captioning s sponsored by newshour productions, llc e >> nawaz: goning, i'm amna nawaz. judy woodruff is off. on the newshour tonight, the pandemic marches on: covid-19 deaths top 337,000 as a new strain is confirmed in the u.s. t talk with president-elect biden's pilead the c.d.c. of representatives overridesouse president trump's veto of a defense spendingill as the fight over covid relief payments moves to the senate. an a hidden crisis-- with hospitals overrun with pandemic patients, many americans areng delamportant medical care, often with devastating consequences. >> while it's very important to take necessary precautions for avoiding exposur'sto covid-19, lso important to get your timely medical care. >> nawaz: all that and more on toght's pbs newshour.

>> major funng for the pbs wshour has been provided by: >> architect. bee-keeper. mentor. a raymond james financial advisor tailors advice to help you live your life. life, well-planned. our u.s.-based customer service team is on hand to help. to learn more, go to consumercellular.tv

>> the john s. and james l. knighteroundation. fog informed and engaged communities. more at kf.org. >> and with thongoing support these institutions: and dividuals. >> this program was made public broadcastinrporation for and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> nawaz: the end of this pandemic year is now in sight, but president-elect joe biden is warning the worst is yet to come. today, in wilmington, delaware, he forecast a post-holiday spike in iections and deaths, through february.

pe also charged the tr administration has fallen far behind the president's talk of vaccinating 20 million people by year's end. >> with only a few days left in december we've only vaccinated a few million so far. the pace the vaccination program is moving now, if it continues to move as it is now it's going, to take yeot months, to vaccinate the american people. >> nawaz: hours eaier, vice president-elect kamala harris received t moderna vaccine in washington. she urged more people to get the shots. meanwhile, officials in colorado a more contagious covid variant, initially discovered in britain. the u.s. senate convened a rare, holiday-week session today and deadlocked over increasing covid relief checks to $2,000. president trump signed a bill on sunday that includes $600 ar most amerins, but he's demanding bigger checks. today, he called it "the right thing to d" on the senate floor, replican majority leader tch mcconnell declined to commit himself on

the issue. >> the president would like further direct financial support for american households. this week, the senate will begin a process to bring these three priorities into focus. >> nawaz: r now, mcconnell ocked an attempt by democratic minority leader chuck schumer to force a vote. schumer said the senate should not adjourn until it takes action. >> this issue has united americans from coast to coast and bridged massive political divide here in washington. the vast majority of the public, republican and democrat, strongly support $2000 checks. >> nawaz: vermont senator bernie sanders also tried to forc action on gger checks, but mcconnell blocked that, too.rs in turn, sanbjected to voting to override the president's veto of a major defens last night.house did we'll talk with senator sanders, the president today lashed out at republicans for opposing his veto of th defense bill.

he tweeted that "weak and tired republican 'leadersh' will allow the bad defense bill to he opposes the biluse it strips confederate names from military bases, and does not strip liability protecfrom social media firms. a federal judge in georgia has blocked efforts to prevent some 4,000 people from voting in sext week's u.ste run-offs. two counties had planned to make those voters prove their residenc after a lawsuit by a conservative group. the run-offs will determine cont the senate. the u.s. justice department will not bring federal criminal charges in the killing of tamir rice in cleveland. a white police offically shot the black 12-year-old in 2014. dee youth was playing with a pellet gun out recreation center. today's announcement said vide of the incident is too poor quality to determine exactly what happened. boeing's 737 max jetliner resumed commercial flights in the u.s. today, for the first time in nearly two years. the planes were grounded worldwide in march 2019 after

n o deadly crashes. today,american airlines 737-max flew about 100 peoplene from miami tw york. the company presidensaidav ssengers cancomplete confidence in the plane. >> this is an aircraft that has been more highly scrutinizedfo than any ever . we're very confident that this skies and we're confident to be putting it back in the ato and confidenhowing it to our customers and getting people >> nawaz: airlines in brazil and mexico have already resumed using the 737 max, w0 flights this month. esw federal diety guidel out today say no candy or cake for kids under two. they also recommend feeding babies only breast milk, for at least their first six months. for adults, the guidelines continue previous alcohol limits, no more than two drinks a day for men, and only one drink daily for women. on wall street today, the dow jones industrial average lost 68 points to close at 30,335. the nasdaq fell 49 points, and,

the s&p 500 slipped eight. and, famed fashion desigr pierre cardin died today. his futuristic, avant garde designs revolutionized the fashion industry starting in the early 1950's. he summed up his view of fashion in an interview last february. not creating.ed ): it's making something different, a different sensitivity. it shows what i have inside me, my psyche, my will to create the shapes, the fabrics, the color as i feel them, and how i want to show them to people. >> naz: pierre cardin was hears old. still to come onewshour: president-elect biden's pick to lead the c.d.c. on the surge of coronavirus cases acss the u.s. t'e house overrides the presidveto as the fight over covid relief payments moves to the senate. with hospils overrun with pandic patients, many americans are delaying critical medical care. and much more.

