judy: woodruff. tonight on the newshour. at long last, congress passes a massive covid relief bill as the economy continues to struggle and many a work.s remain out of crthenis management. we speako michigan governor gretchen whitmer about the challenges of a vaccine rollout and restrictions imposed on citizens amid the pandemic. and, an outsized impact. olr rkers in the u.s. face the double threat of fewer job prospects and a higher level of risk from covid. w >> the oldker finds it more difficult to locate an oployer willing to offer them that kind of a jeven a job that potentially in five years time will get them back to their previous peak.

tonight's "pbsour."more on ♪ >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- >> architect. beekeeper. mentor. a raymondjames financial advisor. life well planned. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal, we offer a c variety oftract plans. to learn more, visit consumer cellular.tv. >> johnson and johnson.

>> the john s. and james l.ht foundation. more at kf.org. >> and with the ongoing support of these individuals and institutions. >> this program w made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting d contributions to your pbs station by viewers like you. stephanie: i am stephanie sy with newshour west. we have several breaking ne developments before we return you the rest of the program

with judy woodruff. this evening, president trump is by granting a series of pardons and commutations. he also reacted to the covid-19 relief bill congress passed, putting its fate in question. pres. trump: i am asking congress to get rid of the wasteful a unnecessary items of this legislation and to send me a suitable bill or else the next administration will have to delivery covid relief package and may be me. stephanie: joining me now by phone is our white house correspondent, yamiche alcindor. who are some of the more notable people that trumparted or granted clemency to tonight? yamiche: i want to start off by saying, this remarkable tuesday it feels lfriday. this seems like a vintage friday night news dump. that being said, this list of

clemency is about 20 people long. on them are two people who were charged as part of the mueller investigation. there is george papadopoulos, a former campaign aide. a dutch lawyer convicted -- sentenced to 30 years in jail for lying to mueller inveigators. congressman, including duncan hunter of californ who was sent this year to 11 monthsin prison because he was misusing $200,000 in campaign funds. also on the list,wo border patrol agent convicted in 2006 of shooting undocument immigrants and covering it up. there are also four blackwater guards involved in an iraqi massacre where civilians were killed including a nine and 11-year-old boy. the president said he would drain the swamp and now he is pardoning what some see as

murderers. stephanie: what do these parisns say about residency and its priorities i?its waning da yamiche: part of it tells me that the president is trying to leave a legacy of trying to really make it a point, people who are prosecutors, part of a -- it also tells me that the president is continuing to double down on the issue of immigrion, the issue of america first. some of the pardons are dealing with people who convicted of killing undocumentedelmmigrants as as foreigners in iraq. we are seeing the president go to the core of his messaging that he started four years ago

as candidate trump. stephanie: to the covid-19 relief bill, what are yinr sources teyou about what the president plans to? is he threatening a veto? yamiche: this is really the most remarkable part of these few days. the president is saying that he wants congress to send him suitable bill. hinting that he might veto this bi. congress passed thish w veto proof majorities in the house the presideut saying this bill is not good enough and saying in particular that he wants to see how your checks go out to americans, of to hunt -- of $2000. it is remarkable because there were white house representatives negotiating this bill for months including steven mnuchin. the president himself is blowing

up a dea when the government shuts down in seven days, so this is theresident risking a government shutdown because he does not like this bill. stephanie: at the end of that speech, he also made clear he has not acceptedid the presidency. we will join judy later in the program with more. -- yamiche will join judy later in the program with more on the biden transition. judy: members of the united states congress are mostly home for the holidays tonight after approving aid for an economy battered by the pandemic. efthe covid reeadlines a bill that runs nearly 5,600 pages, the longest ever. wi iam brangham begins our coverage. >> the motion to concur is

agreed william:he final approval senate came just before midnight. this mega deal includes economic relief and a catch-all spending bill to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year. in wilmington, delaware today, outcome.t-elect biden hailed the president-elect biden: the congress did its job this week. i can and i must ask them to do it again next year. but even with the changes in place in late janueopleut in are still going to be sick and dying from covid. wiiam: the bill now awaits president trump's signatur the covid relief measure is expected to impact millions of anamer it includes direct payments of than $75,000 a year.earning less supplemental benefits of $300 more each week for 11 weeks for the unemploy -- that's over and above state benefits. $25 billion dolls in rental assistance. an extension of the cdc's moratorium on evictions.

