♪ >> good evening. i am judy burgess jeff on the wshour tonight. moving closer to a deal. a congressional aid package within reach as leaders bridge that thdivide. battling the pandemic. despite sa surge in infections local officials of face backlasi against vacci. plus, and physical scars. we visit chicago to examine why communities of color suffer disproportionate rates of childhood trauma andhe u.s. >> then we are increasing the risk of trauma. and that is happening

predominantly in black arh brown neighds. judy: all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour." ♪ >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- ♪ ♪ moving out economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us. ♪ >> consumer cellular.

johnson & johnson. nafiial services firm raymond james. >> supporting social e ntrepreneurs. >> the lenalson foundation. on the we abt lemalson.org. supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation, committed to building a more peaceful world. d with the ongng support of these institutions -- ♪ this program was made posorble by theration for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you.

thank you. judy: cling in on ideal. lawmakers in washington are ever closer to esive economic relief for those suffering from the pandemic. both concessions, and there is a lot on line. here is lida. -- lisa. have them b reporting on this for days. we have been hearing for a day now they are getting closer. what do we know about we could be in this agreement? lisa: it's frustrating that we do not have the agreement yet but in higtistakes negots like this silence is golden. the fact that leaders are sayg little means that they are earnest and really good new goshe's happening -- negotiations happening behind the scenes. this is coming from sources close to the negotiations. first of allthe direct payment checks that many americans have said that they want, those back

in bhe deal. coul $600 for each individual. hundreds of dollars in added money for both unemploent. hundreds of dollars per week. we do not know the exa amount t. billions of dollars to help the vaccine distribution that would help states. thenof billionollars, tens of billions for schools. something that would indirectly help state and local also, tens of billions of dollars for day-topday needs of . things like food, rent,ng hel everyone from kids to the elderly meet those demands and also these checks, it is a trade-off. there is a decision madecnot to give d aid to state and local governments. something democrats wanted.on instead that is going to direct checks for americans.

that is mething that is a win for progressive democrats like bernieanders. as well as conservatives who pushed for it. iothe que is, something that $6 is too little and others think it is not enough. getting closer. this reporting so important. take us outside of washington. what we know about where the need is? who is it who needs this assistance the most? lisa: i want to underscore this urgency. first, a notn rent. one of our producers talk to the national housing conference today. they estimate 6 to 16 million americans feel they may not be able to make rent. let's look at footage of the food pantry we went to last month. the need f food. foodnsecurity has doubled.

and in some precincts more than tripled. judy: finally, we know the federal government is once again about to run out of funding. what to we know about where the negotiations stand on that with regard to keeping the government going? lisa: i'll just give you a quick summary. that spending deal is linked to e covid relief bill. it does look like the spending bill is done and signed off on. we do expect it to pass. it is a question of timing. spding runs out friday nig at midnight. can the covid relief bill move quickly enough to get that spending bill through at the same tim it is something we will talk a lot about. there is a lot of that spending bill. for now it looks like we will not have a government shutdown. there was a question ofhen this will pass, tomorrow, friday, this weekend? judy: thank you

every year it is down to the wire. thank ♪you. >> with newshour west. the latest headlines. trum officials confirm they are negotiated to buy more of pfizer's covid-19 vaccine follow reports that they passed up chances to buy more than 100 million doses under contract. today health and human surfaces -- services director pointed to the arrival of moderna's vaccine. >> witn days we hope to have a safe and effective vaccine with tens of millions of doses, hundreds of millions of doses coming in the months ahead. is truly something historic. >> the democratic governor of illinois said today that federal

officials have cut initial vaccine allotments f states by half to 4.3 million doses. there have been reports that pfizer scaled-back production due to supply problems. vaccine allocatioe non says changed but they depend on supply. across the northeast raised concerns that a v distribution might be delayed. secretary of state mike pompeo quis selantining after coming in contact with somebody infected with covid-19. the state department said mike pompeo tested negative. secretary has dra criticism for hosting large in person holiday parties amidnd te ic. president-elect biden formally introduced pete buttigieg as his choice f secretary of transptation. he's openly gay. mr. biden says his selection

