judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, hack attack. new details on the skull of a dangerous cyber intrusion on the u.s. government and major companies. the biden agenda. the president-elect names key climate officials for his administration, signaling a major departure from president trump. plus, trusting the vaccine. we examine the many historical reasons for reluctance surrounding immunizations in communities of color. and, in visible scars. what we know now about treating and preventing childhood trauma.

>> if we could get rid of childhood trauma and maltreatment, we would be able to prevent most of the mental health conditions we see. judy: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- consumer cellular. johnson & johnson. financial services firm raymond james. bnsf railway. the candida fund.

carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engement , and the advancement of international peace and security. and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. ♪ >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. judy: there is new and troubling information on a massive cyber attack against the u.s.

the cyber security and infrastructure agency has determined the recent hacking of federal, state, and local governments as well as critical infrastructure and other private sector organizations poses a grave risk. they also said that eliminating the malicious computer code from compromised networks will be highly complex and challenging. we start by turning to dmitri alperovitch, cofounder of silverado policy accelerator, a washington-based think tank. k you for bei with us. we are learning from the cyber agency that the hackers used possibly more than one path to get in. how significant is that? dmitri: we have just breaking news before you went on the air that microsoft was one of the other vendors whose software was

imcted and the russians were ab to leverage it to get to some of the victims in addition to the original company. the impact is huge because you have so many companies using the software that essentially gave a master key to the russian intelligence service who is believed to be behind this to gain entry. judy: it sounds serious enough, but then there's this additional reporting from politico that they managed to get inside the energy department, the nuclear security administration which manages the nuclear weapons stockpiles. it sounds serious. how serious is it? dmitri: this was a supply chain hack. the russians were able to infiltrate companies whose software is used by tens of thousands of organizations globally. and then they decided which targets they wanted to go after to actually get into the doors

and get sensitive information from those networks. that is why we are seeing reports of numerous government agencies that would be of high interest to the russian intelligence services like the state department, the treasury department, the pentagon, and the department of energy as well as others. judy: dmitri alperovitch, do we have a sense of how close they came to triggering something? the whole thing is serious enough, but to triggering, i don't know, a nuclear incident or some other unthinkable sort of incident? emergency? dmitri: this is an incredibly dangerous situation and very detrimental to our national security. but there are two silver's here. one, it looks like this was a traditional espionage attack. it looks like they were not interested in destruction.

for now, it looks like they did traditional theft of information. very serious stuff, but it could have been so much worse. second silverlining, it looks like they were not able to get access to classified networks. those are networks that are disconnected from the internet, extremely difficult to infiltrate. but even compromising the unclassified networks, they still contain enormous amounts of sensitive information. so this is going to be very damaging to our national security. judy: and as we reported, very difficult to undo whatever damage was done. dmitri: it is going to take us months to kick the russians out of those networks. if it is the russian foreign intelligence service, they are the ones that infiltrated the white house and the state department back in 2015 and it took many weeks for those

organizations back then to kick them out because they are so good at staying stealthy. it is going to take us probably months to get them out of all these networks. judy: me tree out heritage, as always, we thank you. and we continue our look at the extent of this hack. earlier this evening, william brangham spoke with fiona hill, senior director for european and russian affairs on the national security council from 2017 2019. she is now a senior fellow at the brookings institution. william: fiona hill, thank you for being here. start by helping us understand, is there any doubt in your mind that the russians are behind this? fiona: not really. i'm sure that more information will come out that will confirm this. william: why are you so certain? fiona: this has all the hallmarks of their tradecraft.

it is a sophisticated operation. it has been many months if not longer in the planning. just the nature of the execution and the way it is being revealed . this has all the hallmarks of a sophisticated operation, probably carried out by the svr, the foreign intelligence units of the russian intelligence services. willia this is self-evident to people like you in your field, but help us understand what the russians gain from this. fiona: this is classic espionage, an attack on cybersecurity systems. back in the old days, they would have executed it a different way , by having people infiltrate to extract information. now with the internet and so much data on large systems, it gives all kinds of opportunities

