captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for saturday, january 30: the c.d.c. orders comprehensive new mask guidelis. more charges announced in the investigation into the capitol riots. >> the fact that you cannot build multi-family housing, that prevents black and hispanic people from moving into your to. there's st no two ways about it. >> sreenivasan: and, in our series "roads to recovery," zoning laws and affordable housing in connecticut. next, on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. the anderson family fund. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family

the jpb foundation/ barbara hope zuckerberg. the leonard and norma klorfine foundation. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we lieve taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investments. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no-contract plans, and our u.s.-based customer service team can help find one that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

>> sreenivasan: good evening, and thank you for joining us. the centers for disease control and prevention is requiring masks to be worn on all forms of public transportation starting monday night. the order applies to passengers and crew members for all forms of public travel within the united states, but also when traveling into or out of the country. the rule also applies to transportation hubs like airports and train stations. the order follows an executive order from president joe biden last week that required masks on airplanes and on federal property. the mask mandate comes as, on average, confirmed infections, deaths, and hospitalizations all continue to fall in the united states, compared to two weeks ago. that's according to data compiled by the "new york times." today, maryland became the second state to report a case of the south african coronavirus variant. south carolina reported the first u.s. cases on thursday. in a statement, maryland's governor said “the individual has not traveled internationally, making community transmission likely." nearly 28 million doses of covid-19 vaccines have now been

administered, according to the c.d.c. on average, about 1.3 million shots are being given each day. yesterday, johnson & johnson said that its one-shot vaccine was 66% effective at preventing moderate to severe illness-- not as strong as the two-shot vaccines already approved, but still helpful, as states experience vaccine shortages. if approved, the company says it would supply 100 million doses to the u.s. by june. in wuhan, china, where the coronavirus first emerged more than a year ago, a team from th world health organization continued its investigation into the origins of the pandemic. on its second full day on the ground, the group visited an exhibition site and a hospital that treated patients in the early days of the pandemic. two members of the far right nationalist group, the proud boys, were indicted inederal court yesterday on conspiracy arges relating to the january 6 u.s. capitol attack. dominic pezzola of rochester, new york and william pepe of beacon, new york face a number of charges, including civil disorder, unlawful entry, and

disruptive conduct. pezzola, a former marine, who is allegedly seen here smashing a u.s. capitol window, faces additional charges, including obstructing an official proceeding, assault, and more. according to a criminal complaint, pepe was identified as a metro transit authority employee who was on sick leave when he was photographed inside the capitol building on january 6. both men were originallcharged by criminal complaint and arrested earlier this month. congressional leaders announced yesterday that u.s. capitol police officer brian sicknick who died after sustaining injuries in the january 6 insurrection, will lie in honor in the building next week. sicknick died after being hit in the head with a fire extinguisher during the mob attack inside the capitol. in a joint statement speaker nancy pelosi and senate majority leader chuck schumer said “the u.s. congress is united in grief, gratitude and solemn appreciation for the service and sacrifice of officer brian sicknick.” there will be a viewing ceremony for sicknick in the capitol rotunda on tuesday followed by a congressional tribute on wednesday.

he will be interred at arlington national cemetery that same day. for the latest national and international news, visit wwpbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: in the first installment of our new series, "roads to recovery," we reported on connecticut's efforts to provide an economic rescue for some of the state's landlords and renters in fairfield coun. while that support is in response to the continued economic fallout caused by the covid pandemic, the size and scale of the need points to a much larger systemic chaenge that runs throughout connecticut: the lack of affordable housing. in this next installment, christopher booker reports on efforts to reform connecticut's land use laws and the complicate mix of history, politics and racial dynamics that impact who gets to live where. this segment is part of the initiative, "chasing the dream: poverty and opportunity in america." >> but the site is quite isolated. >> reporter: yeah. real estate developer richard freedman has had plans for this

nearly-three-acre plot of land in fairfield, connecticut, since 2014. >> so, i buy this site, and i'm thinking, you know, really? >> reporter: yeah. >> who could rlly care what goesp on this site? >> reporter: yeah, yeah. tucked between interstate 95, active train tracks, and a single house that sits at the far end of the property, the original plan was to build a four-story building with 95 rental apartments, 30% designated as affordable. but after rejections from the town's planning and zoning commission, and a half decade of litigation, freedman's design on this plot of land is still just a plan. >> this is how towns fight affordable housing is, if they can't beat you in court,hey know that if they deny you, they can at least stall you. and if they can drag it out long enough, sometimes they can kill it. >> reporter: and fairfield is in desperate need of affordable

