theudge says officials must announce that it's accepting both first-time and renewal requests for daca status. the u.s. military is going ahead withdraw forces from somalia. today's announcement says most sf the 700 to 800 u.s. tro will move to neighboring countries. 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. more important matters.re are the bill is likely to die in the republican-run senate.

on wall street, hopes for economic relief overshadowed disappointing jobs numbers. thgedow jones industrial ave gained 248 points to close at 30,218. the nasdaq rose 87 points, and the s&p 500 added 32. all three indexes finishedmet all-ighs. 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. giill to come on the newshour: all eyes on geor as the fight for control of the senate centers on the peach state. understanding the econom toll

of the pandemic in the u.s. the belgium town where the world puts its hope for a covid vaccin and, much more. president-elect joe biden will >> woodruff: president-elect joe biden is still seven weeks away from taking office, but the nation troubles show no sign of waiting. toy's economic news made that more clear than ever. the biden white house transition is pushing ahead, and the president-elect is already pcing what may be his greatest challenges, as tdemic fills hospitals and jars the he spoke today in wilmington, delaware, hours after news numbowed stalling jobs growth. >> folks aren't looking for a handout. they just need help. they're in trouble, for no fault

of their own. 're in a crisis. we need to come together as a nation, we need congress to act, and t now. >> woodruff: meanwhile, the trump campaign continues to lose its legal challengesn 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 trumpca aign reported massive fundraising numbers. combined with the republic national committee, it has raised some $207 million since eledactio the legal loss in wisconsin atfurther underscores mr. trump's white house loss is all but settled. in georgia though, two senate elections are not, and tce president pence went peach state today in support of incumbent republican senators kelly loeffler and david perdue in the run-up runoffs.

>> we're here to stand with two 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 fors senate canjon osoff and raphael warnock. >> t promise of the biden presidency and the harris vice presidency rests in part on their ability to have a cooperative posture with congress. >> woodruffthe 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 tn 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. ucd, as amna nawaz tells us, this comes as a l 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, t a temporary layoff that e the economy reopens. on top of all that, the safety net for millions provided byten ion of federal benefits expires soon. wendy edelberg studies all of this cloctly. she's di of the hamilton project, and a former economist for the congressional budget office. wendy, welcome back to the "newshour".no let me ask yoabout those november numbers. it's the fifth straight month of slowing in hiring. millions are already in pain, as we just menoned.

we're just a few weeks away from millions more losing, the extension of the ymempt expires after christmas,sion 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? some of the really important reasons we should be alarmed by we saw that the net gain in employment was45,000, that might sound like a lot but, given the decline in unemployment that we've seen sirue feby of 10 million jobs, it would take years for the labor market to fully recover. and you're absolutely right, millions ofle unemployed pe 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'tkection. >> reporter: when you look back at the recovery as it's unfolded so far, i want to ask you about the economic stimulus 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 f? >> we have a huge amount of evidence showing ust that the fiscal support in the cares act was instrumental in getting us tomihis point in the eco recovery. we saw that, for many of the hounemployeduseholds, they were able to sustain their spending in a way that was absolutely due to the fiscal suort 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 is month, that will have dire onsequences for consumer spending and tcovery, to say nothing for being a source of extraordinary pain for those unemployed households. >> reporter: so, wendy, when you look, big picture, at the jobs numbers report souo far, can see this plummet in april.

there was a spring surge of cases of covid and the closures associated with it. yosee those numbers creeping back up and then slowing again recently. nty, we should know we are in another surge. there are now record cases, recordths. 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 intc their fot a slowdown of economic growth. frankly, since march we knew this was coming and we at the same time have been calling or 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 trilon, and then even about half that again in 202.

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 tr edented levels. what do you say to those concerns? >> wcan absoluteord more fiscal support. first of all, we're in an economy with vast resources. second of all, interest rates are ati hstoric lows. financing this debt would be completely and entirely affordable. third of all, it's completely appropriate to borrow from our futu selves to ease the extraordinary pain that millions of people are suffering rht >> reporter: extraordinary pain indeed, and more ahead if there's not more help. wendy edelberg, rector of the hamilton project joining us tonight. thank you for your time. >> thank you.

>> woodruff: the first doses ofhe long-awaited covid-19 vaccine are on their way to the united kingdom, the unrst western y to grant emergency authorization. e vaccine, manufactured 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 repts >> reporter: trucks are carrying the temperature- sensitive covid-19 vaccine to the u.k. from pfizer's plant in puurs, belgium, where it is being manufactured on a massivel sc it's a process which began hours after t vaccine was authorized by u.k. health regulators. in0,000 doses will arrive he 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.