shows the cabinet will be the most diverse ever. >> our cabinet does not just ha one first but 8 precedent busting appointments. the first openly gay nominee to lead the cabinet department. >> meanwhile president trump voiced frustration with mitch mcconnell. for acowledging biden as president-elect. in a tweet, he said, "too soon to give up. republican party musn to fight." a number of republican senators continue to push unfounded claims of election fraud. at a heari held over democrats protests. the former cybersecurity chief said the claims are undermining ocracy.fidence in d krebbs was fired after the election. the cyber security and infrastructure agency, which

krebbs used to lead, is one of three organizations coordinating response to a hacking cpaign that has impacted government networks, according to a joint statement tonight. the fbi and office of the director of national intelligence are investigating the cyberattack involving the firm solin and its orion software. the hack is ongoing and significant. france, a court convicted 1 people linked to the attack on charlie hebdo's magazine in 2015. that left 17 people dead. all three gunmen died in police raids. the widow of one of them was given a 30 year prison sennce. a chinese lunar probe has returned to earth bringing back the first samples ofoon in 40 years. state tv showed radar video of

the unmanned capsule descending in inner mongolia containing about 4.5 pounds of rocks. this is the latest success for china's ambitious space program. back in this country, the federal reserve offered a brighter projection foomic growth next year. policymakers promised ain to maintain stimulus measures and jerome powell says a key will stay nea zero through 2023. >> the economy will be growing in expectation, should be growing at a healthy clip by the second half of next year, but it is going to be a while before we are back to the level of labor market, the sort ofad conditions we in early this yearh and for m the last couple years. >> the fed estimates that unemployment will decli to 5% by the end of next year. the u.s. supremeourt agreed to

hear arguments on compensating student athletes. a lower courtas barred the college sports governing body ncaa from curbing pay for division i basketball players. of states have passed laws. still to come on the newshou local officials phase backlash from politicians and the public. rising covid infections complicate in person classes. france reaches a tipping point over its treatment of radical islam. plus much more. ♪ >> this is the "pbs newshour." from weta studios in washington and in the west from thecr waltr kite school of journalism it errors on a state university. judy: let's turn back to the pandemic now. while cases and deaths are at

all-time highsnd hospitals in many states are nearing capacity, the newly approved vaccine is being distributed nationwide. will people take the vaccine? and is politicsampering our response? william brown talks with thfront lines. >>f millions of dosesvid vaccines are expected to be distributed next week. pwhilels show that a growing number of americans are willing to take the vaccine, there are large numbers of people who say they will not. hampering the burnout and harassment of public health workers. a k recent analysis done ser health news and the ap found 49 state and local officials resigned, quit or werde fi since the spring citing those pressures. this doctor just quithe as a man th officer at shawnee county, kansas, citing political

interference. and this doctor is a family doctor at the virginia garcih memorial heanter in northwest oregon. great to have you both on the" "newshou to you first. recently after county officials started tamperi with your public health guidance. jucan yo explain why that is what you call the last straw? >> sure. it was the last straw because it was not the first time it happened. this state law in kansas gives the board of county commissioners the authority to accept or reject or modify the public health emergency orders from the local health officers. so, in the past they had made no modifications. against my advice -- they made modification. a couple of weeks ago they set up an advisory group which i strongly supported with

prominent physicians and other experts from the community to also chi in, those decisions. and, despite that, when they met on monday, they decided to modify my mos recent order against the opinion of the oup. so i thought it s important to send a message that public health containment measuresen or pron measures to efbe to professionals trained to do that and they can be the decision on data and facts and not policymakers who are not trained avenue have no -- and have noc background in pub health. >> dr. galvez, we have very good news about a safe and effective vaccine being distributed. you work primarily with the hispanic community in oregon. this is a come -- a community that has been disproportionally hurt. how willing are people to take a

vaccine if it is offered? >> i am hearing from my patients there is a lot of fear about the safety of thvaccine. many of my patients have questions about whether or t it is safe. or whether olonot there are -term side effects. the patients i ser thetancy from community. soundre does that, it like some type of misinformation they are getting. we know it is this seems to be a well tested, safe, and effective vaccine. where are they getting that information from? >> partly -- is important for people to understand that there is not a lot of information my patients he access that is accurate. the information we see about the vaccine is on platforms and in a language that many of my patients do not have access or they cannot read.