>> nawaz: when psident-elect joe biden enters the oval office will be in the mid what heu.s. calls some of the "toughest days" of the coronavirus pandemic. his health team will be tasked with the u.s. response including continuing the vaccine rollout, which he said today is "falling far behind" under the trump administration. one of themembers of biden's team is dr. rochelle walensky,me who was the next director of the centers for disease control earlier this month and she joins me now. >> nawaz: dr. rochelle walensky, thank you so much for joining us. welcome to the "newhour" and congtulations on your appointment. i do want to start with the news today. colorado public officials said they have now nenfirmed the first case of thi variants, a more contagious covid-19

variant here in the united states. they say it is a young man his 20s, he is isolating, and he has no travel history. what does this te us about the presence of this new covid variant here in the u.s.? >> doctor: good evening, amna. it is a pleasure to be here with you. we heard about this case back in the u.k we heard about in september 20th, and we saw that this new variant was leading to many, many more cases in the u. over the last several days and weeks', we have seen this var variant has been in 14 other countrie including canada, and today we have definitive information that it is here in the united states, but many of us expected it was here during this entire time. i think it tells us several things: one, we need to bolster our surveillance. if other countries were finding it before us, it tes me we need to do a better job of testing and

genomic surveillance. but from a public health standpoint, i want eyto co couple of things. one is that we do believe, based on the data from the u.k., that this strain is likely more transmissible, somewhere between6 and 70% more transmissible, and it binds tightly to threceptor in the hos. that is an important piece of information. has it led to ieard outbreaks in the u.k., perhaps even here? don't quite know t yet. but the important thing i think everybody needs tors unnd is there is no demonstration that the measures that we are using to protect ourselves from the initial strain, without thisutation, the masking, the social distancing, allf tse measures should work with this strain as well. so all of the measures we have been talking about to put in place to protect yourself should actually helpith thirain, regardless of whether we have the u.k. strain or not. >> nawaz: have you been briefed on this new strain

by the trumadp nistration? do you know what they know? getting agency-reviewed team briefings from the c.d.c., and i don't know whether the review teams have been hearing about this through the trump administration. i imaginour review teams that are briefing me are hearing about it throughc the c.. that has been fluid. >> nawaz: can i ask you a albout the vaccine rollout, we heard president-elect biden say it is not moving as quickly as it should.d ere are growing concerns on how it is being rolled out, which isg rely states, and states are out of money, and their health areaments understaffed, and they pass it on to frontline works who arerying to address the pandemic. it is similar to the testing rolout, which you know has not really worked. what else should the federal government be doag to make sure t the vaccine rollout domiesn't the testing fiasco? >> doctor: it is a really critical thing, something that the administrationadmisttion is reay

working on this through the transition. 11.4 milion vaccinations have been distributed. so we're not going to hit the 20 million mark that was proposed. i believe this tells us several this. first, perhaps that was an ambitious benchmark, but, also, that this is going to be hard. we have a lot of hard work in front of us. months into the pandemic in this country, we have not one, but two, vaccines that demonstrate efficacy, and we have perhaps more coming down the pipeline. that is all really good news. now what we really need to do is do exactly as you said: take some of that money and we need more resources to invest in into the distribution andth gettint vaccine that has been developed into i don't think we can derestimate exactly how hard that is going to be. we have an amazing down

payment by the 8.57 million passed by congress, 4.5 billion to the states, localies, territories, and tribes, to work towards that distribution, but that is just a down payment.wh you see the extraordinary work and the resources that are going to be movgin ahead, the president-elect has articulated he is going to leave no stone unturned in terms of the actions he is going to take to make sure we get those vccines into people, and that includes using the production act. >> nawaz: let me ask you about some of th actio you may take as the head of the c.d.c. we know this pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on communities of colo when you look at the numbers, it is so clear. you see black americans, native americans, and latino americans disproportionately affected and dying compared to white americans in that chart. is there ansense you

should move these idmmunities up in the priority gline? could the c.d.c. guidelines change so these communities are higher up in priority? >> doctor: the guideline on immunization practices from the c.d.c. has made how these things get prioritized. recommendations that look at both morbidity and morality, as well as preserving the social functions of the united states, and making sure that the country can keep moving on. so in those guidances,is thern underpinning of equity in all of those spacesok so as we lt how we're going to be rolling out, either by ag by essential workers or by health care workers, equity is realln the underpinning of all of that. work that i need do at the c.d.c., certainly we need to get out of this covid pandemic, and that is going to be thest hig priority that i have with