ctd, $248 billion dollars for the paycheck pron program to help hard-hit small businesses. it leaves out any aid for statee and local goves as democrats wanted, and liability protection for businesses, as republics wanted. meanwhile, as americans await for the stimulus checks, some are waiting for their covid vaccinations elderly residents at a rerement community in sumt county, florida, received theirs today. governor ron desantis to go all out, in a state with a large population of seniors. a we get into the general community, vaccines are going to be targeted where the risk is the greatest and that is in our elderly population. william: elsewhere, at the i natinstitutes of health in bethesda, maryland, 6 front line workers received their vaccinations today along with secretary of health and human services alex az.

>> i am just so grateful to nih d moderna and all the participants in operation warp speed for bringing us to this point where now we can the light at the end of the tunnel. william: nih director dr. francis collins got his shot as well. as did dr.nthony fauci, director of the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases. >> i want to encourage everyone who ha vaccinated so that we can have a veil of protection over this country that would end this pandemic. william: that protection cannot come soon enough, especially in california, where the number of serious infections is overwhelming hospitals, and intensive care beds are at zero capacity. >> we are getting crushed. i am not going to sure coat this. we are getting crushed. for most of the days for the last week, we have had zero icum beds open in tning and we have had to scramble, can wet move this patire, can we move that patient there? william: los angeles county cuinently leads the country both covid infections and deaths with more than 634,000 cases and 8,900 deaths.

"the los angeles times" reports that nearly 2900 californians have died from covid-19 in just the past 2 weeks. dr. christina ghalis director for the l.a. county department of health services >> when you have 1 in every 64 people who might be infected out there, y start to see how you can very quickly lead to massive escalatis in the number of cases. hospitals do more than care for covid patients. they just don't have the staffing and the resoues that are available to be able to care for all of the patients that need that acutlevel of care and that puts everyone's lives william: dr. ghalyasked people to rethink their holiday plans. >> just stay-at-home. i know that is not what everyone wants for the holiday. but we need to get through this and we can only get through this if eryone can come together

and do their part. judy: states across the country continue to grapple with the economic fallout of covid-19 as they also develop plans to deliver the vaccine to millions of americans r the view from michigan, i spoke with democratic governor gretchen whitmer earlier. and i began by asking what the covid relief bill will mean for people in her state and what more she wants to see from the federal government. gov. whitmer: i think it is important that they tookrdhis step for it is not nearly enough. governors on b oh sid the aisle have been very clear. we need additional resources so we make sure we are doing our b take care of first responders, etc.. but this will happen with eviction protections and getting money in the ckets of those who are struggling.

judy: governor, i want to ask you about the vaccine shipment michigan received. you were pretty vocal a few days ago in saying that what was wrong. even asked if there was corruption or if it was ineptitude that michigan only got about half i of whwas supposed to get with the pfizer what is your view? gov. whitmer: i was giving voice to a problem that governors i know that governors are trying to build out an apparatus to administer vaccines. yet, we are reliant on the federal government to deliver what they are telling us is on the way. if it shows up as a fraction of

what they are expecting, that means there is waste. i was glad that the general owned it and apologized for it. that does not happen frequently with this administration. we need to have some accuracy so vaccine comes to our states and we are getting them ine' pe's arms as quickly as we can read judy: so you accept his characterition, that it was a miscommunication? gov. whitmer: we hope that is the case. people accountable because lives are dependent on our ability to vaccinate the people in our states. judy: in terms of the state of michigan, in the last few days, you have announced that some have been loosened.