to penetrate information on a scale we never had before. this isn't something we should be particularly surprised about. it is disturbing and troubling, but it is not out of the ordinary in any way whatsoever. william: given that this is classic tradecraft, this is something that superpowers do to each other, i'm sure we are doing something similar to the russians or trying to, is there any sense that there is we could have done that would have deterred this behavior? we saw the obama administration struggle in 2016. we've seen the trump's response. do you think we could have done things differently? fiona: we could have had a coherent approach and not been at odds with each other. part of the problem in this administration is that we failed to pull together as a cohesive

unit, not just across the executive branch, but between the executive branch and all departments and agencies and congress. we've also been at odds with our allies. part of the deterrent approach is working in unity. when we've been able to pull off a unified response, sanctions against russian activity in ukraine after the annexation of crimea, and also where we expelled a whole set of intelligence operatives from embassies across europe and the united states after the poisoning in salsberry. we did see the russians pulling back to some extent. so if we can pull something off where we are all working together and not at odds, and we are working together with our allies to push back on this, that could have a serious deterrent effect. it would also make us much more effective at rooting out this

kind of attack. william: from this point forward, what do you think we ought to be doing to respond? fiona: we need a coherent, consistent approach. this is something we failed to have under the previous administration. william: do you mean the trump administration? fiona: the trump administration that i was part of for some of this period. we've set up entities, cybersecurity entities within the department of homeland security. calling out the disinformation about the election security. we need to beef up those entities. we need to have a coherent team working together, working closely with the white house. under the outgoing

administration, we have a president doing one thing, didn't delegate authority to his key cabinet officials, and certainly undermined the efforts to work across all the departments and agencies. so we need a team of people who trust each other, who are working in pulling together, and also working together with congress and all the other entities that have to be part of this. we can't just have one set of people doing their own thing. we also need to be working with our transatlantic partners. william: fiona hill, thank you very much for your time. stephanie: i'm stephanie sy. we will return to the full show after the headlines. microsoft president brad smith said in a lengthy blog post tonight that the cyber attack on u.s. firms and government

agencies is not espionage as usual. he said the hack represents an act of recklessness that created a serious technological vulnerability for the united states and the world and he called for a coordinated response against nationstates behind such attacks. a panel of experts have endorsed a second covid-19 vaccine for emergency use. they recommended the moderna vaccine to the fda as deaths nationwide past 310,000. in california, hospitals now have beds in hallways and ambulances lined up, and it is getting worse with 100,000 new infections in two days. >> nurses and physicians and health care workers are working so hard through this, hours and hours per day, nonstop. people are taking two shifts just to get through this. stephanie: despite the toll on

health-care workers, a california judge blocked officials from enforcing lockdown restrictions on san diego strip clubs and also said restaurants can resume on-site dining as long as they have safety protocols. weekly claims for unemployment benefits jumped to 885,000. overseas, french president emmanuel macron tested positive for covid-19. he will self-isolate for a week. president-elect joe biden is rounding out his environmental team. michael reagan is the choice for the environmental protection agency. new mexico congresswoman deb haaland is being tapped for interior secretary. she would be the first native american to serve in the cabinet. in russia, president vladimir putin denied that his government ordered opposition leader alexey navalny poisoned.

navalny was dosed with a soviet era nerve agent but is now recovering. putin held his annual news conference today and accused u.s. intelligence agencies of supporting. >> if this is right, it is interesting. but it doesn't mean that it is necessarily poisoning. if somebody wanted to poison him, they would have finished him off. stephanie: an investigation by several news organizations connected russian security agents to the poisoning. more than 340 boys kidnapped in northern nigeria have been freed. they had been abducted by the ismist group boko haram. the governor of the region said the boys were turned over to security officials and were being evaluated before being reunited with their families. a major snowstorm broke records across the northeast and new england today. williamsport, pennsylvania got

more than two feet. in new york city, snowplows and shovels were busy after six inches of snow overnight. that is more than the city got all of last winter. members of the family that owns purdue pharma today acknowledged that oxycontin helped fuel opioid addictions. the epidemic is blamed for 470,000 deaths across the u.s. at a virtual house hearing, david and kathy sackler did not apologize or admit personal wrongdoing. >> is there anything i could have done differently, knowing what i knew then, not what i know now -- i have to say, there's nothing i can find that i would have done differently based on what i believed and understood then. stephanie: purdue pharma admitted criminal wrongdoing and will pay $8 billion in fines.