so, when you have a lot of information what happened is people tend to turn to social media platforms or word of mouth thand oftee sources are not reliable. we end up cultivating much myths, rumors, misinformation. that is spread among the community. it just increases the amount of anxiety and fear. you add that to a comrenity that is y fearful oftentimes of recommendations lming from the fede government in the last few years we have seen anti-immigrant rhetoric, anti-immigrant policy and actually -- and actions. >> you're a worki inifferent community. in topeka, kansas. but same question. is it your sense that once the vaccine baiomes readily ble that people in kansas will be open and willing to take

it? >> think it will be very interesting phenomena to watch and see how it goes. my anticipation, my prediction is that once people start seeing available and their leaders are going to take it, and it is safe enough, i think it would be a the misinformation ise. absolutely, 's a tragedy within the tragedy we are the level of misinformation, the damage that has done in the last nine to 12 months is somethg that will probably, we'll only understand years down the road. i think the most important thing in my mind at this point is that leaders get together and they all speak with one unified voice.ry that is important. people cannot be bombarded with colicting messages, telling them to do different things. i think we all need to speak

with t unified voice. if there are disagreements, let's tal go public.t before we the public hear one unified ice and a consistent message. >> how do you suggest weught to combat this to both get better messaging but also to touch and rch communities that are often difficult to reach? >> i agree with what he said about a unified message coming from our public health officials and leaders. i believe those messages need to be coming from trusted- so people will look and speak with one. it is important that leaders from the community and marginalized communities -- i think the message when it comes from people they trust is going to be much more effecve. but i also think that the message needs to also be coming along with some action.

as i sai earlier, and as you mention,f manye disparies we are seeing in the community are being driven by policies. those need to be addressed alongside with the campaign and the education about vaccines. we need to work hard and begin to gain the trust of the latinoi community by s them we care andegin to put place policies that really will protect our families in the future. >> lastly, you touched on this issue. you are seeming to work right at this juncture, this uncomfortable marriage ofpo tics and public health. politicized in this pandemic? >> wish i knew. i think it, it really started from the top ldership with the tional level. and when wearing a mask was

turned from a very simple century old public health prevention measure into political -- tbrt was a king point for many people. and then everything else folled from there. the facts there was a message on divi instead of unity coming from washington didn't help. elit did not o the message reach the states and within the states in localities like those in oregon and in to pico and -- topeka and rural communities. things are seen along a party line. again, that is absolutely tragic. we have got to understand what public health is recommending to do is e proven andective, and evidence-based. dit is nothing with politics. nothing to do with wanting to take people's freedoms. it is something that public

health has learned to do centuries and centuries of practice.>> thank you both veryr being here. >> thank you for having us. ♪ judy: despite the fact that many schooltr dt worked at being prepared this fall has been a tough road fornt stu parents, and educators. most used some form of hybrid learning. but many have not felt 's safe enough to have children in the classroom. some cities had children return and then had to pull back virtual. for some students virtual learning means they are falling further behind. we report on this dilemma. >> forde millions of ss the past nine months of school has >> do you like remote learning? >> this is bella, and that is

her mom. >> i don't -- let me think about it. >> do you prefer learning at home or would you rather be in school? >> both. >> bella in the fourth grade has been attending virtual school from her virginia home. >> when you remember the day when they said we go home? >> it was march 13. i was in my office. got this message that schools were going to close. >> and what did you think? >> i panicked. >> michelle has been struggling work and full-time with overseeing bella's schoolwork. months in, she says she is worried. >> she is right on the cusp of kind of coming out o the younger learning how to read, learning how to write to really understanding, readingre consion, looking for tur ruths. those are things she needs to be

intohe classroom for. >> even as the u.s. continues to break new covert records, state andocal pressures remain -- centers remain under pressure to open schools. robert redford endorse the idea. >>al we now have substanata that shows that schools, face-to-face learning, can be conducted in k-12 in the elementary and middle schools, in a safe and responsible way. >> the cdc released guidelines hen top officials decide reopen weighing the new cases per 100,000 or the percentage of positive tests within 14 days. the cdc suggests that schools employ masks, disinfection and social distancing. but politics has come into play. with red and blue areas conducting contrasting policies. in iowa, co. set the limit at