>>e 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 for its 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: lucy hough since the summer, the workforce here has been trating on the roll-out of the coronavirus vaccine. in the plant behind me is a packed with hundregiantlity freezers, ready to store supplies at negative-94 degrees fahrenheit, before they are shippearound the world. locals are stunned to find themselves at the center of agl al 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 her >> 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 discoverepuurs 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., otheandard refrigeration. the firm has slashed its original roll-out targets due to cold-chain obstacles. with each vaccine having different requirements in terms of transportation, packing and storage, global distribution will be no easy feat. >> maintaining the right transport temperature to protect the ckaging against temperature shocks is extremely important throughout the whole

logistical supply chain. so,to in ordeo that, we need the right type of infrastructure, and weave 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 inur factories before approval, with the process that will be approved, in order to ensure we can deliver almost immediately to these tradi blocs or countries. >> reporter: pending authorization, the u.s. and europe share a hope to bin 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 competitomoderna by

the end of this year, enough to vaccinate 20 million people. that could be rolled outfour 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 th outgoing congresswoman donna shalala. lisa desjardins continues r coverage. >> desjardins: while house democrats lost some races in republican-leaning districts, one republican was ousted by a challenger from the right. er've followed republican

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 it mean to be in the republan 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 ste summer of 2019, and some of the things that d 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 pu means to be a republican? are you still a ican? >> very difficult right now. u know, i feel like that i'm

willingly tribalist, right? and i think a lot of it has to do with what'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 smallnough 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 abraham lincoln's. but as far as the-- some of the specific portionof the virginia republican party, i don't think i'm a great fit. >> desjardins: you know, there's also the trump rublican party. you are one of the few house republicans to have said openly that joe biden won the electn. you are in the freedom caucus. you know the republicans w 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?on >> i know what's in their heart, lisa, but i tell you, my background as an intelligence

officer. it is disinformation, it' radicalization, it's counterterrorism. afraid of voters, y'reey're worried about being tossed out of the tribef there's something in them that that actually believe some of this, because i ll tell you, i've seen sort of odd things in my life. some of these conspiracy theories 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, ts 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 distct, a place th 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 thlight and

let the sunlight disinfectant it. but i think what is, you have two retired generals that are talking about, you know, martial law. and i think it's very odd that that'rys not a bigger s because what they're basing it on is ridiculous. whether it's n.a. trying to crack into computers, whether it's dominion having code that's been manipulated, whether it'smy the torming some barracks in germany, all these things are just poppycock. and i think we've got to be worried about the racalization ofthose, based on, again, based on information that's just not tr. 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 th-- sort of that zarre manifestation of conspiracy theories that are don't have proper information. and i think this is a massive grift. i think when you talt 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 y responsibility he has for this. >> welll, he dsis have resplity.

i think that's where i got in trouble. hithink when you tweet som that says that "joe biden killed seal team six," i think when you retweet something where it says that "osama bin laden body double" and that's part of the qanon conspiracy theory, that is absolutesh something you ldn't do. and it's-- it's not just irresponsible. 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. ain, when you see the ty of money that they're making off of this, it's just sad. they're really separating people om their money on things that are just simply not true. >> desjardins: what did youti learn in you in congress about how washington works? or doesn't work? >> that the trrte is more imt 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 ow. 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 fas and policy be more important than belonging to a specific party, and put people over people.her than party

>> desjardins: and i'm curious,c what aves would you use now to describe how you feel at ecis moment? >> i think the aves that i would use now are, i would say, troud of what i've done. but also, there'idation. and it's also now a determination, a willingneto to trhange the way tht we ehlk about each other, and to stop theanization that's going on in politics right now. i think it'sliot just the cs of personal destruction anymore. i think it's the politics of and that happens t propagating these conspiracy theories. le>> desjardins: denver rin, outgoing congressman from virginia's 5th district, thank you for joining us. >> thanks, lisa. i appreciate it. >> woodruff: and since he sat e wn with lisa, congressman riggleman says his receiving multiple violent threats, including death threats.