the cdc reports drug overdose deaths in the u.s. topped 81,000 in the 12 months ending last may. that is a record. the agency says the upheaval of the past year has hit those who struggle with addition especially hard. what happens if cities across the country don't get covid relief from congress? presidenelect biden's key administration officials. we examine the many reasons for reluctance surrounding vaccines in communities of color and much more. >> this is the pbs newshour from washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: while congress continues to debate a new round of covid relief money, one chunk of eight appears to be left on the

chopping block. that was funding for state and local governments. for how this development may affect cities across the country, i'm joined by two mayors. the democrat of dayton, ohio, and republican, oklahoma city. we welcome both of you to the newshour. mayor whaley, how has covid affected the people of dayton? how has it affected your community? >> it is very close to everybody as we have seen a truly tremendous surge this past month in our community. your friends, everyone knows someone now that has passed away from the disease. and it has really affected our schools, everyday life, really everything you used to do. even from the summer to the winter. and why we are hopeful and excited by the vaccine, the

vaccine still hasn't made it to dayton. we are concerned about the economic recovery being pretty slow. judy: and, mayor holt, oklahoma city with a population of over 650,000, how has oklahoma city been hit by this pandemic? >> like everybody, we've had serious levels of death that we never experienced, not probably since 1918. we've had how are health care system strength -- stretched to its limits. we've had about 600 patients in the hospital of oklahoma city just for covid-19. and obviously there's the secondary economic effect that we've experienced. i think other places have probably suffered more than oklahoma city has, but it is not as if we've been immune. it affects everything.

it affects our city government functions as well. we are a government that is almost exclusively dependent on sales tax, which means that we get hit pretty fast when there's an economic downturn. we have had to tighten our belt as well. that means fewer services for our residents. judy: mayor whaley, what about the financial impact in dayton? how has it affected your ability to conduct the services that citizens need? >> when the covid pandemic first hit, we offered a volunteer separation plan for all of our employees. 102 of them took the buyout. that made the folks working at the city a lot less. they've been doing a lot more during a pandemic with less people. that is not sustainable long-term.

when people retire, different parts of the organization get really hit in places you can't afford to keep doing that. that helped us through the 2021 budget. if we don't see federal relief, we are prepared to not have a police class in 21, not have a fire class in 21, and people retire every year. that means our levels will be lower. judy: mayor holt, what about in oklahoma city? you touched on it a moment ago, but what has it meant, what kind of hit have you taken, and what difference could federal aid make one way or another? >> we are down about 5% in sales tax so we had to freeze a lot of hiring. we had to cut back programming especially in our rec centers. our first thing we want to protect are the people we have on staff now.

but that means the worst impact is felt by our programming. and these are programs that people care about. but i do want to say something real quick. 36 cities did get funding back in april and may from the original cares act and we are blessed to be one of those cities because we are over 500,000. but there are 3000 cities across america and only 36 of those got that funding. that funding had a lot of strings attached. we haven't necessarily been able to use it as we would have liked. but it has given us a little breathing room. and even though we benefited, i want to speak for mayor whaley and other cities around the country, thousands of them that never got that benefit. >> and judy -- judy: mayor whaley, go ahead.

>> david is right. the smaller the town, the more this is felt. you don't have the ability to really hold this loss. not getting in the federal relief packages affects small communities across the country. i don't really know what some of the smaller communities are going to do in the next quarter. judy: mayor holt, without that federal money making a difference? >> listen, cities and states are some of the biggest employers in any community. the federal government has rightfully supported many employers across our country in ways that have allowed them to retain their staff, pay their employees, and maintain their business. our business is providing services to our residents. we need that support. very grateful for that back in the spring in oklahoma city, but

really want to see that same support given to cities and states across the united states. judy: we need to hear this message and we thank both of you for sharing your story with us. mayor holt of oklahoma city and mayor whaley of dayton, ohio, thank you. president-elect biden has said that tackling climate change and green energy is a top priority. today he filled out the rest of the team that will be taking the lead on these issues. yamiche alcindor reports that new mexico representative deb haaland is mr. biden's pick to be interior secretary. she would be the first to lead the department or to begin the cabinet and she would be