both of these he gone down. this sign of progress, how do you explain it? gov. whitmer: following the science and making the tough decisions. we have community spread in all astatoss the nation. michigan is now in a strong position than any of our neighboring states because i have not shy to take action where my experts say they need. staying tethered to the science and listening to the experts is essential. judy: i connection with that, again, the state legislature in michigan has passed two bills aimed at limiting your powers and the ability of others to

restrict people's activities. what does this say to you about the respect you are given, about how people see your role as governor in handling this pandemic? gov. whitmer: i think it is less about me and more about the andy trump administration's intentional politicization of a health crisis. iss a moment where we should be unified. whether people are supportive o our policies. this legislation will veto by my pen and we will continue to move forward and find some common ground because that is

ultimately what we need to do. judy: do you expect more efforts in michigan to limit your pow a andlity? gov. whitmer: i would not be surprised. here's the thing. i am not going to be bullied and did not following the science and doing what i know to be the rithing. lives are on the line and michigan has been a leader in saving lives. we are not out of the woods yet. it is coming out of tichigan witht pfizer vaccine and the moderna vaccine available now as well. g dy:ou were the victim of an intended kidnappot in october. people we thankfully arrested. hesince thenrs have been t threatened, st in michigan but around the country. the handling of others. your secretary of state, the

state department of agriculture. many have had proteers come to their homes. we are seeing this happen around woe country. hoied are you about these kinds of activities and how dangerous are they? go whitmer: i think that the rhetoric that has play out in 2020 has a cost. people of goodwill on both si hs of the aise to call it out and say domestic terrorisms unacceptab and will not be tolerated. if we don't, it will not blong until it is turned on you who does not speak out. we have to recognize that this is not normal, not acceptable. whether it is dr. fauci or a republican secretary of state in georgia, it will not be tolerated. judy: are you concerned that it will drive people out of government? gov. whitmer: tt is a

possibility. i am hopeful that it does not. there are mor people going to medical school because of dr. fauci. there is inspiration even in these toughest moments of crisis. there is always opportunity forp of goodwill to want to serve the public. judy: governor gretch whitmer, we will leave it there. weer wish you thebest for the holidays and we hope that the improvement in covid in michigan continues. thank you. gov. whitmer: thank you. ♪ judy: president-elect biden spoke today in delaware andse addrthe pandemic surge and the relief package ahead of th holiday. yamiche alcindor was at the event and joins me now from wilmington.

so, hello. tell us aboutt more abat the president-elect had to say t se days leading up to christmas. he had a pretty dire warning, didn't ea -- didn't he? yamiche: that is right. president-elect bidenssued a star warning to americans as 320,000ri ans have now died because of the pandemic. he said americans will have to steel their spine and be ready because the darkest days are ahead ous, not behind us. he said, i am going to give it to you straight, tell you the truth about this. he said the v covcine is great, it is promising, but he said the vaccine is not going to stop people from dying. he was looking to make that contrast because president trump has downgraded the coronavirus pandemic. thatme was joe biden in ways

separating himself from the ctrestn he will be taking he will be taking rom.istration he also said he would want to work with congress to get more relief done. he said once he comes into office, he wants to see a new bill. a few weeks ago, joe biden told me that he wanted to see billions of new dolla poured to the economy. no trillions, but billions. judy: different subject. he addressed the reported suspected ck by the russians of u.s. government agencies, private mpanies. what are we learning about how he plans to respond? yamiche: president-elect biden really left it squarely in the fault of president trump. he said this happened under president trump's watch. he said theseha hackerslook

like they are russian hackers are rlly something that caught the government off guard and unprepared. he also said that he pledged that he would get ready. americans?m, ken you ensure he said, i cnot. that is a remarkable statement taking about the fact that thera is so mustake, whether they are in those networks and if they will be able toaemove them i quicktime period or if it will take years. dy: we are expecting the president-ect to announce more pix for his cabinet this week incleting four sey of education.