housing. only about 2.5% of the town's more than 21,000 housingnits are designated as affordable, fewer than any other city of its size in the state. to freedman, connecticut's localized zoning rules, coupled with an overwhelming preference for single-family homes on large lots, is in part driving rial segregation. >> the fact that you cannot build multi-family housing, that prevents black and hispanic people from moving into your town. there's just no two ways about it, and the correlations are almost exact. >> reporter: in neighboring bridgeport, the median household income is about $47,000. 80% of residents are minorities and multi-family housing makes up more than 68% of the housing stock. in fairfield, the median household income is nearly $139,000. 16% of the residents are minorities, and multi-family housing makes up about 14% of the housing stock. >> even 100 years ago, people generally didn't use overtly

racist or racial language when these zoning ordinances were put into place, but they have been devastatingly effective in maintaining a town like fairfield and many other towns in connecticut as almost entirely white. >> reporter: while inequality across connecticut has been growing for decades, the events of 2020-- the covid-19 pandemic and an increased awareness of racial inequality following last summer's protests-- has led to new momentum for reform to where and what kind of homes the state builds. >> we have an unprecedented chance to change the way that we think about zoning's impact on housing in connecticut as a whole. >> reporter: sara bronin is the lead organizer and founder of desegregate connecticut, a coalition formed last summer to push for changes to the state's land use laws. >> o zoning laws,ike zoning laws all over the country, have become overly restrictive.

right now, zoning in connecticut has largely locked in large-lot, single-family, detached housing. and we know from demographic trends, even just looking at young people, they don't necessarily want to live in that kind of housing. >> reporter: to quantify just how restrictive the state's zoning is, this week, desegregate connecticut released a comprehensive zoning atlas of the state to show exactly what can be built in each of connecticut's 169 towns, and under what rules. in more than 90% of the state, a single-family home can be built without a public hearing under the existing zoning code. for a four-family home, that's true in only 2% of the state. desegregate connecticut is lobbying state lawmakers to significantly expand where smaller multi-family projects can be built, including by main streets and near transit stations, while removing the need for a public hearing. it's also pushing for reduced parking requirents and legalizing what are known as accessory dwelling units,

separate apartments in single- family homes. bronin acknowledges that in connecticut, changes at the state level will mean local municipalities will have to cede some control. is it possible to convince the public and the localized towns that change is necessary and change should come? >> i think that there is an emotional moment right now that our proposals d coalition is moving in sync with. at the same time, for those who are not moved by the moment, therare plenty of studies and reports that have shown that zoning reform would be good for connecticut. it would create jobs. it would increase the tax base. it will help seniors age in place. it will keep young people in your community. it will enable housing options for a wider variety of people than we're allowing today. >> reporter: it will be up to legislators like democrat cristin mccarthy vahey to balance the need for more

housing options with concerns from existing residents. she co-chairs the planning and development committee in the connecticut general assembly and also represents part of fairfield. >> we experience what a lot of the communities in fairfield county do, which is that struggle and that tension between what we aspire to in terms of i think a lot of us want to be-- an open, welcoming and inclusive community. but then, when people have moved into an area, and they have an expectation about what their home is going to be like, and then they learn that, wait, there's this other ability for things to happen, i think sometimes people-- they get upset. >> reporter: mccarthy vahey has supported some statewide zoning changes in the past and says any reforms will be done in consultation with local municipalities. >> we have a broad set of needs here, and sometimes when you're over here, you're not seeing what's happening over there. so, we've got to work together.

and yes, sometimes that's the role of state law, to say here's what we're going to have to do because this is a broader need. >> i'm not one for releasing our local zoning control. i don't want to do that. we're new englanders. no one really likes to do that. we don't like to regionalize. i think there's other ways we can get there. >> reporter: republican brenda kupchick is the first selectwoman of fairfield. before being elected in 2019, she served almost nine years in the state legislature. after the events of this past summer, particularly with the black lives matter movement, zoning has become part and parcel of the discussion as it relates to systemic racism and the exclusion of groups of people. do you think that that is warranted and part of the conversation? >> i can understand that point of vieto say that zoning was created to keep out certain people, but i think this is more based on your income. i think that, you know, there's