15%. in new york city, a 3% limit for hools to readjust plans through the fall. further of state, this superintendent oversees a district of 12,000 students. >> the significant frustration as we are being asked to do more with less. >> inn september they bee school year fully remote, in october they went to hybrid. two days remote, two days in school. in november, as cases began to rise, they moved back to fully remote learning. >> it'sli sometimes d with messages from the federal, state, and local levels, that has been a real challenge. we're doing the best we can but it changes frequently. it's been the art of pivoting. >> for some teachers like shanna white in atlanta, it is just not working. >> i have 18 in the classroom you come in my classroom and try

to teach a subject that's pretty complex in computer science suessfully. and tell me how it turns out for you. >> ahird generation educator, white is after the pandemic.h >> i have a strong intent of leaving the educational field because it has become mu ch. >> a september survey revealed that one and three teachers say they are more likely to leave teaching earlier than plann. in rural district limited resources to support remote schools means that schools stay open. >> we had a mandate in place for a couple of months for obvious -- for august and september but as of october 1, it went away. >> she chooses to wear a mask. >> i see over 100 children a day. i clean tables in between every class. i've set up a fan in my windwo

t-- a window to blow in air in the class. i turned around to pull the air out of the classroom. as i disinfect tables. teaching in a pandemic is a lot. >>hi children can transmit covid-19 in a classroom setting, less is known about the long-term health impact for children. according to the covid monitor ,000e have been 363 conference positives in reported in k-12 schools. fourlo states,da, arkansas, iowa and tex require that an in person learning option is available to all students. 11 states have ordered regional closures or have hybrid only learning, while d.c. and puerto rico remain fully close but the bulk of states have left decision to schools or districts. for parents, many rely on

schools reopeng to return to work. concerns their kids are falling behind h growing. sevenhe families are suing t state of california,lleging it failedo provide basic educational quality to minority and low-income students. >> i'm very concerned about the long-term impacts. >> thef dean o harvard's graduate school of education has been watching the growing calls for schools to reopen. what is your reaction to that? >> this is not a one-size-fits-all solution. it depends so much on the particular context of the school, not only whais happening with public health but school buildings themselves and what they are able to do in c terms culation, really have to take into account all the different factors. the c age of tld, learning difficulties and students with disabilities. but given the high stakes of students but also for the for teachers and the administrators, we have to balance these multiple factors. >> recent study shows students

and remote learning already falling behind. acrding to nwea, a nonprofit, student scored an average of 5% to 10% lower inat with students in grades three, four and five experiencing the larges drops. in virginia, fairfax county has seen fairly -- fling rates double. for students like bella what they miss of the other students. do you want to send a message to your friends? what would you say? >> don't cry. >> oh, honey. >> don't cry. i'm so sorry. >> we're going to see them soon. >> the question of how soon is one a question that cannot be anered yet. until then it is staying as optimistic as possi >> i wouuldld say i miss you gui

love you guys forever and ever and ever. ♪ judy: turning to the days news from france. of convictions in the 2015 charlie hebdo killings in par. and controversial new legislation the french government isnn pg in order to crackdown on radicalism. - on radical islam. malcolm brown reports. >> parents are quiet because of the -- par streets are quiet but the tranquility is a mirage for the soul of france.ing place the be heading in october of a teacher by a chechen islamist f

was the cataly change. he wasli killed as the ch hebdo terrorist trial began. he was targeted for showing people cartoons of the prophet muhaad during a lesson on free expression. the cartoons triggered the 2015 attacks that led t toay's convictions. president macron has one religion in his sights. >> samuel petit became the face of the republic, tois diminish mists and to live it is a community of free citizens in our country. >> two days after theacn's speech, three worshipers of notre-dame basilica were burchard by a tunisian extremist. apparent inspired by the aughter of samuel paty. >> you have to fight an atmosphere of jihadism, which is being widesprd of those -- for

hatred on the internet and that will lead others to take a knife and stab. >> this professor is one of rope's most prominent experts on jihadism. >> it is not only impossible to win the battle. this is why the support of the vast majority of our compatriots is so crucial because they are the first ones who are targete they are the ones who want to get rid of those guys. and this not -- >> theew l will ban foreign imams from training clerks in france. financing of mosque willll be cont and homeschooling will be restricted to prevent indoctrination. paris' mosques is a spiritual home of france's muslims. >> i think we are in a very sensitive situation. >> he is the rector of the