>> woodruff: now, it's time for kse analysis of shields and br 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 virginiatalking about putting party over country. that was something he wasn't comfortable with, and talking raout cons theories, all of this stemming from he's won th 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 sharged, it is not that it' damaging beymy calculation.s 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 fraud according to a monmouth poll. a lot of those don't believe in manmade climate change, a lot of those people don'tsk believe ma can save your life. so there's a section of the country tha has been detached haom reality and under trump paranoia a resurgent style. this derives o of a sense o

menace and threat that people feel unsafe and they grasp for conspiracy these are because it makes them feel powerful th they can expose the evil. a lot f people just feel scared economically, socially, racially and out of that fear coms paranoia. but i've got other e-mails from people, like a one from a guy in palo alto, says the neurosurgeon down t block believes this thuff, so where's his anxiety? i don't knowanswer to that question. so thee's a lot of anxiety and fear and out of thas arisen an entire industry of paranoia mongering. newsmax, the far right wing media news station, their viewership has gone up 20elimes since thction so that paranoia is pretty deep and widespread right now. >> woodruff: mark, wsas a organization, the "newshour" is trying to understand. this i know other news

organizations are as well. we want to understand, you know, e or gin of this and how deep it goes and how long-lasting. how much does it matter that we now?to tackle this right i guess what i'm trying to understand, is this a flight of fancy that we're just living through a ief period an we're going to wake up in a few weeks or months and going to be pas it, or is this with us for a long time? >> well, no, i mea i think david put his finger on it, asr he does regu. th also has a commercial aspect to it. i mean, there is a profit upping viewership if you're spinning paranoid theories tur listeners and explaining that the other ide -- that you never argue it the mer what it comes down to is the other side is evil.

that is the first thing i learned came to washington that you don't question the motives of somebody onh the er 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 that's where these arguments begin is that it's a sister, 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 wita 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 >> woodruff: and, david, i guess my question is his predecessor disappearing in the

rearview mirror? he's raised over $200 million ancounting since te election day, for his legal defense fund, buwe're now learning most of that money can go toward his 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 tallek peut 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 usx in thepert 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 betwe us. secondly, life has to become more secure for a lot of people and i'm hoing that the new administration will pass legislation that makes life economically more cure so tt sense of existential anxiety goes away. >> woodruff: we can certainlyon hopet no the economy gets better that we'll be able to travelmore, get around, see our fellow americans, family and friends in the not too distt future. but, mark, let's talk about joe bin, the president-elect. since i saw you last before thanksgiving, he's namore of the senior members of his team, his secretar secretary of statey blinken, secretary of the trersury janet yellen, a nu of others. what do you make to have the team so far? >> well, i tell you,d juy, the reviews that are in are quite positive. they reflect joe bden as their experience, they believe in public service, they're people whom he knows.

again, unlike his unnamed predecessor who chose t he srkof state who had a very active passport and traveled a lot and looked like a seatetary of he's choosing somebody with whom he's wokewith close to a generation. experienced people, people who believin 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 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 folks joe biden is naming? >> yeah, i'm super encouraged, too. it's biden being biden, biden picking people he'somfortable with, knows, and people who you the night and they could do the job. janet yellen is super prepared to be treasury secretary, jared bernstein has been on this s in themany ti economic world, tanden will b our flashiest omb director in history but someone who's been around and who just knows the job. esso you canassured that these are the people who haved experience ten 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 ere are

still interest groups out there saying there's not enough diversity hee. naacp saying where are the blacks in senior cabinet jobs. how much pressure is joe biden under to name a more diverse leaders to his team -- fo 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 r diversity's sake. everybody who's been chosen is somebody who is alified for the position to which they were named, irreective of race or gender or whatever. i think, as far as women are concerned, jon'bidecampaign was run by anita dunn and jaet o'malley dilan, two womehen. 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 s been critical of the lack of african-americans in the cabinet. joen came limping out of new hampshire, dead on arrival out ofa outh caroltil 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 the voice that joe biden will be responsive to and legitimately so. >> woodruff: and, david, how much pressure do you think biden is under to name -- get some more diverse figures in this cabinet and top jobs and how much does mater? >> well, pressure implies resistance. isdon't think there's rent, joe biden wants to have a cabinet that looks like america

because it's a better cainet, bigger diversity of viewpoints and backgrounds, thbetter decisions get made. i don't think he'll have a problem finding african-americans. he found linda thomas-greenfield, choicefor u.n. secretaries, ambassador to the u.n., and someone with aim longcareer in the foreign service, someone who ran the africa desk under obama. i'm sure he'll finmod re people like that. i think it's important to hav diversity.it i hate whe gets reduced to a demographic label and a person the person is the person and all the people he's picked so far d in the future are a team, they're super talented, so uli 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 sayingo he's got to name. he said you will know who they are in the next few weeks, and 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 devastatg pandemic comes to an end, we ta moment to honor some of those we've lost to vid-19. dr. joshua yasuo suzuki worked as an obstetcian-gynecologist for 45 years, deliring 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 huppiness, said his family. born in jan, jsettled in seattle, where he spent time hiking the mountains with his sons.

