tv PBS News Hour Weekend PBS December 12, 2020 5:30pm-6:00pm PST
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captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition n r saturday, december 12: the f.d.a. approvesergency authorization for a coronavirus vaccine as cases continue to rise; helping communities of color overcome covid vaccine hesitancy; and in our signature segment, a thawing arctic ignites a new cold war. ne on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: suand edgar wachenheim iii. the anderson family fund. bernard and denise schwartz. the chephryl anip milstein family. barbara hope zuckerberg. the leonard and norma klorfine foundation. charles rosenblum.
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we try to t live inhe moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. atl mutua america, we believe taking care of tomorrow today.lp you make the mt of mutual of america financial groundp, retirement services investments. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communate and connect. we offer a variety of no-contra plans, and our s.-based customer service team can help find one that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. ort has beensupp provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a privatn corporatnded by the american people. anby contributionso your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: good evening, and thanks for joining us. the first doses of a covid-19 vaccine are about toe on the way to all 50 states, with vaccinations set to begin as early as monday. the food and drug administration
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approved emergency authorization of the vaccine, developed by pfizer and the german company biontech, late last night. today, at the pentagon, the general in command of the massive logistical and security plans for vaccine distribution said he is confident the vaccine will arrive safely. >> you have he refer to today as "d-day." some people assumed i meant "day of distributn." in fact, "d-day" in military designates means the day the mission begins. >> sreenivasan: pfizer is preparing to ship close to three million doses from plants in michigan and wisconsin starting tomorrow. the ccine must be stored at ups and fedex will beansit. distributing the vaccine from the pfizer facilities to 636 locations across the country. >> we know evervday american are lost, more fall ill every day, more struggle with the circumstemces of the pa. we know that were not done.
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we are not done until every american has acss to the vaccine. >> sreenivasan: new cases of coronavirus infections and hospitalizations continny to rise in parts of the country. the united states added more than80,000 cases yesterday, and 2,951 people died from the virus, according to the "new york times." late yesterday, the supreme court rejected the most recent attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election. texas attorney general ken paxton sought to sue four states won y president-elect joe biden-- pennsylvania, michigan, georgia and wisconsin. the president supported the suit invalidate their election results. in a short, unsigned order, the supreme court dend the bid, texas' failure to sh why the state has any legal another state conducts its which elections." followthinruling, the presint spent hours flooding twitter with unfounded aims of
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electoral victory and baseless conspiracy theories, tweeting at midnight: "tre supreme court lly let us down. no wisdom, no courage!" this lawsuit, which was endorsed by more than half of republican house mbers including minority leader kevin mccarthy, is the final legal effort by president trump before monday, whenhe electoral college eewillto affirm president elect joe biden's victory. last night, supporters of prident trump, including members of the far-right proud boys, took to the streets of washington, d.c. today, protesters thered in sev leralocations in d.c., including in front of the rt.reme c president trump flew over the crowd on his way to the army- navy football game at west point this afternoon last night, in terre haute, indiana, the federal government executed 56 year-old alfred bourgeois. he is the tenth person be executed since attorney general william barr revived capital inmates in july of 2019 after a 17-year hiatus. bourgeois was sentenced to death
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in 2004 for torturing and killing his two-year-old daughter in texas. the execution came a day after 40-year-old brandon bernard was executed for his part ia double murder. country music legend charley pride died today. pride was honored with the country music association's willie nelson lifetime achievement award just last month. >> ♪an kiss al good mornin...' ♪ >> sreenivasan: born in miss tissippi in 193 son of sharecroppers, pride bought his first guitar as a teenager with money he earned picking cotton he first hit the charts in 1966 and went on to become country music's first black superstar. in a press release, pride's publicist said the singer exed in dallas,, today due to complications from covid-19. charley pri was 86 years old. >> sreenivas: for the latest n the covid vaccine approval and more national and international news, visit www.pbs.org/newshour.