leading through sciee, leading through trust, transparency, communication, both to te scientists of the c.d.c., as well as to the american people, of what we're lening. and then to distribute vaccines, to scale upo testing, all of those things with an essential eye towards equity, as you say. four and a half times of hospitalizations in brown and black communities, and two and a half times the rates of deat, that cannot continue in the next phase of this pandemic. >> nawaz: in the minute we have left, can you give us any kind of a timeline? some people have said we need to be doing 3.5 million vaccinations a day to get the he immunity by june. what is your timeline looking like? >> doctor: as i think dent-elei indicated today, i think things are going to get worse before we get better. if we look at the surges that happened through

thanksgiving. and then what is going to holiday and over the new year's holiday. things will be even darker when the president-elect takes office. the vaccination timeline is not exactly as we had planned or anticipated or was promised. we are wrking -- the president-elect has said he would like to get 100 million vaccines into 100 million arms in his first 100 ys, that is ambitious by anachievable goal. it will only be achievable if we have resources t accompany it. i think the spring looks better than the darkays of winter. i would hesitate to put a timeline on this because many factors are at play here in terms of how much manufacturing we, how quickly we can get it distributed, where the bottlenecks are in that distribution.

and then, of course, the williness of the american people to take the vaccine. >> nawaz: we appreciate you taking the time to speak with us tonight. that is rochelle walensky, president-elect biden's pi to lead the c.d.c. >> doctor: thank you so much, amna. >> nawaz: as we reported, efforts to increase stimulus payments to $2,000 were blocked in the u.s. senate today. one of the senators king the se for more money is bernie sanders of vermont. and he joins me now from capitol hill. >> nawaz: senator sanders, welcome back to the "newshou for making the time. let's start with a littleha recap of whatpened today. mitch mcconnell blocked your request to voteon r at house bill fodirect payments to go up to $2,000. he then put forward a new bill, that combines the $2,000 payments with election security requests from the president, and also rving some legal protections for some tech

companies. what does all of this mean for all of e people waiting to see if they're getting that $2,0 check or not? >> it means that mitch mcconnell and senators are muddying the water. this is not a complicated issue. the house did the right thing last night. they understand that all across this country there is a level of economic desperation we hae not seen in this country since the great depression. we're looking at people who are worried about being evicted, people who are going hungry, unabl to feed their kids, people who are the middle of this terrible pandemic that you just discussedfo can't to go to a doctor, people are accumulateing more and more debt.and the people are crg out they need help. we managed to get $600 in direct payment in the bill that trump finally signe everyone understands that is not enough. all that we're asking

mitch mcconnell to do, the republican leahide here, is to allow an up or down vote on what the ouuse did. ifant to vote against it, go home and .xplain why you voted against but let us have an up and down vote, a clean bill in terms of what the house did last night. that's it. >> nawaz: so you wuld need additional republican support, if this was to move forward -- >> yes. >> nawaz: -- and to pass the senate. you've seen some republicans step fo and say they would pass marco rubio, kelly loeffler and david peue -- what about others? do you know there is additional republican support -- >> i believe there. i can't guarantee we'll gevothe 60 s, but i think virtually all of the democrats will vote for it, and i think can get the 12 rublican votes that we need. cated, we indi already have five republican votes, people who have indicated they want to support thisat legin.

others are talking about it in a positive way. guarantee, but allcan ask of mcconnell is to let democracy play out. if he wants to vote against it, vote against it, but at least bring it to the floor so the people have a sense of what the priorities are of their senators. >> nawaz: at this moment in tim you and president trump are both arguing for the same thing. you both want to see these $2,000 payments. it strikes me for a man you have described as a threat, you are both seeing eye to eye on this issu what does that say to you? >> it says that a broken clk is right tce a day. i guess in four years, every once in a while, trump has it right. here is the pot in terms of trump companyin: he could -- rather than just sending out tweets, if he got on the phone, if he talked to mcconnell and said, dook, this is really important, let't. i think we can win the republican votes that we

need and pass thisle slation. so i say to the president, $6u're right on this issue. is not enough. do the right thing: get on the phone and let's see if we can work together foram thican people on this issue. >> nawaz: while we have you, i want to ask you about some transition-related issues, because you have be very clear in all of your interviews, you are not happy when it comes to president-elect biden's cabinet. has he consulted with you for names you think should be filling ose roles? >> let me say this, i believe the president-elect has made some really excellent appointments or nominations, very, very competent people, and i think in the day of vid-19, you'll see a radical change, se very competent people will now be at the helm. what i have saidre atedly is that the progressive movement in this country is 35%, 40% of the democratic