what are you hearing about that? yamiche: the biden transmissio -- biden transition team are continuing to make pix and do the work. president-elect biden said today that they are no the cooperation they want. we know that president-elect biden is expected to pick mcgill cardona. he is a puerto rican education official. he was connecticut's education official. he was schoolteacher. much different from betsy devos. he has pushed for schools to reopen during covid. people w are allies of cardona h say this someone who will be trying to turn the education department back to supporting publicchools. betsy devos, he says, was focused too much on school choice in the private sector an

enough for public schools. he says there are tooeiany children left behind in the middle of the pandemic. rsa control idea. there are people --s othy it is just not safe. judy:, finalrning to president trump. he is continuing to push unfounded claims of widespread fraud. today, we see two of his primary allies in the media backing away from that. yamiche: this is pretty remarkable. we saw a really unusual walk newsmax, a smaller conservativee ork. they both backed away from reporting they were doing which nswasuating that votes may have been changed because of

voting machines. what we sawertwo companies threatened those companies with -- with legal efforts. we saw fox news and newsmax saying there is no evidence that there has been fraud there. even though he has lost court ca after court case, saying that is the reason why he lost the election. in some ways, we are watching these media outlets back cway from theims. creasingly worried about the fact that the president wants to go through even more means to erturn this election, think about putting in a special counsel and other means. opthere are man worried about those actions. dithose companies walking things back, doing things that

could be very scary, tells us where we are where the president has 29 days back in office. judy: yamiche alcindor reporting again on the outgoing president and the incoming one. thank you. ♪ judy: the major bills passed by ss were focused first an foremost on covid relief and economic assistance. but they included other significant pieces of legislation, some years in the making.on of those is a bipartisan compromise to ban many of the surprise medical bills peoe receive. it doesn't take effect for another ll year -- until 2022. but makes some important changes

william is back with the details on what people nd to know. william: judy, these surprise bills under when a patient goesb ls occur when a patient goes to an emergency room or a hospital believing their insurance will cover their treatment. but in that facility, if they get care from an out-of-network door or other provider who doesn't accept the patient's insurae, that's when patients can get saddled with significant bills. studies show one in every five emergency room visits leads to a surpse bill, and they can co hundreds or thousands of dollars -- money that most people cannot afford. the new law that was just passed aims to end these practices. joining me now is sarah kliff of the new york times. she has long been spotlighting this problem. help us understand, what did this new bill block? sarah: this means that if you are unexctedly treated by

someone out of network, can't bill you beyond your standard the insurance company and the doctor have toort things out on their own, which takes the patient out of the middle of these negotiations and says you cannot bill the patient any more than if it w an in network provider. william: in this bill, if these changes take pce, if i go to a hospital and end up with a surprise bill, there generates this big bill, then who ends up paying? sarah: you cannot get saddled with that big bill a. the insurance company and dr. will have to figure out a fair price. in these cases, if they are not in network, there has been some dispute, they don't agree on thc right for the service.

they will have the right to go will look at the p for abiter service and make a decision on what that person will get paid. >> help me understand the bulance discrepancy in this bill. air ambulance, if you are taken by helicopter. still very pricey, those are stl covered. why is that? sarah: we know that ground ambulances generate -- 71% of ambulance rides are out-of-network. they do think it is importanto

solve this ground ambulance part of surprise billing. lobbying pressure from hospitals and doctors. they say that ground ambulances will have to wait for some future legislation to deal with that particular surprise billing issue. william: for those who don't know how big of a financial hit this can be, can you give us a vignette from your reporting? sarah: one that jumps out is a woman this summer who was very ill wh coronavirus. she was airlifted from one hospital to another one. the patient was on a ventilator, unconscious. the first hospital was in network. the second hospital was in network. the air ambulance was out-of-network. she ended up with a $52,000 bill flight between hospitals that --

for that flight between hospitals that lasted 20 minutes. the patient has no say in the services, she was unconsious when they were provided to her, and before now theti were no prots. it was completely legal for this air ambulance company to send a $52,000 bill. hain 2022,kind of billing won't beegal anymore. william: that is an amazingly big bill. you've also reported that this isn't just a consequence of our byzantine medical system but thathey were in some ways engineered on purpose to make a profit. who was doingra that? these were some private equity firms hat realized there was an opportunity to profit off of this ki of billing. we saw that happening just a few years ago wre private equity firms would buy upoctor

staffing groups and pull them out of network and the rates would shoot up. we found that this was not just a mistake. in some cases, these wereui private created models for how to drive profits back to those folks but itas on the backs of patients paying those bills. william: thank you for helping us understand and all this. ♪ judy: the covid relief bill passed by congress will provide urge help to those around thet country e size of the aid is smaller than what many economists say is needed. for many older americans who have lost their jobs, prospects are especially dim. their savings evermore eaten away.