mosque. >> the muslims of france are peaceful people that want to live in authentic islam, a religious practice, not an ideological one. that's extremely important. >> devout muslims feel increasingly alienated in her own country. >> i am french. my grandmother is french. myat grandmother's name is antoinette. butam sometimes i feel like not french anymore, only a muslim and that is not easy. >> i've told the president whatever happens i will be your partner when you decide to go against ismist separatism but i remain extremely vigilant muslims hostage.t to take >> but that moderate promise of cooperation is opposed by many muslims around the world. this protest in bangladesh was v one of the mororous. international opposition to

president macron's support for the mohammed cartoons and his crackdown on islam is being led questioning the state ofogan, president macron's mental health. erdogan warned europe that no good wills come of t hostility and has called for a widespread economic boycott of all french products. >> it is a matter of honor for us to stand sincerely against attacks on our profit. they want to launch a crusade. these are the signs of europe's arbaric erahe >> his rhetoric has ld down a challenge to marin ple pen. she was beaten in the presidential election by emmanuel macron. [singing the marseille♪usee]

>> it is within parallel societies that fundamentalists have recruited in our countr i want to see a willingness to take action. >> le pen believes the new law does not go far enough because it does not limit mass immigrion. >> this islamic fundamentalism is a fundamentalism that is important. it was important. as long as we refuse to see that refused to put in place the rightolutions. >> clementine is a lawmaker with a left wing insubordinate friends partand accuses the president of adopting right-wing policies to try to neutralize >> new law is a war machine against all muslims and i think it is a dangerous strategy, it could antagonize them, not necessarily jihadist but at least a radical islam that turns its back on the republic. >> patric -- worked for the

ch the terkel publicatio charlie hebdo until 2015 when two islam is murdered 11 colleaes. he could not bear to continue. >> we are at a crossroads. meaning the concept of enlightenment, the philosophy of ving together, the law, the defense of laws, french society's emancipation, the continuity of its history and its civilizingonquests would stop. >> these images underscore the discon some of the muslim world. it's the funeral in chechnya 18-year-old killed by french lice after be heading the teacher. the young checn was given a hero's sendoff. back in paris, troops on the french feel more secure, buthe their very presence means another terrorist outrage is expected soon.

i' malcolm brown in paris. ♪ judy: return now to our in-depth look at the issue of childhood trauma. we know every child in this country has a chance of experiencing something traumatic. happen more often.trauma in communities of color. ghtoour special explore that inequality inucer chicago. it is part of our series " invisible scars: america's childhood trauma crisis." the near constant wail of sirens. boarded up buildings, and vacant lots littered with tsh inme parts ofca's third largest city of walk down the street can unnerving.

it is difficult to capture of the scope of trauma in his like chicago where g violence creates a toxic living environment. one aa impacted by the sources of that trauma is in the austin neighborhood on the city's westside. predominantly bla neighborhood is one of chicago's >> a three ya-- a three year old is dead. >> it saw more homicides last year than any in the comnity. tens of thousands of young people grow up here. including these young people. each has had one family member die om gun violence. her 13-year-old sister was killed when the bullet ente' his family'home. >> when that happened i did not feel safe at all in my ighborhood. >> people are just getting killed in my community. i know it could be me.

>> people get traumatized after seeing what they see in the neighborhood. >> austin exemplifies the untraumaen impt in the u.s., oneni of comes where experts say systemic racism are at the root of ma adverse childhood experiences, those events that are traumatic. across america, black children are nearly twice as likely to have three or more than white children. >> we have more activities burying babiesnd children then we had taking them to the zoo. >> symphony williams leads the austin peoples action center, which finds jobs for teenagers. they help around the center's office and work at local businesses. williams ss thatobs can keep them off the seet and away from sources of trauma like gun violence >> all the violence going on in the community i believe i

because of lack of jobs, the lack of resources, adequate housing, adequate food. you know, a lot do not feel they get their fair share. >> austin's mdian household income is less than 0 but blocks away in the suburb of oak park it's mostly white, has a median income of 93 is in dollars - $90,000 and did not see a single murder last year. >> when me and my fends go to oak park we feel safe. >> how did that make you feel, the differences between the communities? >> sad,au b i want to bicago -- wanted chicago t in the same situation as oak park. >> these are two very different environments. >> donald spent part of his childhood in austin. his most vivid memories include a bullet flying near his head police officer forcing him to the ground.