overseeing natural resources including tribal lands. john yang looks at what the pick spring to the table. >> a mix of familiar faces and not so familiar faces, including michael reagan, the head of north carolina's department of environmental equality to head that a fire mental reduction agency. gina mccarthy to be his senior climate change advisor. and jennifer granholm to be engy secretary. earlier, mr. biden named former secretary of state john kerry as his global climate change envoy. amy harder covers energy for axios. she joins us now. thanks for joining us. what is the significance? representative holland would be the first native american to run the interior department, which oversees a huge amount of land

in the united states including tribal lands. >> she will be the first, if confirmed, the first native american to lead this agency. that is important because the interior department runs and governs everything about the tribal lands, including extraction and conservation of their lands. it is very significant, not unlike when president obama was elected as the first african-american there's almost 2 million american indians and alaskan natives in the country. >> and the department does not always have the greatest relationship with tribal nations. >> there's been a lot of conflict particularly under the trump administration where the trump administration according to some native american tribes, that he was not including them

in consultations and has rolled back a host of conservation lands including some on tribal lands. i think biden will be looking to amend those relationships. >> and among the names that we've been able to confirm, michael reagan at epa is probably the least familiar to people around the country. what can you tell us about michael reagan? >> he will be the first african-american male to be the epa administrator. the first african-american at all was sa jackson under the obama administration. he is winning accolades from people across the spectrum. i think he brings what will be critical is state experience. president-elect biden will be leaning on what states have already done and will continue to do to meet his climate change agenda.

>> when you look at this team, what does it tell us about mr. biden's approach to the environment and energy? >> first, he's leaning heavily on obama era officials because he wants to hit the ground running the second january 20 arrives. that is why he picked gina mccarthy. and also picking a really diverse cabinet. this year, the pandemic and recession, america has been grappling with systemic racism. the calls to nominate a really diverse cabinet is evident in these pix. it is significant from that perspective. when it comes to the policy, the policy comes from the top down. i anticate these people to

really enforce the polities that president-elect biden has campaigned on. >> we don't know the eventual makeup of the senate yet. how likely or how much trouble or how easy is it going to be for mr. biden to get his energy, environment, climate change agenda throughongress? >> very difficult. even if democrats win the senate races in georgia, the democratic party is not monolithic. there will be some energy intensive democrats controlling the committees in a democrat-controlled senate, such as senator joe mansion. i anticipate biden to not try to go to big on energy and climate change, which is why these pix are so important. representative deb haaland is pretty progressive even though

she hails from new mexico, a huge oil and gas producing state. and the industry was quick to point out today that it provides a lot of jobs, but nonetheless, deb haaland has said she wants the interior department to go full steam ahead on renewable energy. i anticipate that to be the type of policy biden goes forward on as opposed to something like the green new deal or a carbon tax in congress. there's really not the support for that. >> amy harder of axios, thank you very much. judy: the trump administration said today that it expects to ship 6 million doses of that new

covid vaccine from moderna to more than 3200 locations next week. but with new cases at high levels and states reporting they may not get as much as the other vaccine from pfizer as expected, there are real concerns. miles o'brien reports that there are questions of public trust around vaccines especially in communities of color. >> in the frantic race to get covid vaccines out the door, public health experts have labored long and hard to figure out who should go first and who can wait. they also hope to inject an antidote to deep-rooted unfairness laid bare by the virus. an infectious disease physician at boston's brigham and women's hospital. >> black, latinx, and indigenous populations are about three times more likely than white

individuals to be diagnosed with covid-19. >> they are about five times more likely to be hospitalized and almost twice as likely to die of covid-19. >> the numbers are devastating. a lot of people were shocked, but those of us who have been working in this area weren't shocked. >> there is no evidence biology and geneti are reasons for this. rather it is a symptom of chronic racism and poverty. victor is president of the national academy of medicine. >> it is how you are exposed that increases your chance. issues of access, racism, and others, that increases the transmission of infection. >> he helped create a diverse committee of experts to offer a framework to the states as the