economics correspondent paul solman looks at what they are facing, part of our series on older workers. >> at 75, it's difficult to persuade people to take you on, >> i lost my home and my job. >> i haven't worked since may and it's been hard. >> i have about $250 in my checking account. and i have one hundred dollarsin avings. >> ithat your entire cushion? >> yes, it is. >> of course, this year has been crushing for almost all of us. because of covid. but especially for older americans without savings or a well-paying work-from-home job. >> i did start taking antidepressants. >> my copd has gotten worse. there's a limited amount of stuff i can do before i have to take a break. >> i'm not able to buy gifts for

my grandbabies. and that's the biggest thing that really hurts that 'm not able to purchase what i would like to purchase for them for christmas. >>lder workers are really against it, for a host of reasons. urfirst, of , age and the bias against it, says 59-year-old donna rushing. >> i call it the invisible stage of life where you stand at the meat counter and everyone is helped around you, except you. it's just this invisible thing that happens at a certain point inge. >> and indeed, says labor economist teresa ghilarducci. >> older workers have a much harder time finding ano'r job. they' on unemployment longer. >> latest numbers, almost a million people 55+ out of work for half a year or more. and if and when they do find a job, good luck getting anything that pays nearly as well as before, said gary burtless pre-pandemic.ld >> the worker finds it more difficult to locate an employer willing to offer them that kind of a job or even a job that potentially in five years time will get them back to their previous peak.

>> office worker and nanny celia stevens has beenobless since march, has no prospects. >> you just get so beat up interview after interview when they are not hiring you. she's an older lady. you know, we i was always being interviewed and it's really emotional for me to go through that again. that was hard. >> 62-year-old baker victoria ritaylor has been ng out on her job search since her layoff in may. >> i haven't found anything yet. i hate this not being able to to work because i'm a hard worker, a dedicated worker, and i just hate the fact that i'm unable to work now. 66-year-old ohio driver dave heinfeld cared for a sick wife, ldis boss he wouldn't deliver to food processing plants. he was canned. >> i just didn't want to play russian roulette with my health.

if i was 30 instead of 66, it would all be dferent. >> heinfeld has stopped looking for work, as have roughly one million older workers who't ve dropped ouof the labor force in the past year. >> he's got license plate arms. here is his art. ese are from a new mexic brewery. celia stevens has been crafting to keep afloat. >> it's just my way of, you know, let's keep grandma off the streets. i just recently sold some of my crafts. i only made 50 dollars, but hey, that's like one utility. >> at 62, stevens just received security payment. social $987. a lifesaver, she says. but if she lives into her 70's and beyond, it's going to cost her, says researcher nahree ree. >> if you claisocial security before full retirement age, which at this point is 67, so if you do it at 62, when you're first eligible, that can basically slash your monthly check compared to if you had 6 waited until a

>> but that's a luxury stevens can't afford, much less wait until 70 for the maximum benefit. i'm just, i'just squeezing by. >> donna rushing, too young for social security, was building a employer. help from her of having a retirement becausech they m, you know, basilly a large percentage of my salary. >> and she didn't just lose her job in sumunty, colorado. >> i lost my housing that was attached to this job as well. and i moved about an hour ay with my yfriend. if i hadn't had this place to go to, where would i be? mother needed a reob toe's own supplement social security, but the store closed. and due to covid, her mom says it's too riskto work. >> there's the question of when