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>> sreenivasan: on tuesday, dr. anthony fauci, the nation's lead infectious disease expert, encouraged black americans to have confidence in the covid-19 vaccines. it was an acknowledgement that many african americans are wary of taking these newly-developed vaccines. but, as they begin to roll out, will this distrust lve a community that has been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic without protection? christopher booker spoke with some who are working to not let that happen. >> reporter: this past summer, the ational institutes of health and the biotech company modernneeded volunteers for their phase-three covid-19 vaccine trial, thousands of vonteers. for freeman hraws, head of the university of maryland- baltimore county, and his wife jacquelin se, deciding n up for the trial was an easy decision. the lead n.i.h. scientist developing the vaccine, kizzme wkia corbet a graduate of the university. >> sometimes, you know, it's about, you know, who you know and what you see going on that
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kin od of gives you that ki belief that this might be okay for me, too. >> reporter: in september, the hrabowskis tookhe first dose of the moderna vaccine. back at the university of maryland school of medicine for the second. whe motivated to help advance the s also hoping to changee perceptions of the vcine, particularly in the ack community. >> we're really thinking about this next period of the vaccine and whether people are going to take it. and it just seems very important e start acclimating peop to the idea that all of us should be doing this, that it's very important for life and deasons. >> reporter: polls show widespread skepticism about the newly-developed vaccines. and in the black community, that distrust is even higher. pew study from last month found that only 42% of black people said they would get the vaccine. that's compared to 61% of white respondents, 63% of hispanics, and 83% of english-speaking asians. hrabowski says the lack of trust in the black community is rooted in history.
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>> we have clear evidence of structural racism. i grew up in alabama, and the tuskegee experiment is very real. >> reporr: hrabowksi is eferring to the tuskegee syphilis study, a secret expteeriment condby the u.s. government from 1932-1972. hundreds of black men in alabama took part in tthe study deadly venereal disease but were denied care and treatmenculong after became available. and the tuskegee study is not unique. in 1951, doctors at johns hopkins university harvested the cancer cells of henrietta lacks, a black woman living in baltimore, without her knowledge or permission. her abnormally reproductive cells have yielded millions of dollars and are still used in research today. >> so, that's one of the pushbacks that we continue to get even now with all of this messaging and how important it is. and they simply rall, "well, you remember what happened before." >> ra orte there's also de information gap. a september study released by the covid collaborative,
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unidosus and the n.a.a.c.p. found 41% of black americans surveyed said they know little or nothing about how vaccines are developed and tested fueling confusion about how the vaccine has been developed and just what is being injected. most notably, when someone receives the vaccine, they're not being injected with the live coronavirus. >> if we made it a pie and each slice of pie is like a different viral protein that you need to make up a whole virus, you're getting a-- one slice of the pie. so, iist's not it's not an active infection in-- in the same way. >> reporter: kishana taylor, a virologist and postdoctoral researcher at carnegie mellon university, has been studying covi sd-ce last spring. the speed and development of this tovaccine is hc. are there valid concerns about the speed at which this was developed and will be distributed? >> if the situation was presented in a way where we-- we came up with all of the components of the vaccine within the last couple of m i think the concerns would be more warranted.
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>> reporter: but taylor says scientists have been working on vaccis for other coronaviruse like the original sars virus and the middle eastern respiratory virus, or mers, for years, work that allowed the development of the covid-19 vaccine to be sped up exponentially. >> and so, we have kind of just been able to take the componen of-- of the new-- of the new sars coronavirus-2 virus and plug it into these previs vaccines that have been in development for years. have been in the research and development process for longer; we just dn't talk about it because it wasn't necessary, right? like,here was not a pandemic, so we didn't need to. >> so, this is an incident where necessity is the mother of invention. >> reporterou: dr. leon me is the president of the national medical association, the largest tionatil organi representing african american physicians and their patients. this summer, the organization launched a covid-19 taskforce, hoping to become a central source of information for the black community surrounding the coronavirus. >> we wanted to be that trusted source and have an independent,
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nonpartisan lens log at the data tobr form ge of clarity to help people to un erstand whatct is true and what in fact is f.icti >> reporter: and the national medical association is working schools, churches, and civill rights groups to talk about the ines within the blac communities they serve. as a medical professional, do you feelrustrated? >> no, no, no. i'm a family physician. i practicear on the ast side of columbus, ohio. this is part of what i do everyday. "docto means "to teach." it is not a dictatorship. we negotiate. we discuss a patient's ccern about a particular possible side effect. it's informed discussion,f rmed consent. that's what we do as health care
