♪ captioning sponsored by newshour productions, llc >> woodruff: good evening, i'm judy woodruff. on the newshour tonight, georgia shootings-- a series of deadly attacks at atlanta-area businesses raise new fears for asian-americans. then, covid relief-- the partisan divide over the new law is on full display. we speak to a leading republican as the white house aims to highlight the law's efforts to re-open schools. and, a deadly misunderstanding-- despite being debunked, claims of bat-to-human transmission of covid-19 continues to have a devastating effect on the animals. >> scapegoating bats is unjustified. and it also shifts the focus away from the real responsible party, which is ourselves and

the way that we treat the planet. >> woodruff: all that and more on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: ♪ ♪ ♪ moving our economy for 160 years. bnsf, the engine that connects us.

>> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems-- skollfoundation.org. >> the lemelson foundation. committed to improving lives through invention, in the u.s. and developing countries. on the web at lemelson.org. >> supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. more information at macfound.org >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions: >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

>> woodruff: the suspect who confessed to a shooting spree at three spas in the atlanta area was charged with multiple counts of murder and homicide today. eight ople were killed. and the attacks have prompted greater anger and fear with the asian-american community in georgia, and around the country. stephanie sy begins our coverage with this report >> sy: the mass shooting of six asian women at their place of work is reverberating around the country. the full motive behind the attacks is still unclear. >> we are very early in this investigation, even though we have made an arrest there's still a lot more work to be done. >> sy: 21-year-old robert aaron long, now in custody and charged with murder and assault, has admitted to the shootings. officials in georgia, who are investigating the case with the help of the f.b.i., said he frequently visited massage

parlors in the past, and denied his attacks were racially motivated. >> he claims that these-- and as that it was not racially motivated, he apparently has an issue what he considers a sex addiction and sees these locations as something that allows him to go to these places and it's a temptation for him that he wanted to eliminate. >> reporter: if in controversial remarks, baker commented the murder suspect had a bad day. >> he was pretty much fed up and at the end of his rope and yesterday was a really bad day for him and that is what he did. >> reporter: the ram page >> sy: the rampage yesterday began at around 5:00 p.m., some 30 miles south of atlanta, at youngs asian massage. about an hour later, police responded to shootings at two other establishments across from each other, in northeast atlanta. police say long was headed for florida, where he seemed to have planned similar attacks. even though law enforcement haven't pinned down a racial motive, atlanta mayor keisha lance bottoms said the murders raised fears among asian

americans. >> obviously whatever the motivation was for this guy we know that many of the victims, the majority of the victims were asian. we also know that this is an issue that is happening across the country, it is unacceptable, it is hateful and it has to stop. >> sy: that condemnation for anti-asian violence echoed across the country today, including in washington: >> very concerned because as you know i've been speaking about the brutality against asian americans in the last couple months, and i think it's very very troubling. >> sy: on capitol hill, the chair of the congressional asian pacific american caucus, congresswoman judy chu, blamed the surge of attacks on former president trump and his xenophobic rhetoric during the pandemic.

>> it just brings home to so many asian americans that they are fearful of their lives and circumstances where they would otherwise feel safe, in their homes and at their jobs. >> sy: the nonprofit group “stop a.a.p.i. hate” found hate incidents surged by nearly 150% in 2020, with asian american women more than twice as likely to be targeted. this as the anti-defamation league issued new findings today that white supremacist propaganda is at a decades-long high. for the pbs newshour, i'm stephanie sy. >> woodruff: while investigators question the alleged shooter's motivations, some asian- americans see things differently. amna nawaz picks up the story from here. >> nawaz: less than 24 hours after the attack, atlanta residents, and asian americans in particular, are dealing with the aftermath. for more on the reaction on the ground, we're joined by stephanie cho, the executive director of the asian americans advancing justice in atlanta.

a national civil rights group she runs theirtlanta office. stephanie, welcome to the "newshour". thank you for making the time. so you're there on the ground. start by giving us a sense of how last nightas attack is impacting people. how are they reacting the day after. >> this morning, we had a community call and we had about 60 different individuals including legislators and organizations and individuals and we're just reeling from it. people are scared. people are closing their businesses early. they did last night, and they're looking at doing that again, and it's really creating a shockwave throughout the asian-american community here but nationally, definitely internationally. >> reporter: some of the things we learned from authorities who held a press conference to update the suspect's arrest, they say the suspect told police he had a sexual addiction and launched these attacks in the form of vengeance and they say the suspect despite targeting asian

women and the majority of his victims being asian women denied the racial motivation but they haven't ruled out bias as a motivation. what is your reaction to that? >> i think that's absolutely untrue. i think that this person has some smart lawyers, and has a good legal team. but this is definitely a systematic approach to racism that's very gender based. when we see this violence particularly in asian-american women, it's about the fetish-ization of asian-american women and the violence targeted towards these places is very calculated. i don't know how anybody could see it not. >> reporter: we're also speaking at the end of a very long and traumatizing year for asian-americans across the country. we've seen an increase in the number of hate incidents and attacks. according to the group stop aaip. how mas that impacted

asian-americans of georgia. >> i think hate is in the violence against asian-americans is not new. it's something that has been increased over covid. so the scapegoating of a disease to the asian-american community is exacerbated and is spilling into this moment. i think everybody feared that this would happen with the increased violence that was happening towards asian-americans, and now it's happening here in atlanta. and, so, for us as an organization, even when we were doing work on voter registration hotline, right, just to give people information ability what was happening, we got harassing calls. when our organization was doing work on immigration bills over the past couple of years because there's anti-immigrant bills every year here for the last ten years, we get threatening calls. this violence has been happening herearticularly in the south for many many years, and it is the product of white supremacy.