coalition. millions and millions of people intify thems at progressives. they want the congress to stand up to poerful special interests. they want the congress to meght for working people. they believe iicare for all, etc. and that point of view should be represented, in my view, in the biden administration. as of this point, that has not happened, but i hope it will. >> nawaz: let me ask you this, because you're saying what i've heard from other progressive democrats in both th house and the senate: what do you think that says? if there is not someone from the progressive movement that ends up in biden's cabinet, how do you think it will be perceived by progressive voters in the country? >> i think with disappointment. the progrsive community worked very, very hard at the grassroots level to do defeat trump, who i to consider to be the most dangerous president in the history of this country, somebody was literally today that is trying to

undermine american democracy. we worked very, very hard to defeat him. in there was a lot of support for me and elizabeth warren and other progressive candida i think they will be disappointed, inhe progressive community, if there are novet progres voices in the cabinet. >> nawaz: when you look ahead to what is needed to address this pandemic, thea cares page, $2.2 billion, and this package, $2 trillion, whatk do you th we need to meet the american needs? >> i cannot give you an exact number. but wh i believe is the case is that thepr ident-elect understands the severity of the crisis. and i believe that on day e this will beis major priority, both in terms of the pandemic and the economic ims of the pandemic. so i think you're going to see a very, very significant economic layout to address the crisis facing working

families all across this country. what does it mean? it means in my view direct eaecks. it extending unemployment benefits. it means creating millions of good-paying jobs by rebuilding our infrastructure. it means providing health care to the millions of people wve lost their health insurance because they lost their jobs duringhis pandemic. so there is an enormous amount of unmet need out there, and i think the biden people understand that, and i expect they'll be ready to go to work onto day onddress those problems. >> nawaz: senator bernie sands of vermont, thank you for taking the time. always good to speak with you. >> thank you >> nawaz: we invited all 52 republican senators to n az: we should add that we invited all 52 republican senators to appear on the newshour tonight. they all either declined or didn't respond. >> nawaz: for much of ar, millions of americans have been hunkering down, avoiding crowdsf

to try to stayfrom covid- 19. but that also means many have also been delaying important medical care, sometimes with ovastating consequences. john yang reporthis hidden crisis during the pandemic. >> yang: lraine ensor spent her career as a librarian in springfield, massachusetts, watchingenerations of readers grow up. >> little kids come ingrew up, got married, had kids of their own. it's been an interesting life. >> yang: a few years ago, at age 82, she finally retired. late last year, she noticed a problem with her right eye. >> i turned on the tv to listen to the weather and there was a black spot. it was like a small brick. and i thought that was strange. >> yang: her doctor, retina surgeon and ophthalmologist andrew lam, diagnosed her with macular degenerationthe leading cause of blindness in patients over 65. he explains there are two versions of the disease: the

slower-moving "dry" kind, and the faster-moving "wet" kind -- ich is what lorraine has. >> it's very serious when people have the wet macular degeneration. luckily, we have medicines that den halt the progression of wet maculaneration and often improve vision. but the medicines wear off. so they're often repeated every fourx or eight weeks, depending each individual's >> yang: lorraine began going to regular appointments to receive those injections, until covid-19 t. 85-years-old and diabetic, she falls into two high-risk categories for coronavirus, and what she heard on the news terrifieher. >> so i cancel my appointment. and when i called the girl, you know, she explained at they had prepared the office for but i was still too frightened to go. >> yang: she canceled her next appointment as well.

in fact, she didn't return to dr. lam until she experienced sudden vision loss. >> unfortunately, when she returned in june, after having missed a couple of routine injections during the pandemic, she had severe central vision loss, which was related to a very obvious submacur hemorrhage that had occurred. >> yang: dr. lam operated andre was able tore some of her vision. but he's certain he could have prevented it from happening in the first place, not just for lorraine and ao for so many other patients who've had even >> this summer, literally, we were having people come in with catastrophic visiosoloss, times in their only good eye ancause of deferred medical care. it's-- it's a very difficult conversation to have with these patients. you know, they're sometimes they're crying because they know that they had vision but now we're not e canle. get it back. >> yang: as covid-19 has swept across the country, sometimes s erwhelming hospitals, there's