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professionals. >> reporter: as an educator, freeman hrabowski says the responsibility to teach and build trust doesn't rest solely on the b the government and medical community, as well. >> as some would say, here we go, telling blacks what they need to do. alllshould beat we doing. we need to have those difficult conversations about the past-- about where we are, about how racism is still alive, and racism's still a part of what we're dealing with-- but how we can maanke progress. having scientists at the table, having leaders come and , a part of the proce building trust in science for all-- infor human , for americans and all human beings, will be something we all must be a part of. va >> sreen: this week, the national oceanic and atmospheric administration released its annual arcticeport card,
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showing that the arctic is warming at an unprecedented rate. scientipests measured ttures last year that were the second- highest in more than 10years. the warmer climate is thawing permafrost and causing sea ice and land-based glaciers to melt more rapidly. it's also creating more open water and human activity like commercial shipping, oil exploration and even tourism. the new frontier is also behind a resurgence of arctic geopolitical rivalry. special correspondent benedict moran and video journalist jorgen samso report on the new cold war from nunavut, canada. this segment is part of our ongoing series, "peril and promise: the challenge of c climange." >> reporter: this is rankin inlet, in the northwest of hudson bay, high up in the canadia.n arct temperatures are frigid, well below -40 degrees fahrenheit.t, nside this tent, canadian military diver anmolpreet grewal is getting ready to go swimming. >> when he goes in, hold it like
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that the whole dive.re >> reporter: tre dive teams from all over-- france, canada, belgium, finland, and the united states. >> diving! >> reporter: above the ice, the crew watches a remote feed of bottom.swimming down to the above them is four and a half feet of i. prioe,r to the deaman anmolpreet grewal explained the mission. >> getting used to the temperature, getting used a different environment, being in able to come to the surface at free willwhere there's only one entry and exit point, and just working on overall proficiency. >> reporter: for many here, this is their first time in the arctic. but this is a rehearsal for more frequent and longer deployments. it's a training for a future arctic, one with more people and possibly more accidents. the arctic is one of the most inhospitable environments on earth. temperatures here can get down to -40 or -60 with windchill. yet, governments are preparing for the influx of more vessels, both commercial and military, as
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search and rescue operations.or though here are getting warmer. planet earth has warmed 1.7 degrees fahrenheit since 1880. arctic temperatures, though, have risen twice that amount. that translates to less sea ice. 20-30 years ago, old ice-- seen here in white-- existed all year 'round. this old ice had a fringe of seceasonal seen here in grey-- which froze and thawed every year. the old ice is now melting, leaving only the thinner, seasonal ice that cafully melt in the summer. as the sea ice melts, a new cold war is heating up. brigadier-general patrick carpentier is the commander of trnada's joint task force north. >> we-- we ofteto isolate the north from the rest of the obe. and-- and th- the reality of what's going on in-- in the arctic right now is at we see that the-- the arctic is not separate. it's a-- is part of the world, and geopolitics impacts the north the same way as any other place.
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>> reporter: russia, china, canada, nordic countries, d the u.s. are scrambling to plant their flags on this new frontier. mike sfraga is the director of the polar institute at the wilson center. >> we are literally watching a new ocean open before our eyes, as unfortunate as that is, as a result of climate. and so, all sorts of incredible opptunities open, but whenever there's open space on the planet, politics play a role. >> reporter: with new open space, old cold warivalry between russia and the u.s. is returning. >> are we going to go to war in the arctic? my answer is no. but we should be very mindful of the activity. >> reporter: russia is more active than ever. the country has a significant population in the far north. 30% of i region. depends on the and, as the sea ice melts, a new shipping route is opening up abovruia. they're calling it the northern sea route, and, once it becomes navigable, itshorten the amount of time it takes for a cargo ship to travel between asstern europe an by two
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weeks, compared to using the suez canal.rt >> and as the rn sea route becomes more accessible, you'll see more activity there. there will be money to be de. >> military is also scaling up its presenceere. it launched a new arctic commd anyis opening all-weather a bases like this one in kotelny island in northern sibouia. it c h 250 soldiers for >> (etranslatedi): there's a system of closed communication save soldiers from unfavorable weather conditions. our water and food reserves can last aear. >> reporter: nato secretary- general jens stoltenberg says the russian buildup in the arctic is "significant." >> of course, this matters for nato also because, from the arctic, you can control much-- much of the north atlantic and the vital sea line between north america and europe. so, increased russi military presence in the air, at sea, on
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land but also under sea with submarines is a challenge for nato. >> : reporterrway is russia's neighborre, and they, too, worried about the russian buildup. in mar of this year, it hosted what was supposed to be the largest-ever arctic military drilin nato's history. it was cut short because of the covid-19 pandemic. nato hllopes these drills keep russia's expansion in check. >> tensions have risen. at the same tiwe, i think that till strive for-- to try to keep th down and to avoid escalation. >> reporter: then, there's china-- not an atic country, but one that wants to be. in 2018, it released anfficial policy paper that laid out plans for large-scale investment and inastructure in the north, like this gas plant in russia's it's part of what they call a new polar silk road. gao feng is china's special representative for arctic affair he defended china's arctic ambitions at a 2018 arctic