vaccinations begin. the committee did not use race as a factor in its deliberations. it used the centers for disease control and prevention's social vulnerability index which measures how external factors affect human health. the committee is giving priority to high-risk health care workers, first responders, teachers, prisoners, correctional staff, and people who hold critical jobs. he says it is a colorblind way to address racial disparities. >> you look at who is being affected, they are communities of color, minorities, and others at a socioeconomic disadvantage. >> and getting enough people vaccinated to slow the exponential spread of the virus will not be easy. in the u.s., vaccine hesitancy

has been a persistent problem for many years. >> mandating vaccines for education, that is coercion. >> and the rapid and seemingly politicized development of covid-19 vaccines has deepened those suspicions. only 61% of americans say they will take the vaccine. among minority communities, the number is even smaller. only 24% of black americans and 34% of hispanics say they will get a shot. >> the question is who is going to be willing to participate. >> director of the tuskegee university national center for bioethics in research and health care. >> it is not the level of science, but the trustworthiness of the scientists. i've been taught and believed that science doesn't lie, but scientists do. >> the united states public

health service and the cdc conducted a study based here on syphilis among 600 african-americans, most of them poor sharecroppers. despite the fact that researchers discovered penicillin as a cure, none of the men were treated. it is the most infamous example in a long history of shameful mistreatment of black americans by scientists conducting medical experiments. >> history doesn't have to repeat itself. it is not inevitable. we have the opportunity to change how things are. >> in boston, she is doing her part. >> it would be strange if there wasn't that level of mistrust. if you see institutions where this is occurring, health care providers and the government, it is not addressing this issue. >> so she recruited minority

volunteers for the moderna vaccine trial. people like anthony shivers, here for a follow-up after receiving his shots. >> you've been in the trial for a while. >> he's in a high risk category. he is concerned people in his community will remain hesitant. >> i felt compelled to be part of this. i was watching the news one night and it really struck me how it is really hitting us. you've got to come together and be part of a solution, not be a bystander. >> public health experts say at least 70% of the population will need to be vaccinated to achie herd immunity. the first jabs are crucial in more ways than one. some polls suggest growing numbers are willing to be vaccinated.

the succe may be contagious. for the pbs newshour, i'm miles o'brien. judy: over the past several days, we've looked at how childhood trauma impacts people around the country. now we focus on solutions. just as our understanding has grown, so has our grasp of how to treat and prevent it. special correspondent cap wise and producer rachel welford have the final report of our series, in visible scars. >> it is a friday morning and williams is getting her son and daughter off to preschool. raised by a single mother, she

says her childhood was sometimes tough. now a single mom herself, she realized there was a lot she didn't know when her son was born. was it tough being a new mom? >> it was. my pregnancy wasn't planned. i knew what to do. >> we now know how important those bonds are. research shows that early positive interactions can help kids better cope with trauma down the line. at this clinic, she connected with a program that helps her kids become more resilient by working through her own past traumas. the program places child development experts like bernadette mcdaniel in pediatric offices. >> we see this in patterns. >> she shares parenting skills and other resources to help reduce day-to-day stresses. >> before the days of covid, i

would hold and cradled the babies and talk to the babies and mom about how the baby responds to a smile, to your voice. >> she says that information has changed how she parents. >> when i get my depression episodes, i try not to be depressed in front of them. i try to just not show it around them at least. try to be the happy mom. >> you can see the children, the healthy inquisitive children, you don't see the stresses in the children. >> prevention on a wide scale could have a big impact according to a clincal psychologist. if we could get rid of childhood trauma and maltreatment, we would be able to prevent most of the mental health conditions we see. >> an estimated 60% of s.

adults have had at least one traumatic experience as a child. not all of them will need treatment, but for those who do, there are a range of proven treatments. the treatments considered most effective share some common principles. >> there has been more of a focus to help kids have safe and secure relationships, to build regulation skills, to be able to process some of the difficult and painful experiences they've had in their life. >> we get deer, turkey. >> for some, intensive and sustained treatment is needed. six years ago, she and her two older brothers were adopted by gabrielle and lewis betancourt in connecticut. >> her biological mother used substances and had some mental health conditions. she went hungry for long periods of time. >> that trauma often lead to