and, so, we see it as this is the culmination of that, and, so, we're reeling as a community, but we're also very strong and we're here to really ho each other and ask for real accountability. >> reporter: stephanie, of course, the investigation into last night's attack still continues including a possible motivation, but regardless of what authorities find, what are you worried the impact of last night's attack will be? >> i think my worry is people not speaking out against the hate, not speaking out and not wanting to tell people that they've experienced harassment, hate, discrimination in any kind of way. actually, this is the time for us to band together. we as an organization have had a tremendous amount of support. what we're seeing is actually more and more people are banding together and creating solidarity in this moment and the future.

>> reporter: we are certainly thinking of you and everyone in atlanta and certainly the families of the victims. that is stephanie cho, executive director of asian-americans advancing justice in atlanta. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> woodruff: in the day's other news, president biden says new york governor andrew cuomo should step down, if an investigation confirms allegations of sexual harassment and misconduct. the president spoke during an interview with abc news that aired this morning. he was asked if cuomo should resign. >> yes. i think he'll probably end up being prosecuted too. a woman should be presumed to telling the truth and should not be scapegoated and become victimized by her coming forward. number one. but there should be an investigation to determine whether what she says is true.

that's what's going on now. >> woodruff: mr. biden also conceded it will be tough to pull u.s. troops out of afghanistan by the may 1st deadline that was agreed to by the trump administration. and, for the first time, the president also voiced support for changing the senate's filibuster rule to require lawmakers to talk on the floor to hold up a bill. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell had warned of a "scorched earth" if democrats end the filibuster. homeland security secretary alejandro mayorkas today refused to characterize the influx of migrant children into the u.s. as a "crisis." testifying before a house hearing, mayorkas instead said that term is more applicable to the trump administration's family separation policy. we'll get a republican perspective on immigration from wyoming senator john barrasso after the news summary.

the federal reserve today said it will keep its key interest rate near zero through 2023. in washington, chairman jerome powell remained hopeful the economy will accelerate this year. >> we do expect that we'll begin to make faster progress on both spending, you know, labor markets and inflation as the year goes on because of the progress with the vaccines, because of the fiscal support that we're getting. we expect that to happen, but we'll have to see it first. >> woodruff: meanwhile, it was widely reported the i.r.s. will extend the deadline to file federal taxes until mid-may, citing a backlog of returns. stocks climbed higher on wall street today. the dow jones industrial average gained 189 points to close at 33,015. the nasdaq rose 53 points, and the s&p 500 added 11. the u.s. has sanctioned 24 more

chinese and hong kong officials over the continued crackdown on political freedoms in the semi- autonomous city. that comes as u.s. secretary of state antony blinken is set to meet his chinese counterpart for the first time tomorrow in alaska, after visiting u.s. allies in asia. the u.s. senate today unanimously confirmed katherine tai to be the country's top trade negotiator. she is the first asian-american and the first woman of color to serve in the position. tai has pledged to hold china accountable for its actions, and protect american jobs. the u.s. senate also began discussing legislation that would ban discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. the "equality act" narrowly passed the house last month. in a senate hearing, transgender teen stella keating spoke virtually on its potential impact.

>> less than half of the states in our country provide equal protection for me under the law. what happens if i want to attend college in a state that doesn't protect me? right now, i could be denied medical care or be evicted for simply being transgender in many states. how is that even right? how is that even american? >> woodruff: republican opponents argue the measure would unnecessarily rb religious liberties. its fate in the senate remains unclear. in california, organizers seeking to recall governor gavin newsom face a deadline today to submit 1.5 million petition signatures to get their proposal on the ballot. the democratic governor's popularity has fallen as some californians remain outraged over his handling of the pandemic. and, three passings to note tonight: the president of tanzania, john magufuli, has died. the east african country's vice

president said he died of heart failure. he was a prominent covid-19 skeptic, and had not been seen in public since the end of february, sparking rumors he'd contracted covid. john magufuli was 61 years old. conductor james levine, the longtime leader of the new york metropolitan opera who was fired over sex abuse allegations, has died. his physician said he died of natural causes on march 9th in palm springs, california. levine was the driving force at the met for more than 40 years. here he is in 2011 conducting beethoven's 5th symphony. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ levine was fired in 2018 after an internal investigation uncovered evidence of decades of sexual abuse and harassment of younger men.

james levine was 77 years old. and, dick hoyt, the father who for decades pushed his quadriplegic son in a wheelchair through the bost marathon, has died. the duo had their final finish together in 2014, after completing 32 boston marathons and participating in over a thousand races. dick hoyt was 80-years-old. still to come on the newshour: we speak to a leading republican senator about the border crisis. the white house aims to highlight the covid relief law's education benefits. the debunked theory of bat-to- human transmission of covid-19 has a devastating effect. and much more.