described by his loved ones as quirky and often donning a bowt laugh and insatiable curiosity. he was 78. 70-year-old iris meda was a lifelong protector and provider, said her daughter.he bornldest 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.wh bu the pandemic hit, she couldn't stand idly by.e iris becnursing teacher, preparing her students for the challenges of the pandemic.ot a loving wife,r and grandmother, her daughter said iris was family.dation of their zulfikar gunja had an innate sense of love, care and joy, his

family said. he went by zulfi. raisedn 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. yezulfi encelebrating life, traveling, eating and connecting withids. 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 league of women voters.ve in the in 1968, reed left his job in investment managemt for the bissachusetts audubon society, where he cd his knowledge of finance with his love for

edrds. barbara sheed's interest in the outdoors. during their nature walks, reedi would watch ths while barbara enjoyed the plants and wildflowers. parents to three; reed was shy, .while barbara was outgoi after 68 years of marriage, they died three days apart, both from the conavirus. barbara and reed anthony were 91 yearsld. as always, we want to thank these family members for sharing their stories with us. our hearts got to you, as loved ones during this pandemic. and we ask you to stay with us. look at any ways -- we look at new ways to combat moternal mortality in the u.s. but first, take nt to hear from your local pbs station. e even more

profound. from the croite school of journalism, jennifer alvarez coports on a unique effort to at maternal mortality among native americans. the pandemic.s filmed prior to ( laughter ) >> okay!yo sweep ur teepee, sweep your teepee. >> reporter: on the navajo nation... >> make fire! ( laughter )na >> reporter: .ve women finish up a day of training with a traditional game. doulas, or people trained to support women through pregh.ncy and birt >> basically, they're helpers, we help each other inhow ceremonies. that's how we should help ch other during birth and pregnancy and parenting. t reporter: melissa brown knows just how importase helpers

can be. >> my first birth that had when i was a teenage mother was very traumatic. i didn't understand how body worked, i didn't understand how labor and delivery worked. i was very scared, i didn't have very much support, a so, when i got pregnant with my second daughter, wh i had an indigenous midwife, it made all the difference. i had an unmedicat, beautiful birth. it completely changed my life. >> reporter: it's the first time they've had a training like this here, and workshop participantck 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. ne>> reporter: ramona antois senior epidemiologist at the navajo epidemiology center. >> the hospital isn't "just around the corner," "just aroun" the bloc 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 idpointments at which early problems might btified. the c.d.c. reports maternal mortality jumped from 7.2 deaths per 100,000 births in 1987 to 16.9 deaths in 26. and black and native women are two to thres as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women. >> somethingeeds to change. not only, you know, here, but in other indigeus commuties. what happens in a lot of communities is, we're bringing in non-indigenous ople 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 own teamed up with nicole gonzales, founder of the changing woman initiative, 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 emper 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 wom 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 to maintain a safe spac for indigenous women. together, they hope to help native women cope with traumass lld to have a r like, frank conversation about death and miscarriage and abortion and pregnancy was really, like, the heart of the issue i think a lot i people wanted to know about. s so much more than just the doula training and learning about birth. it's about learning about ourselves. connecting with r own healing. d there's a lot of healing that happens in this training. >> reporter: a lot of that healing especially happened during these moments. ugh andng everybody enjoy theelves and, like, being in their traditionalh dress, i we 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. newshour, i'm jennifer alvarez with cronkite news, in window rock, arizona. >> woodruff: such an iortant program. d 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 s vestments-- what's new? >> well, audrepecting... >> twins! >> grandparents. >> we want to put money aside for them, so, change in plans. >> all right, let's see what we cn adjust. >> we'd ser to the twins. >> change in plans. >> okay. >> mom, are you painting again? you could sell these. >> let me guess, change in idans?

>> atity, changing plans sus always part of the plan. >> cr cellular. >> johnson & johnson. >> financial services firm raymond jame >> bnsf railway. >> the william and flora hewlett foundation. for more than 50 years, advancing ideas and supporting institutions to promote a better .hrld. at wlett.org.g >> supportcial entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfodation.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and friends of the newshour. >> this program was madey

possiblee corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs statio thank you.rs like you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> you're watching pbs.

two tonight on kqed newsroom we speak with california's surgeon general about the states looming lockdown restrictions and how to ensure the vaccine is distributed fairly. we speak with california church leaders to be able to worship indoors during the pandemic. a question they are asking the u.s. supreme court to weigh in on. we take into unique architecture of myron's county civic center. welcome to kqed newsroom. >> the death toll from the coronavirus keeps climbing. more than 19,000 people have died in california and more di than 276,000 have