anxiety and fear of being abandoned. >> do you remember little bit about some big emotions you had? >> i was scared. i thought she wouldn't come back. >> to help her feel safer, the betancort's tried a variety of treatments including family and talk therapy. for a while they were helping. but then things changed. >> when she started puberty, it was difficult for her to regulate her emotions. it was very difficult to maintain her safely. >> after a lot of searching, they found a unique residential treatment program and school run by the justice resource institute. >> they believe in yar he and they help her be the best she can be. >> the program helps caregivers and children build stronger relationships, encourages kids to regulate their behavior

through breathing techniques and exercise when they are experiencing unhappy memories or thoughts. and builds resiliency by having kids spend time doing what they love. that included time with animals. after nearly two years of full-tim care, she was able to move back home. today she still attends a day school and goes to weekly therapy sessions. >> when my son has big emotions, we talk about doing dragon breaths. deep in and out breaths. did you do anything like that? >> yeah, the monkey hug. >> when you do that, how do you feel? >> better. >> they live in connecticut where childhood trauma treatments are more accessible than in some parts of the country. >> it is expensive, but here's

the thing, we do pay. foster care is expensive. having generation upon generation of trauma is expensive. >> those are some of the issues now driving efforts to expand mental health care access for children. schools are often on the front lines. here in connecticut, where a horrific shooting years ago continues to have a lingering impact, big investments were made to bring services to children in schools. >> a social worker in the newtown school district where that shooting occurred. she runs a program called bounceback. it is a voluntary trauma intervention designed for youth in schools. children who have been referred by school counselors meet for group sessions in addition to working one on one. >> we are talking about trauma or scary experiences and then we kind of move on to, how might we

feel if we've experienced trauma ? then we move on to what can we do about it. >> providing trauma treatment in schools can remove many of the financial and logistical barriers for families. but she sees another benefit. >> for a child where i don't know that they have a support system, i know they have a support system in my building. >> scess is being seen in schools and beyond. more than 15,000 kids in connecticut have received therapy that focuses on trauma. 80% have shown improvement in depression, anxiety, and ptsd. she's concerned that much of the progress that has been made could be upended by th pandemic. >> the unfortunate fact is, not everybody is safe at home. we have a lot of children who are experiencing more fear, more

uncertainty, more hunger. i think we are going to need more trauma treatment. >> some advocates say it is important to remember, not everyone finds relief in a therapist office. >> this is my healing space. >> sissy white has charted her own journey toward healing. she experienced a number of traumas before the age of 10. after more than a decade of talk therapy, she realized it wasn't working the way she needed it to. >> it helped me understand there's a reason i'm feeling this way. but it didn't help my trauma symptoms. it didn't help digestion issues. >> instead, she turned to less traditional therapies like meditati, yoga, and expressive writing. >> the things that most people

are still going to get is talk therapy and medication. they are not super effective for post-traumatic stress. we still have that problem and that is a big problem. >> but she and many others we met shared a resounding message of hope. >> trauma treatment is often treated like it is so depressing, but it gives you back your birthright to joy, feeling safe, feeling good in your skin. >> there's always hope. i'm not just saying that because it is my name. >> there might be some kids around the country watching this. what would you say to them? >> that it will get better. someone is always there for you. >> for the pbs newshour, i'm cap wise in connecticut.

judy: now, the science of laughter. as told by the one and only jerry seinfeld. he's had a big year with a netflix special and a recent book on bestseller lists. jeffrey brown caught up with him for our ongoing arts and culture series, canvas. >> it is an especially harsh holiday season in new york. on a recent walk with his daughter, jerry seinfeld got quite a thrill. >> holy cow. >> above them, a giant billboard blowup of an op-ed he had written for the new york times last august, so you think new york is dead? it is not. a response to doomsayers arguing the city will never recover from covid. he greeted fellow neyorkers.