been a lesvious toll of patients skipping both routine and urgent medical care. earlier this year, the centers for disease control and that found four in 10 americans had delayed or avoided care during covid-19. 12% of them for urgent or emergency care, like heart attacks and stroke needed medical care in a timely nner is essential. >> yang: trained as a pediatrician, commander kristie clarke is a public health officer and epidemiologist at thc.d.c. she co-authored the study. >> routine care is where we as physicians can detect new conditions, worsening conditions preventive care such asnt vaccinations, well-child check or health maintenance visits for adults with or whout underlying conditions. >> yang: as with many of the effects of covid-19, she says this problem of delayed care is hitting some groups harder than others. >> we found that urgent and emergency care was more likely to be delayed or avoided in

ckpeople of non-hispanic b race or those of hispanic ethnicity, those with a disability, those with two or more underlying l conditions, and those who are serving as unpd caregivers for an adult relative. >> yg: could there be lesson here about how health care health officials have beenth communicatinrisks and dangers of the pandemic, that rhaps it's created such a fear that people are unwilling to go to take care of chronic health conditions andave routine health checks for fear of the virus? >> so you bring up a really important question. and so i'm a physician at the c.d.c. i'm also the doctor in my family, so i would tell your viewers exactly what i tell my fa'sly, which is that while very important to take necessary precautions for avoiding exsure to covid-19, and i' glad they're being careful, it's also important to get your

timely medical care. >> yang: back in springfield, lorraine's vision in her right eye has improved after surgery, but still isn't what it was before she began skipping her appointments. >> if i look straight ahead, i still see blackness, but i can see the motion behind it. >> yang: looking back, she wishes she'd trusted dr. lam's office and their covid protocols: temperature checks before entering, fewer people allowed in the elevator and in the socially distanced waiting room, the mandatory use of masks. with covid-19 resurgent, she worries that people like her will again delay care. >> i only hope that the message does get out to other people who are in similar situations that, you know, they can put down the tsar a little and keep their appointmyou know, because it's so important.

>> yang: is a message dr. lam drives home as well. he says if patients are still concerned, they shou talk to their healthre providers about how to balance those risks. >> the fact that this is within our power to prevent is very frustrating. so i think the message has to be that people should not avoid going to their doctors for regular care. you know, the chances of getting covid at your doctor's office or in an emergency room are very remote and far less than the chance of having a bad medical outcome from deferred medical care. >> yang: he and others worry that the true ll of covid-19, all the things doctors like him aren't seeing, may not be known for some time to come. for the pbs newshour, i'm john yang. >> nawaz: the pandemic has disrupted education at every

tlevel this year, includi world of higher education. it's leading to changes in the way colleges and universities operine. we're begia special series that will explore the impact on what schools are tea their costs and finances, how they deal with mental health concctns and the imn students of color. tonight, william brangham begig our "rethinkllege" series, focusing on how the pandemic is already changing theandscape of admissions. >> brangham: amna,nuhead of the y 1st deadline for erplications, colleges and unties report mixed results. with many of the college admissions testing-sites close down during the pandemic, as many as 50% of early applications arrived without any test scores this year. that's resulted in some top- ranked schools seeing a surge in applications. but, elsewhe application numbers are flat, or even down compared to last year. jeffrey selingo has himself been a student of the college admissions process for many years. he is author of the new book,

"who gs in and whya year inside college admissions," and he's a former editor of the "chronicle of higher education." >> jeffrey selingo, great to have you back on the "news hour." help us understand this. if there are not as many a.c.t. and s.a.t. tests going to colleges, why does it mean top-tiered schools are seeing an incrse in applications. top-tiered schools, it is an option. so what you probably saw was a number of students eywho thought the had pretty good high school grades or may not begood test takers, and said, why not give it a shot. you saw many of thets studpply to these top schools because they didn't have to submit test scores. >> so in that sense, it aiems pretty clear that testing for ce students is a real barrier to trying to get into elite colleges?

>> it is a real barrier, i think, because many students look at the average test scores or these top schools. if they feel like they're not anywhere near that average, they're going to take themselves out of the running and they're not even going to applyt all. even though all of these schools practice what is known as holistic admission, meaning they're beyond test scores.ctors in fact, my year in psychology admissions for recording the book, when i sat at emery, davidson, they look at students' highchool curriculum and high school grades before they ever even look at the test scores. tudents are probably better off applying to these schools to see if they could potentially get in, and now we're seeing them do thcause they didn't have to submit test scores. >> so if that is driving a right applications to well-known schools, what is happening with the schools that are not quitewn so well-k >> well, what we're seeing