poor white people, there's poor minorities, there's poor people, right? and so, i think i can understand that point of view, and it's a welcome discussion. i think it's a discussion we should all have. but to me, i look at it like there's some character, right, to your community. you know, do you want to live in a city, or do you want to live in a town? and i would hope that i don't come across-- as a white, you know, first selectwoman of fairfield-- that i'm trying to be discriminatory by wanting to have some control over my local zoning laws. >> reporter: kupchick points to projects like pine tree apartments as a model. it's a 50-unit affordable housing development which was rebuilt and expanded by the non-profit fairfield housing authority in 2017. and s says fairfield has made strides toward building more affordable housing, including creating a trust fund paid for with a fee on new construction and building additions. but she says what she worries about is a 30-year-old state law

known as 8-30g which allows private developers to supersede most local zoning rules if they set aside at least 30% of the units as affordable for 40 years. >> this statute has become an avenue for predatory development. and so, it's not so much developers who are looking to solely build affordable housing because that is their mission, but rather i want to build a lot, make a lot, and i'll be able to just offer this small percentage of affordab units and not have to comply with local zoning laws. and to me, that's a completely inappropriate process. >> reporter: have you had a number of those battles-- for lack of better term-- here in fairfield? >> huge amount. >> reporter: including with richard freedman and his proposed multi-family apartment building. in 2014, fairfield's planning and zoning commission rejected his plan. citing safety concerns, the town argued that the 20-foot-wide street was too narrow, and the parking lot didn't have enough room for a fire truck to turn around. freedman made alterations to the

design, including fewer units and a fire lane. and after years of litigation, an appellate judge ruled that safety concerns the commission raised do not outweigh fairfield's long-time and admitted need for affordable housing. with that approval, freedman hopes to start construction of this project in the next year or so. >> long ago, many towns became very sophisticated at fighting 8-30g. so, if the town of fairfield puts me through five years of litigation to get this project approved, eventually it gets approved. but every other developer looks at that and says, "i can't be bothered with that. it'sust too hard to use." >> reporter: you know, you still are a private developer, though, and it obviously must work in some economic sense. >> it has to. yeah, it has to work, economically. so, that's a-- this whole notion of the greedy, exploitive developer? that's a trope that opponents to 8-30g use all the time.

but there are plenty of private developers making a lot more money building single-family houses, and no one calls them "exploitive." >> reporter: while freedman acknowledges that 8-30g has not been enough to make a real dent in the affordable housing needs of places like fairfield, he knows firsthand it can work. >> the bedroom is at the end of the unit. >> reporter: and 54 total units in the building. >> yeah, 54 total units. >> reporter: and how many of those were designated as affordable? >> half. >> reporter: half. when freedman's company completed this project in fairfield in 2014, it included some of the first non-age- restricted affordable rental units to be built in fairfield in more than 40 years. >> sreenivasan: while local communities and states like connecticut grapple with longstanding issues of housing inequality, the new biden administration has announced it will also make this issue a priority. >> there's a memorandum for the secretary of housing and urban development... >> sreenivasan: on tuesday, president biden released a memorandum on redressing our nation's and the federal

government's history of discriminatory housing practices and policies. it included a frank acknowledgment that during the 20th century, federal, state and local governments systemically implemented racially- discriminatory housing policies that contributed to segregated neighborhoods and inhibited equal opportunity. earlier, i spoke with margery austin turner, institute fellow at the urban institute, and began by asking her about the importance of the biden administration recognizing the role the government played in creating housing inequity. let's first start by talking about why is this even important as an executive action to acknowledge what happened? >> facing the facts about the policies and practices that our government and private institutions have pursued over more than a century is absolutely the essential first step for addressing those harms, dismantling the system of separate and unequal neighborhoods that we've built.

so, facing the facts is critical. it's a starting point, but it's not enough. we have a long path ahead of us of policy and practice changes to get us to more equitable solutions. >> sreenivasan: how much power does the biden administration actually have? because so much of what happens is on a local level, on a state level, what can the federal government do to try to right these inequities? >> the federal government has a lot of tools in its toolkit, and it could have more. it's true that state and local governments played an important role in building these inequities, and they're going to have to play a part in unwindi the legacy. but there's a lot the federal government can do. i mean, just one example is that hud can reactivate a regulation that already exists-- it's been well developed and well