he's head of a rebilling tater system a nonprofit that works with disadvantagedents. >> they have to deal wh this mentally, physically, have to deal with it emotionally. what dohe you do with all of emotions? what do you do with this anger, thisonsion and conflict? our children are experiencing pain. >> 2-020 has done little to cloe the gap. chicago saw a disproportionate spike this year in suicide deaths among his young black sidents. and following moners of unrest acism in the u.s., the teenagers we met say itis is a painfue they often confront. >io racism one of the traumas young people go throughs? >> yes. especially in my school. go through racism all the time. >> the police. dreads. they would be stereotyping me. they just -- g based off how i

look. >> in chicago, like the rest of the country, people of color are overrepresented in the criminal justice system, which means there are a lot of black and own kids with a parent in jail. it childhood experience that this clinical psychologist knows too well. she was eight years old when her father was arrested. >> i just remember them searching our house. and patting my dad down and him turning around -- and looking at me as i was sitting on the couch. and just telling me everything was going to be ok. >> do you, looking back now, do you view that aat tra event? >> of course. i'm tearing up now, 42 years old. >> in 2015, she became the

warden of the cook county jail. >> when you look at the men and women who are entering into correctional facilities, you also see overwhelming impact of trauma. >> now she works for chicago beyond, which funds youth programs in the city. she is an expert on the inequality of childhood trauma. >> we are all at risk of being exposed to trauma. we all are. but when we disinvest in communities, whe there are inadequate educational systems in communities, health disparities in communities, the problem with violence in sicommunities, we are incr the risk of childhood traa. that is happening predominantly in black and brown neighborhoods. >> samantha is a chicago public hool counselor. e city's schools are like

triage centers for tuma. and estimates 80% of her event or have a relave whomatic has. >> i get called in to talk to the students about why they walked out ofla theroom or why they were disrespectful to their teacher or got into a fight with a student. when i have those conversations, it turns out they are stressed out, because they witnessed their parents fighting in a home or they witness s aling in gun violence or ty have not had a real meal in several days. >> she is the only counselo for 600 students, double the ratio. >> the way i hecan reach children is by going into the classroom and trying to do more preventative and proactive approaches, by teaching them how to deal with these life stressors aspposed to being reactionary and trying to put a band-aid after they happen.

>> for example, when students face situations that can trigger anger, she teaches them to remain calm by focusing on their five senses, naming things they can see, touch, hear, m-- smell and taste. for students who magnify the writee she tells them to down their shortcomings before throwing it away. but importantly, she tries to speak honestly with her students, saying theireelings are normal. for many chicago kids, part of thatk njustice is a l access to mental health care. >> our mental health system has significant gaps. >> in october the city did announce for organizations on south and west sides. the money will go to hireor professionals. matt richards the deputy commissioner at the chicago department of public health.

country where the safety net is being frayed impacts people's health. as a city, we can use our resources to the best week can, but we need a national strategy that recognizes when the conditions in people's lives make them feelnsafe, make them worried, it has all these impacts. >> impacts that young people like the ones we met feel daily -- we metl f daily. he has found new ways to cope with his trauma. >> usually i do not open up but since this happened i try to open up because i know the are other people going through the same thing. i try to let people know my pain. >> but each day can bring you pain.te we met omari, his 18-year-oldt brother was shod killed. on facebook he wrote his soul had been taken.