is a decline inat applns, the study states, for the most part dentsse those st don'know if schools are fall. to be in-person next ms like they're willing to take a chance on highly selective colleges, whether they're online or face to face, but many students, and particularly parents, who ha to pay the tuition bill, are not sure if they want to take out that full tuition bill, to take out loans, in order to enroll in that school whether th're not sure whether they're going to be in person. as we know, a lot of the is not experien only what happens inside the classroom, but also that residential experien outside the classroom. and that's essentially what many of these students are also payin for.go and if they'rng to be taking online classes from their high school bedroom, essentially, they don'tri want to neces do that. and so they're kind of holding out, maybe until the spring, to see whether these schools are going to

go back in the fall and t then apply t point. >> it seems that is also going to exae cerbe well-known economic divide between the schools that are wealthy withig endowments, and those that are not, which has, again, been exacerbated by the pandemic? >> it totally as been. we see that applications fothe federal fre application for student aid are down compared to pastears, mainly from students from lower income backgrounds. we know that undergraduate enrollment is way down, down 3% ovelast year, but freshman enrollment in particular down more t 13%. and most of that is coming at two-year colleges, where, again, low nd middle income students are more likely to go because it is close to home, they can live at home and it is less expensive. so we're starting to see the impact of covid on those students who normally have a tough time going to clege in normal times. and now a struggling t

figure out a way not only how to get to college, how to enroll in college, but also how to pay for it. >> and, again, that certainly has got to be ai concern, thatf those kids don't go next year to college, we know the trajectory, right? they may never make that decision to go down the road? >> we may see a lost class of 204, and a lot class of 2025, in some respects, right? because many of these students -- some of the students who decidedfor example -- who graduated high school in the spring of 2020 may end up going college in th fall of 2021. they may have taken only a year off. osbut some of students might end up not going. their families might have been impacted by covid, health issues, big financial issues for the most pat, may parents lost jobs, and students can't figure out a way to afford college. those are the students i most worry about who are probably on the edge to begin with about going to

college, and now a year later may nohave the resources to actually enroll. >> you have also reported thatransfer applications are up quite a bit, of kids going from onell e to another, one university to another.h why has been happening? >> we're starting to seean thatecdotally now. two things are happening with those studen one is students are shopping for institutions they think will be face to face next fall. we're starting to see students express interest in colleges that have been largely face to face thi year. they think if they're face to face this year, they're to face next yearand iace don't want to go online this year. that is one thing that is the other thing is schools have been hit pretty hard financially by theem pa. so you're starting to seest some udents trade up academically, or think they can trade up academically. maybe they were reected a school a year ago. they now may think because

schos financially need more students, they think they may have a better job of getting in next ar if thee transfer. that's why i'm heaatring ome schools are doing better with transfer applications so far. >> just one more in disrupted so many tshas of our life. jeffrey selingo, the author of "who gets in and why: a year inside the college admissions process." great to have you on the." "news ho thanks for being here. >> it was great to be here. thank you. nawaz: now to venezuela, and the ongoing struggle for power amid a growing humanitarian crisis. next week a new parliament is set to be sworn in, after members of the opposition boycotted elections earlier this month. that leaves opposition leader juan guaido in an even more precarious position, and the country with an uncertai future.

special correspondent marcia biggs reports. >> reporr: they are lines that seem to go on forever. all across venezuela, hungry children waiting to receive a meal. last winter we visited this community kitchen in a poor barrio of caracas, where volunteers from the foundation alimenta la solidaridad were foviding food for members the community to prepare for their neighbors.we et the head of the organization, roberto patino. he told us that in 240 community kitchens throughout venezuela, his team was serving around 25,000 people. early this month, we learned that their office was raided, their bank account frozen, and patino was wanted for arrest on charges of terrorism and corruption and he is now in why do you tnk that they're ing after you? >> i'm not sure what their intentions a. they are very paranoid and they

see in conspiracies all er, they think that everything that is being done on the community level might ha the purpose of overthrowing them. that this is a bigke, thatsee they're not hurting me, they're not hurting the opposition, which it doesn't own this program. we are open for everyone. >> reporter: patino told me they never ask anyone whom they support, president nicolas maduro, or the oppositio but politics permeates everything in venezuela. and can determine whether you support maduro and eat, or go hungry. in early december's parliamentary elections, maduro's ruling party was widely denounced for promising food for votes. was the latest turn in a years-lo political crisis that has left the country in chaos, and with two presidents: maduro, whose election in 2018 was

declared illegitimate by the opposition-led parliament. speaker of parliamo inormer 2018 was constitutionally first in line to the presidency. for the almost two years since and despite being recognized as the true presint by the u.s. and more than 50 count, guaido has not been able to win the support of the military and therefore hasn't taken control of the country. we were there almost one year ago when national guard troops barred him from entering parliament. maduro's party essentially ran unopposed in this month's election; only 1/3 of registered voters actlly showed up. >> we did not boycott the election.th was not an election. this was a fraud. we want elections. >> reporter: leopoldo lopez was ce the face of the opposition until his imprisonment in 2014. in 2017, he was released on house arrest, under the