defined-- that requires states and localities that receive formula funding to develop plans, develop plans for their communities to create more neighborhood opportunities for everybody. >> sreenivasan: i know your organization has come up with a laundry list of suggestions. what is the easiest thing that the administration could tackle, and then what is the hardest? >> well, none of this work is easy, but i think first steps are, as i said, reactivate this regulation that's already in place. a tremendous amount of excellent work was done in the obama administration to craft this regulation. it's called "affirmatively furthering fair housing." tu it back on. get that started again right away. in addition, hud has the responsibilityto enforce the federal fair housing act, which

prohibits all kinds of discrimination in the housing market-- in sales, rentals, lending, appraisals. and that law can be more vigorously enforced, more proactively enforced, really digging into the forms, the subtle forms of discrimination that continue to operate in the housing market today. so, while neither of those things is easy, both can be done right away without new rulemaking or new legislation. >> sreenivasan: ultimately, rules have to have some consequences. is the federal government in a position where it can enforce the rules that are already on the books? >> it clearly has the power and the obligation. i also think it's important for us to understand how much harm inaction is inflicting on all of us.

discrimination and segregation perpetuate inequities and injustices across just about every domain of life-- safety, education, health, employment, wealth building. if we leave those inequities unaddressed, the costs to all of us are really huge. so, this is a critical priority worth putting energy and effort and ultimately money into. >> sreenivasan: do you think that the pandemic has brought this into focus more? i mean, we have lived with these inequities for so long; are we paying more attention to it because we're seeing what's happening right now? >> well, i think this past year, both the profoundly inequitable

consequences of the pandemic in terms of health and in terms of job and income loss and housing instability and hunger, all of those consequences have been far more severe for people of color. and that has really raised people's focus on these long- standing issues. but i think also the reawakening to the terrible injustices that arose in the spring when we faced up to the killings of black people by police, that reawakening of attention has also shifted our focus and forced a reckoning with the longstanding injustices. >> sreenivasan: margery austin turner from the urban institute, thanks so much for joining us. >> you're very welcome.

>> this is pbs newshour weekend, saturday. >> sreenivasan: in just six months, the 2020 olympics are set to begin in tokyo, japan. the summer games were delayed last year following the coronavirus outbreak and rescheduled for 2021. but, with the country battling its third wave of infections, will japan be ready to host the olympics games? newshour weekend's ivette felicio has more. >> reporter: it's been almost a year since the international olympic committee, or i.o.c., announced the 2020 tokyo olympic games would be postponed because of the covid-19 pandemic. and ever since then, there's been speculation about canceling the games altogether. organizers say they expect to spend more than $12 billion hosting the olympi, but with parts of the world still experiencing a growing number of covid-19 cases and japan yet to begin vaccinations, there's growing uncertainty over the future of the delayed 2020 games. on wednesday, the i.o.c.

president pushed back against reports that the olympics will be canceled. >> we are not speculating of whether the games will take place. we are working on how the games will take place. >> reporter: japan's prime minister has echoed a similar sentiment, but a poll this month found close to 80% of japanese think the games should be canceled or postponed again. >> ( translated ): even if japan were able to curb the coronavirus, i don't think we could welcome athletes, considering the current situation. it should be cancelled. the money we spend should be used for anti-virus measures instead. >> reporter: to limit the read of the coronavirus, the i.o.c. has cut the number of days athletes will be in the country. but there is still no word on if competitors will be greeted with full stadiums. that uncertainty hasn't stopped athletes from training, as they await a full list of safety guidelines, set to be released early next month.

>> sreenivasan: that's all for this edition of pbs newshour weekend. for the latest news updates, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. stay healthy, and have a good night. captioning sponsored by wnet captioned by media access group at wgbh access.wgbh.org >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. the anderson family fund. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the j.p.b. foundation. barbara hope zuckerberg. the leord and norma klorfine foundation.

the fund. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investments. additional support has been provided by: consumer cellular. and by: and by the corporation for public broadcastin a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. you're watching

♪ male announcer: support for the pbs presentation of this program was provided by general motors. female announcer: the world is ever-changing. what hasn't really changed is the way we move around it, but that way is giving way to a whole generation of people who will charge their cars just like their phones and who will judge vehicles not by the rev of an engine, but by the hum of change. the start button to an all-electric future has been pushed. rubenstein: how has humor changed? people laugh at the same kind of things? are there certain things you can make fun of now you couldn't or vice versa? michaels: there's nothing we did in the seventies that i could do now. rubenstein: have you ever gotten worried that you picked a guest host who really isn't up to the task? michaels: yeah. rubenstein: and how do you coach them,