judy: so hard to imagine losing two siblings. thank you for that report. and online tomorrow at 1 p.m. eastern join william brown for a live chat with an expert on childhood development. we'll take your questions about trauma, the pandemi. and resien you can find that on our website pbs.org/newshour. ♪ judy: encyclopedic knowledge is the true sign of a diehard as john yang reports major league baseball today announced uewhat it calls a long o rewrite of its record books. that dision raises questions for some fans and diehards. john: judy, from 1920 to 1948,

kbl players could only play in the negro leagues, and many of their accomplishments have been forgotte today the baseball commissioner said the mlb was elevating the major-league statuingo their 3400 players names and names to thebofficial record s. howard is a senior writer for e spn, writing several books on sports and race and baseball. mr. bryant, thanks for joing from your perspective, what is hethe significance of what commissioner announced today? significance is clearly an attempt at redress especially with the tumultuous year we have had in the country. i think that the significance also is the legitimacy of the lleague.

i do not think it is the right move for major leaguaseball because of the statistics but i do understand that the year we're in, major league baseball has tried to deal with this and wrestle with the idea w oft to do with the statistics and what to do with the careers ofthhe people tha essentially destroyed in the early part of the 20th century. >> what are your reservations? >> the statistics. if there is one thing we know about baseball i the numbers are always sacred. i don't think you can retrofit this. you're not looking at a mirror. from 1920 to 1948, there was the american league and the national league on the white side and the negro leagues. what segregation did to black players as it destroyed them, it created a permanent inferiority t that you cantrofit 100 years later. you had inferior conditions, scattered record books

you do not know how many games guys played. he hated the negro leagues. but the other reason was because the leagues didn't know what game was a barnstorming game or an exhibition and did not know what games were official. he could not calculate his batting average. while well-intentioned, you cannot retrofit everything. baseball hassto carry this y. a smarter move would have been for them to acknowledgehe players at a major-league level and classify them there but you have to leave the record books alone. th got destroyed by your racism you cannot fix that part. >> i mean, is this an opportunity to sort of, to reassess the accomplishments of these players? you say, and what they contributed to the game. >> you can does that and not with the record books.

the reason why the negro leagues are steeped in legend is because nobody knows what happened. theof lache great record-keeping that you had on the white side. people j talk aboh gibson may be having had 800 home runs. that is part of what the official nergro league record runs. say that he hit 113 home what is fair? you are trying to fix something that historys telling you you cannot fix. and i think there are plenty of ways for baseball to celebrate negro leagues and acknowledge them and especially when it somes to elevating the status, one of the thi they could do is elevate their pensions. all the players are dead. i'm starting to wonder how much of this -- is down the road more destructive. one of the things we think about jackie robinson-- before jackie

robinson they never gotto play agai white players but we already have a built in ast erisk, which is 1947. e players that came before, we know those gu did not play against lou garrick because wehe know 1947 isagic number but messing withlo these numbers s distorted and it looks like good intentions but poor execution. >> bob kendrick the president of the negro league baseball machine he said the players "never wanted major league baseball to validate them." who do you think they are doing this for? >> they are doing it to make themselves feel better. i think this, an approach, an attempt to try to rectify a time periodt tnnot be rectified. we're not very good at telling the truth. i do not think you can fix this.

oyose generations of black players were des by segregation. i think the smarter move is to acknowledge that instead of trying to do some 100 year retrofit that cannot be done. and, when you look at the numbers, are we really going to say now tha some of these other great players in the major leagues, they are going to fall down further on the record books because we are adding games in that never counted for 100 years. i don't that this satisfies the good about a period nobody feels good about. >> howard bant of espn, thank you very much. judy: a lot to think about. filly tonight, just how do you commemorate this unique year? our digital team asked many of the artists we profiled over the year what objects they use to them survive 2020. you can read aut gloria

estefan's hazmat suit. and for elizabeth acevedo, it was about the yeast. bread.earned how to make french i got really good at bread. d then i developed an allergy. judy: somehow it is very 2020. you can find all of these stories online, and you can submit your own on our website pbs.org/newshour. share with us what objects lp you, carry you through this year. and that is the newshour for tonight. on behalf of all of us at the newshour, please stay safe and we will see you soon. >>ng major fundior the pbs newshour has been provided by -- for 25 years consumer cellular

has been offering no contract wireless plans. our u.s.ed bustomer service can help find a plan that fits you. visit consumer cellular.tv. >> before we talk about your investments, what's new? >> audrey's expecting twins. >> change in plans. >> at fidelity, changes part of the plan. >> johnson & johnson. financial services firm raymond james. bnsf railway. the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. and with the ongoing support of institutions --ls and

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