>> it is gorgeous. >> and after a technological near miss, he reached me to talk about it. >> it was unreal. i'm used to seeing myself on things, but that was so different and powerful to me. unbelievable feeling. >> you wrote that op-ed piece. you didn't like all this talk. >> i didn't like it and i wanted to say it in a funny way. we know things are tough but that is what we are used to. >> new york's small comedy clubs are where seinfeld started and continues to return. >> i saw this lady today with a little -- i don't even know the names of these little tops. it doesn't matter. >> i could do something in sports. >> seinfeld the show brought world fame and fortune.

but he told me the next day from his manhattan apartment, stand-up comedy was all he ever wanted. >> i love the world of standup comedy. it is a small universe. >> now five decades of his jokes and routines are gathered in a book. is this anything? it is what comedians ask as they try out new material. >> i do enjoy the mechanics and the dismantling. i think i would like watch repair. i think that is a field i would enjoy. i like to get into the gears of how it works. >> this is a very disciplined thing for you. >> but it is not for everyone. it took me about two years after i started to realize this whole racket is writing. it is all writing. if you learn to write, you will

survive in this business. if you don't, you will die. >> why is that? the writing is what really brings you into the comedy? >> you need a lot of stuff. you need stuff. it is like a bakery. you need fresh donuts. and it kind of takes you down the road of what you see and you are. you must always be able to look around. you have to be able to see it and go, there is something funny there. i don't lie in restaurants anymore. how is everything? i don't like it here. >> once you've written a joke, you have to deliver it. seinfeld's latest netflix special shows his trademark style. >> a lot of people around my age like to make a bucket list. i turned the b to an f and i was done with that. >> when you get a laugh from an

audience, you are like one thing. it only lasts a few seconds, but you feel completely connected to them. they feel connected to you. once you really know the words, that is a gigantic piece of it. people talk about going out -- because that gives you a veneer of confidence. well, this is it. >> notice the word veneer. whether it is real or not. >> it dsn't need to be real at all. >> seinfeld sees himself as most auentic when he's on stage. he says he's not a naturally outgoing person and thinks that helps him as a performer. >> this could be my favorite spot in the entire world. for me, that stage is my only outlet to humanity. >> that performance is your way to meet people, to interact with

people? >> i can really be myself. on stage, that is really me. >> seinfeld has called the show that made him rich and famous a nine year detour from his real job of standup. but one for which he's extremely grateful. >> it was a stunning, mind-boggling experience. it was like being part of a weather event. >> like a big hurricane or something? >> like a giant swirling funnel of energy. that just felt like hanging onto a rocket the whole time. >> seinfeld the series ended in 1998. though seemingly on somewhere at all times to this day. >> can we start with some coffee? >> more recently he created a popular web series, comedians in cars getting coffee. seinfeld and friends and a

memorable episode with president obama. >> are these washed? >> for jerry seinfeld, there's clearly just one thing he wants to hold onto. old accordion folders in which he stored decades of jokes. >> that is not near you, is it? >> i have it near me. you want to see it? >> yeah, come on. >> this is the accordion folder. >> the famous folder that holds all of jerry seinfeld's jokes. >> it has the letters and the jokes are inside. i have a few of these. this was my first one. when i had a bit that was working, i would put it in there. >> and you start saving them because you have to hold onto everything? >> i had two pairs of jeans and two shirts.

that is it. i had no socks. and i had these jokes. so what am i going to save? i'm going to save the jokes. the jokes are the only thing i had. you don't have anything in your pockets when you go on stage to do standup. >> with pandemic raging, jerry seinfeld says now is not a time for comedy. but just wait. soon enough, the jokes will come out of the folder. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown. >> boy do we need jerry seinfeld now more than ever. thank you, jeffrey brown. and that is the newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. join us online and here tomorrow evening. from all of us at the pbs newshour, please stay safe and

we will see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> architect. beekeeper. mentor. a raymondjames financial advisor taylor's advice to help you live your life. life well planned. >> for 25 years consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. our team can help you. >> johnson & johnson. bnsf railway. the ford foundation, working with visionaries on the front lines of social change worldwide. >> the alfred p sloan foundation.

driven by the promise of great ideas. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions. and, friends of the newshour. this program was made possible by the corporati for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. this is pbs newshour west. from weta studios in washington and the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state

from cows that graze on lush green grass comes the taste of kerrygold. from our farmers' hands to yours, this is the true taste of kerrygold. welcome to a simply delicious christmas and to quite an impressive array of food! these are small bites or canapés if you can bear the word! ideal for entertaining and it can all be made or prepared in advance. (darina) they look impressive, possibly a little bit fiddly but actually, everything here is simple to make. we always say this but keep the faith, we'll show you how. i'm going to start with the red onions,