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conference. >> in recent years, china and relevant countries have already made some positive progress in promoting the commercial use of the arctic shipping routes, infrastructure building in the arctic region, exploration of resources and lay-- and laying submarine cables. >> reporter: china now calls itself a "near-arctic" country to ensure it has a stake in any negotiations over opening territory. a meeting of arctic foreign ministers in 2019, secretary of statmi pompeo rejected this. >> the shortest distance between china and the arctic is 900 miles. there are only arctic states and n-arctic states. no third category exists, and claiming otherwise entitles chinona to exactling. >> reporter: but to some, these is falling behind in the arctic race. ice brkers, and one of them
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has been in operation since the 1970s that compares to 40 icebreakers for russia, many of whi are nuclear-powered. china has two, and they are building a third. in 2019, congress approved funding for three new icebreakers. february, the head of the u.s.n coast guard said more are necessar >> if left unchecked, china and russia's behavior risks fracturing the tenuous stability and rules by its governance in the arctic. leadership begins with presence, and that's a challenge. is aging, and we do not have the capacity to cover where we think we should be at the present time. >> reprter: president-elect bidenas not yet announced an arctic policy. >> sreenivas: this month, the washington state department of agriculture announced that it would remove hundreds of asian
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giortt traps in preparation for winter, when mos of the worker hornets and dronndes diehe queens find a place to hibernate. the invasive species, also calledho murdeets, pose a grave threat to bees and to humans who r cross thth. officials inashington state, where an asian giant hornet was first spotted in 2019, have been trying to eradicate them befo they spread to the rest of the country. newshour weekend's mori rothman reports. >> hey! what are you doing, huh? >> reporter: ruthie danielsen livein birch bay, washington, on the border between washington state and canada, along with her dogs, cats, goats and most recentl sy bees. >> this documentary, and it was all about colony collapse disorder. bees by, you know, the droves wee just disappearing from the hives, and they didn't know why. >> reporter: danielsen decided to try and becomeart of the solution to the problem. she now has six hives, all with names. cookie two. is cookie one, and
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>> reporter: and like many beekeepers, she says she's grown fo of her tiny companions. >> each queen and her court and her offspring have a different-- just a different personality.so times they're real friendly, sometimes you get queens where the bees are very upset. cookie one: "hey. >> reporter: but in addition to concerns of colony collapse, last ye beekeepers like danie dlscovered another threat to their hives. an asian giant hornet, sometimes called the murder hornewa was found iington state. the hornet made headlines partly due to its alarming si i of nearly thes and ability to sting through most beekeeper suits with its quarter-inch sting, and because in japan the asian giant hornet kil up to 50 people a year. but the hornet's main prey i the honeybee. in the fall, it goes through what's known as a "slaughter phase" during which groups of hornets attack beehives, decapitating all of the adult bees and harvesting their larvae for food.
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>> my bees are part of my it's just that. and so, when the asian giant hornet-- i mean, to completely, you know, decapitate a hive would have jt been horrible. >> and just make sure it doesn't have any asian giant hornet in there. >> reportjenni cena works for washington state's department of agriculture and has been setting traps, baited with rice wine vinegar and orange juice, for the asian giant hornet. cena says the department set over 900 traps this year. so far, 13 asian giant hornets have been caught in the traps. >> the idea with the live traps was tuthat we'd acly catch a live asian giant hornet, specifically a worker, and that we'd actually put a tracker on th. >> reporter: in october, the department tracked an asian giant hornet back to a nest, and a team wearing heavy protective suits extracted it. there were more than 500 asian giant hornets in the nest. na says the danger posed to thamerican honeybee population and the agricultural industry that depends on honeybees is a
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major concern. >> bh a wheat ales in washington are both billion- dollar esindustand they employ a lot of individuals. apples, pears, apricots, all of thosese products actually honeybees to pollinate the and a lot oour honeybees actually start down california on our monds and work their way up the coast and all the way over to theast coast. >> reporter: according to an estimate in the journal "pest management sciee," asian giant rnets could cause millions of dollars of damage to agriculture if they spread across the country. >> temperatures inside the hive are in the high 60s. >> reporter: ruthie danielsen is doing her part to make sure that doesn't happen; she set traps of her own near her hives. >> i still have my traps up, as long as it's not freezing. and i'll keep, you know, rebaiting my traps every-- every week.
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>> sreenivasan: that's all for this edition of pbs newshour weekend. for the latest news updates, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. stay healthy and have a good nit. captioning sponsored by wnet captned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible bysu and edgar wachenheim iii. ythe anderson famnd. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. barbara hope zuckerberg. the leonard and norma klorfine
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foundation. charles rosenblum. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investments. additional support has been proded by: consumer cellular. and by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a privateo oration funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. you're watching pbs.
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