does the money run out? and then there's a question of when does my body give out? >> but rhee also has to worry about her daughter.i >> i havve a child and i have i have a mother who is in her 70's. how do i save for my daughter's college fund and then and then help support my mother when she really needs it. and we're also still in the process of trying to save enough for our own retirement. >> donna rushing has no family to help. >> it really is just me out there. so that's part of the sinking feeling. i don't have relatives. i don't have children. you know, i'm out there. >> and that makes the future even scaer. >> i could actually really be living out of mys ar. what'ing to happen in 10 years? that's going to go so quick,i' 'll be almost 70. where can i go to afford to live? >> for the pbs newshour, this is paul solman, more and more grateful for the job i'm lucky engh to have. ♪

judy: now, we return to britain, and the pandemic. special correspondent malcolm brabant has traveledme of europe's virus hotspots during the pandemic. he's covered northern italy, and demonstrations in britain, germany, and poland. he has not been affected personally, until now. as he explains from his home in brighton, in the south of i england, he self isolation with his wife treena and son lukas. malcolm: this is day one of self -isolation. i got an email from the nationae th service track and trace service a few hours ago to say that i had to isolate myself until december 23. and that's because my son has tested positive. he's upstairs at the top of the house right now, and my wife is also showing symptom we've got a small house, but hopefully we can compartmentalize it in such a

way that both my wife and my son can stay out of my way. >> so i think i contracted covid last week at a studio that i was filming at for two days straight. two six-hour shoots. and with the amount of people there, there were at leath 30 people iroom at once. >> we got the results this morning. lukas tested positive, i tested negative. i'm sure, if i went now and had a test it would be positive as well. i mean, the whole idea of having out. i mean, the whole idea of having to get into a car, go to a test annter. i justt do it, i'm so weak. malcolm: i'm in the kitchen right now, everything's a bit of a mess. i' 've just come back fromrip to poland and i'm making chicken soup, which hopefully will ease their sore throats. >> i have a fever, quite a high fever. but it feels more like a flu at this point, i don't have .

trouble breathing. i can breae without any problems. >> lukas, put your mask on. lus, it's on the stair >> it's been absolutely horrible. >> hey, bubsie. >> so, one hour i could be coughing my lungs up, the next just be sitting there in the hot and cold flashes. it's really annoying. there are so many things i had planned to do. >> my biggest concern has beenbe our son, lukascause lukas was born prematurely. >> congratulations. >> thank y. >> even though he's today a tall and big and healthy guy, he still has scar tissue in his lungs. so he has very weak lungs. his lung capacity is not normal. so for him to catch covid has been one of my worst nightmares. >> i'm not saying it terrifies me, but with my health history,

it is a fear that it couldet a lot worse for me and it could go downhill very quickly. i'm just hoping that if it stays the way it is right now that i've gottee a very lucape. malcolm: what we don't know is which version of covid lukas has. is it the original one or is it the new mutation which has got much of europe into a panic, and hacaused the british prime minister boris johnson to do yet another u-turn? >> given the early evidence we have on this new variant of thei virus, the pot risk it poses, it is with a very heavy heart i must tell you we cannot continue with christmas as planne >> my husband says i worry too much, but i do also worry about his health. malcolm:here's a good reason why i usually sht myself in just head and shoulders, it's because i don't want people to see the size of my stomach. as you probably gathered, it's pretty big. >> my husband is obese.

>> therefore, i am at much greater risk thaother folk. i am active. i ride a bike, i walk the dog. filming acally sort of helps you keep reasonably fit. e vertheless, i am vulnerable, so i really do h try to protect myself.an >> my huhad in 2011 a very, very severe reaction to another vaccine. s >> i have to strat what happened to me nine years ago was extremely rare and highly individual. it was a well publicised case of the yellow fever vaccine which every doctor who treated me saie waonsible for causing a psychosis. but this vcine is totally different, the one that's going to hopefully cure this covid thing, but i have to be wary about it and for the timbeing, i'm not going to take it, and that's as a result of advice om the british regulator authority, the mhra, which says that people who've had bad reactions in the past shouldn't take it. >> we were looking at two case reports of allergic reactions.