condition of silen. his protége and fellow activist juan guaido took up e mantle. and together they made a failed attempt to ouswemaduro from 18 months ago. in october, pez made headlines when he escaped the country and fled to spain, where he was ablr nite with his family. >> so i was ineasingly more isolated and i nteded to contrirom the outside. and repression in venezuela hasa increased a deal. for example, president guaido does not sleep in the same place every night. he needs to moveorvery night in r to be safe. >> reporter: in response to what he calls a fraud, lopez recentld joembers of the opposition referendum, with six millionn venezuelans both in country and abroad demanding new elections. for its part the governmt has responded to this by saying those voters look like zombies

and the results have no bearing on reality. how do you go forward with these two dueling realities? the strategy has not seemed to work so far. >> we ha been many times in a in a moment that with huge thusiasm, with tens of thousands of people in the streets pushing protests andin puand rallying support, and then we fall into a peod of demobilization and loss of hope. and then we need to regain and we need to continue h rward into a new upside cycle.>> eporter: but meanwhile, the venezuelan people suffer. u.s. sanctions hammered a country already facing economic collapse and humanitarian crisis. the covid pandemic dealt aa further blow tumbling healthcare system and a countr already starving. h

patino says organization is shut down, the neighbors have come together, each ntributing a little something to kitchens. but with supplies dwindling, the kitchens may be forced to close. tprospect too much for so bear. this single mother broke down in tears." this kitchen is helping me and my daughter so much." she says "there are so many children that are hungry". patino worries that the current opposition strategy focuses too icch on international efforts to change the pol system, and not enough on the people suffering at home. >> if you put yourself in the shoes of the average venezuelan, you have to consider how the struggle for democracy relates to this person. how this person can see that he has a there's a connection between her or his immediate democratic outcomeration of a

i think that's the big question that all of us who want cracy in venezuela need struggle with. >> reporter: leopoldo lopez agrees that the venezuelan people aret the center of this fight, but says they must continue fighting to seeeal change. >> the only way in whichhere will be a change in the humanitarian situation for the venezuelan people is if l ere is politiange. we have been top we have been in the ttom. and at the end, you know, we will win the final battle. >> reporter: but for those still on the ground inenezuela, it seems the wait for that day never ends. for the pbnewshour, i'm marcia >> nawaz: just yes, roberto patino received wo that his arrest warrant has been revoked, but his accounts remain frozen.

pa nawaz: in a year of isolation an, book sales are up, as adults and children have turned to reading for distrndtion, undersg and sheer loeasure. in our continuin this week at the "best of 2020", jeffrey brown turns to two booksellehe who curate tir selections with this "year like no other" in mind. all part of our ongoing art and oulture series, canvas. >> brown: and folook at the year in books, we turn to two bookstore owners, janet webster jones of source booksellers in detroit. we featured her recently in a look at the plight ofbo independensellers. and ann patchett is co-owner of parnassus books in nas and of course, one of our leading writers. hr recent novel is the du house. it's nice to see both of you. you in your t-shiro see both of janet, let me just start with you bere we get to our list.

give us a little update. how is the holidayeason going? >> well, the holiday season is an absolute joy. we have been so busy, especially since the last time we talked, that we can hardly answer the phone. we've had a very busy, busy season. we have been frantically doing our fulfillment ordersell as greeting people by twos and threes as they come to the store. >>rown: and ann patchett, what's it been like for you in this strange year? >> it's a very similar story here. we've been overwhelmed bhowin edibly kind and suortive our customers have been, not just in nashville, but really all across the country.av people he stepped up to help us out, ordering boo online, ordering curbside.ng we've been runooks out to people's car and now we're letting a few people into the store at a time. we take everybody's temperature. everybody wears maskd sanitizer. and pele have been really kind

and compliant and supportive.ee it'sa very heartwarming christmas time.l >> brown: alght, so let's look at some of the most important, our favorite books of the year. and you're both nicely packaged our first round in a in a package of three. janet, why don't you start all of your books you told me have e word rise in it. tell us about them. >> the three books that we have th have the word rise are first a biography. it's called he dead are rising" by les pain, who was a very well known journalist, and his daught, tamara payne. the book was worked on over a 30 year period, and it's about the life and times of malcolm x. so this new biography on him foh was worked on for 30 years, i think is very important. the dead are rising. the next one is a political commentary by reverend al sharpton called "rise up" and this book is a book of choice making.

he says that readers are led to understand that we are at a crossroads in our politicalpm devet, sort of like our social development, our emotional development, while we're in that as a country, in a political development where we must choose to live out the meaning of the title rise up. e third one is a cookbook, and it's a historical and contemporary history. it's called "the rise" by chef marcus samuelsson, who i know has been on your show, jeffrey. and he was so good. i loved hearing him. the book is beautiful and highly recommend for people.e so those are my three books of rise that have rise in t title, which seems to be the message that we have to rise up aand chge the way we li think. >> brown: all right, so and janet went witnonfiction, i think yourirst three are all novels, so what have you what do you have? >> yeah, i'm always for fiction. "deacon king kong" by jim mcbride. jim mcbride is very much in the

news recently because he's had a television show about his last novel, "the good lord bird," which won the national book award, was terrific.ha this is a bookis set in brooklyn in 1969, a character named sportcoat, who is a bad alcoholic, shoots a dr dealer in the projects where he lives and has no memory of it. sportcoat has both the worst luck and the best luck of any literature.i've ever seen in and this story follows what happens when everyone's trying to catch up with him. next book, one omy very, very favorite books of the year, "transcendent kingdom" by jesse. and it is the story of the wonderfully named character gifty, who is a sidoh year oral student at stanford in neuroscience.s and shudying the science of addicti and depression. of evangelical fai sciencetion

and how she's trying to solve thproblems of her own life and my very, very favorite book of the year by my very favorite writer, louise erdrich's, "the night tchman," set in 1959. this is the story that's loosely sed on louise's own grandfather and how he tries to save the ojibway nation by making sure that a termination contract on native american treaties doesn't gthrough the u.s. government. this is such a hopeful book and really all three of these novels are about one person making a difference in the world and changing the outcome of a fate for a lot of people. >> brown: there was a book that i know you both loved, janet, you can start on this. it's called "black bottom saints," a historical novel by alice randall. janet tell us about it. >> yes, black bottom saints is a novel.

and i wanted to say, too, that i think it's a very important subject because it's aov historical based on real life characters and people who lived and worked and walked which was called black bottom. black bottom was a veryim rtant neighborhood in detroit prior to the expressways, and it has been raised bthe expressways coming to detroit, the interstate expressway, so that neighborhood no longer exists. >> brown: and ann patchett, youk had a few for young people or for or for the child in all of us. >> yes, yes. we always need something for our kids. all right, "silver arrow" by lev grossman. fourthrade and up girl named kate asks her rich uncle who she's never t for a birthday present. she and her littleer tom, go off on the train, have such adventures. and it, again, is all about problem solving and creativity really a wonderful book. everythi kate dicamillo

writes, i love this is the fifth novel in the ducobu drive series, stella endicott and the anything is possible poem. grades one through three. you have to write a poem for school. stella writes about her neighbor's pig, mercy watson. >> brown: and janet, ihink we have time for one more. you got one more pick for us?>> ell, i guess i had five, actually, but i'll pick one. one that has gotten a lot of attention is called "braiding sweetgrass" by robin wall kimmerer.oo this braiding sweetgrass, has, i believe, changed the lives of a lot of people because we've had people come in the store to say, i read this book, i've given it away aant to buy more and give them away. >> brown: janet webster jones, of source booksellers in detroit, ann patchett parnassus books in nashville, thank you both very much. >> thank you. >> thank you, jeff >> nawaz: on the newshour online right now, we think ahead to the new year as we reflect on ahat was a vepical year.

what resolutions are you setting fo2021, if any? we spoke to experts on how to set your intentions, as ll as viewers like you on what their plans are for the ye o ahead. thatour website, pbs.org/newshour. and that the newshour for tonight. i'm amna nawaz. join us online and again here tomorrow evening. for all of us at the pbs newshour, thank you, please stay safe, and see you soon. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> carnegie corporation of new york. supporting innovations in education, democratic engagement, and the advancemenal

of internatieace and security. at carnegie.org. it >> andthe ongoing support of these institutions >> this program was made public broadcasting.for and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org -oh, give me a home where the vaqueros roam,

where fresh corn is milled and pastries are filled... and i'll eat tamales and empanadas all day. mmm, it feels like i'm eating [speaks in spanish]. today, i'm getting a traditional taste of northern mexican cuisine at a historic sonora hacienda. this keeps getting better and better, maite. then, i bring those flavors back to my kitchen ta that you too can get a e of that norte hacienda life. and so does a very hungry vaquero of my own. this combination is a super winner. sweet and spicy, fresh corn chile verde and cheese tamales. grilled chili-rubbed pork chops topped with a pickled juicy grape salad.