we know from the very extensive a feature.rials that this wasn't but if we need to strengthen our advice, we get that advice to the field immediately. malcolm: i need to explore this further. despite everything that happened to me, i'm not an anti vaxxer. and let's face it, we can't go on living like this. we have to get back to normal. so to reassure myself i've been talking to a really good old friend of mine who ient to school with, who rose to be one of britain's top psychiatric pharmacists. his name is professor stephen bazire, and he's been explaining how this new vaccine works, in an attempt to ease my fears. >> i don't think having had that reaction makes any difference to this vaccine, the pfizer vaccine is not an attenuated or killed live bacteria or virus. the route is to get your body to ceate part of it, which y produce antibodies to, and then you become immune to the full blown virus. >> day six of isolation.

i am, of course, still vy worried about my husband. but my main concern this morning is our son, lucas. yesterday, lukas's oxygened saturation stao drop into the lower that's not a good 90's. place to be for anyone, especially not someone with a lung conditing. this morit's back up into the mid nineties, which is a better place to betc but i'm ng him like a hawk. malcolm: a it's beit of a lousy night. i haven't slept very much because i've been worryiut about lukas,'m relieved that his oxygen sats are improving because otherwise wed have had to send him to a hospital. he's had a really lousy yr, poor lad. we're into more than two hundred and seventy days in lockdown. he's at zoomiversity, he's a musiciany i have to at the song he wrote in lockdown has never been more apposite. >> ♪ take my hands take my heart all the things that you taught apart but i don't want to be alone

unless it's with you ♪ >> being in isolation is necessary, there is no doubt about it. hiwe've got to stopvirus. it's driving me up the walls. f >> day seven oolation, fingers crossed, things are looking good. i haven't got any symptoms, trine's improving, lukas is certainly holding his own, we're one day closer to freedom. i don't know what we'll find when we get to the supermarkets because there's been panic buying as a result of itain being cut off from the rest of europe. but as a family, we're not particularly bothered about we've always thought if we could christmas. survive 2020, that would beti fant and that has to remain our aim. judy: what a special story. that's our malcolm brabant, rerting from his home on england's southern coast. malcolm, know that all of your colleagues here are thinking best thoughts for you, treena, and lukas. i know so many of your admirers in our audience share our affection. thank you.

thank you for that and please all get better. judy: the nba is set to tip off its new season tonight. a it comer the shortest off-season of pro basketball in league history. it's be just about two months since lebron james and the los angeles lakers emerged as champions. but instead of playing in a and play in their tadiums.ravel michele rberts is a crucial part of all of this since she represents the players as the executive director of the nba players association. she helpedo devise the bubblean pl last season and i recently spoke with her about the challenges ahead. michelle roberts, thank you for joining us. it was just a short time beforev this corus shutdown hit that you had announced your retirement, but here we are, the end of december, and you've had quite a year battlin pandemic and the effect on the

season. itasn't been what you expected, has it been? michelle: no' it hasn'been what anybody expected. clearly, while i announced my retirement, i did not for one develop the way it2020 would so i clearly have not retired, still plan to, but we've got to got a bit of a ways to go before i think i can comfortably leave leave the pa. y judy: helped design the bubble, the well-known bubble that professional basketballop playerated in for the season this year, it worked remarkably well. why not continue that for theea nextn, which gets underway right around the corner? michelle: obviously, it worked well because we were able to champion and not he, crown a

possible horribles that ld envisioned cave happened. but i will tell you, judy and i was there for three months with the players, it ain't easy. it's the isolation with significant. players were fabulous in plowi through it. ndand for those teams that up being there for essentially four months, it took a bit of a toll. i mean, these are these are warriors i and god knowould not be prouder of them. but the prospes of returning to a bubble for a period of five or s months was not something we took seriously. frankly, if we needed to do it in order to guarantee the safety of our players, we would have done it. but we watched very closely what the other leagues were doing and decided to at least try to begin the season outside of the bubble environment, very stealth and safety protocols and

hopefully will avoid a bubble again. buit is not the first reso at this point, it is a last resort. judy: i hear you saying strict safety protocols, and yet you are starting up again another season as the virus is spiking all over the country. there are warning signs all around and college basketball, they've been canceling games by the scores, if not hundreds. this is being rush?elhat maybe mi: i can't say i have no concerns. i mean, i must say and i will say that if i thought my concerns were significant enough for us not to play, we wouldn't be playing. we've spent a lot of time and thking a lot of advice from those people witsuper skills, the special skills that know more about this stuff than we do. and we believe that we have constructed alth and safety protocols, the best health and safety protocols available for play outside of a bubble. but noderstand that that' it let's not get wisted.

the minute it appears that the protocols are not sufficient to guarantee our player safety, th the season stops. and evybody knows that going in. so the timing is terrible. surge that is now sthe second coming. when we decided to restart in december, we made the decision. but you know what's comforting is knowing that this is not a decision that can't be reverseda ime and it will be reversed on a dime if it appears that the protocols are just not holding. judy' i'asking because i have read the critics or at least the questioners saying why not start a little bit later, even iit means less revenue for the teams, less income for the players and just be really, truly safe. michelle: part of it, we have got a number of stakeholders in this game. obviously the players. we have tv partners.av wearenas. there are a number of people that, frankl make their living on this game. my primary concern are the

players, obviously, and while i won't pretend that revenue is not a factor that everybody is nsidering, we talked abo when to start the season. it's also the case that revenue will not be the the impediment to stopping play if we find ourselves wanting to do that. av, yeah, i mean, we could --i guess the safest way to do it was to cancel the season altogether. practically, that was not something the players wanted to do. we wanted to give it a try. judy: on the vaccine, once it's available, are the players going to to take the vaccine, all of -- take the vaccin michelle: will the players take it? we will see. it will not be a quethat we have to address in the coming months, because we're not we're not anywhere near the top of thi , nor are we making any efforts to get to the top of the list. look, our players are members of the community. they've got grandmas and moms and dads, and they appreciate that when it comes to who we have to protect, first and foremost, as much as we love our players and they want to

continue to stay healthy and well, we firmly get it and we will wait our turn. judy: i want to ask you about emthe black lives matter mt, you played a central role in working with the players to ve them the ability to have a voice, to share their views around racial justice, social justice. we've seen that unfold this year after the tragic death ogeorge floyd. we've also seen conservative politicians come out and criticize thplayers for what they've done. how do you see that? do you see that is racist? ngwhat what we're hearom some politicians? how do you view it? michelle: candidly, judy, i spent very little time worrying about what politicians say and let's just get that get that established, our players again are members of the community and

many of them are african-americans and so their members, obviously, of the african-american community, that the issues that are importanr to mmunity are important to our players. and their concern for those issues was evidenced by the voices that they allowed to be heard during the course of the summer. they used their platforms to make it clear what theiron posiwere on these issues. and did all of that understanding that there would be people, including politicians, who would disagree? it did not matter to them.er it does not mao me. we understand that as members of there's a righrong thatink that needs to be redressed, we're going to do it. judy: for 2021, we havedi erent political leadership in the country, a different president. is it going to look different, do you think, on the part of thr pl michelle: no. i mean, sadly, as recently as what last weekend, anoth

member of our communit african-american male was killed by the police. i've been speaking with players since then. they're doing what they want to do. thsr use of their platforms not going to change. it will be a little different because we're not in a bubble. but their commitment hasn't changed. judy: michelle roberts, the executive director of the national basketball players association, thank you so much and we wish you ll. we wish you safety in this coming season. thank you. that is the newshour for tonight. i'judy woodruff. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay fe, and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by -- ♪ consumer cellular. johnson and johnson.

bnsf railway. financial services firm raymond james. carnegie corporation of new york. democratic engagement andhe advancement of international peace and security at carnegie.org. and, with the ongoing support of these institutions. this program wasade possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank yo ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institese, which is rponsible for its caption content and accu

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