>> woodruff: economic aid from the new covid relief law is already flowing to americans, but as the biden administration hits the road promoting its benefits, the political debate continues. we get the republican perspective now from wyoming senator john barrasso. he is the third-ranking republican in the senate. senator barrasso, thank you very much for joining us. let me ask you first about the covid economic relief package. your state of wyoming is due to receive at least a billion dollars, another 170 million for municipalities, and counties. you and other republicans are saying this is too much money for the federal government to be spending. how much of it is unnecessary for wyoming? >> well, you know, the proposal that republicans in the senate have had is to do something that is appropriate and targeted to help get people back to work and kids back to school, and the

disease behind us. so this big $1.9 trillion bill and only 9% of it went actually to defeat the virus, only 1% of it went to go for vaccines. we wanted to target it. we've done bipartisan bills successfully in the past five times. this bill was not supposed to be about $1,400 checks to illegal immigrants or $1,400 checks to felons who are currently in prisoned or plook grants to sanctuary cities. i talked to our governor again on sunday. wyoming's getting 1 billion out of the 350 billion. you know, there are 22 governors, republican and democrat alike, who sent a letter to say, look, this is a biased approach to giving out the money. it is unfair because so much of this is top heavy going to the states that shut down the earliest and stayed shut down the longest, and states that

acted responsibly and in a responsible way opened up for businesses in a number of ways are being punished in terms of the way that the money is being distributed. >> woodruff: so how much shouldn't wyoming get? and let me ask it this way, because your fellow republican senator rick scott of florida said that governors of republican states should give the money back. now, his own governor, ron desantis, said, no, that's wrong, that that doesn't make sense. who is right in that disagreement? >> well, we brought a bill to the floor of the senate during the final passage of the coronavirus bill, and said, if you're going to distribute this kind of money to the states, let's use the same formula that was used with the cares act because that seemed to more fairly distribute to money to the states because all the states have needs as a result of this. you know, i thought a much smaller targeted bill overall would be better, and ten republicans did to the white

house to meets with president biden because he talked in his presidential address about unity and bipartisanship and talk about getting kids back to school and shots in the arm, which is under a trillion dollars, not this $1.9 trillion bill that included so many things, and the things that i mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg and now. >> woodruff: well how much -- if i could interrupt, how much less then should wyoming get than it's getting. >> i'm going to tell you that we should do the proportionality of the monio ought to be used by the cares act, which is you're one of the $350 billion, new york, california, illinois would get a lot less and other states around the country would be getting more. but um saying that we shouldn't have done any of this mainly spending that's unrelated to getting people back to work and kids back to school and the disease behind us. >>oodruff: immigration. as you know, it is an issue

ongoing for the last president, for this president. republicans are criticizing president biden now for not being tough enough on border issues. he is saying, and he said again in an interview last night, that he's being very clear, he's telling people who are not documented not to come in. here's part of what he said -- >> i can say quite clearly don't come over and the process of getting set up, and it's not going to take a whole long of time, is to be able to apply for asylum in place. so don't leave your town or city or community. >> woodruff: so, senator, he is saying don't come. why, then, are republicans blaming him for what's going on at the border? >> well, joe biden, on inauguration day, signed executive orders his first day in office which basically turned on the switch that said open borders. he is fully responsible for what's happening at our border

right now, whether you want to call it a crisis or a condition. the fact is that the number of unaccompanied minors, an all-time record high. people are coming into the country, adults positive for coronavirus, who are getting on buses and going through the country carrying the disease a and they're told, once you get to your final destination, then be careful and isolate yourself after the fact. look, this is going to get worse. president biden has eliminated the stay in mexico order, he's eliminated the deportations or at least delayed those. he owns this, and he has to take responsibility for it. now, the president may not like it, but president trump actually was successful in disincentivizing people from trying to come to the united states who would be here illegally. and, in my opinion, as a result of that, that did help secure the border, and it helped save lives of people who would have otherwise made this very dangerous trek to the united

states and subjecting themselves to what happens with the human traffickers, the people that are paid to move them from one place to another on a dangerous journey. but mark my words, judy, the caravans are coming, and it is time for president biden to change his policies. >> woodruff: well, i'm sure you know they are turning away all single adults at the border. they are turning away many families at the border. it's only children we know they are allowing in and trying to take care of, and we also know that the increase in immigration began under president trump. but i finally want to ask you, senator, about the vaccine. all the polls are showing that a large proportion of self-identified republicans and half of republican men are saying they do not want the covid vaccine. are you trying to get the message out that this is a good and important thing to do? how are you dealing with this?

>> as a doctor, as soon as i was able to get the vaccine, i have. i have had two shots. i am recommending it for everyone. the vaccine saves lives. operoperation warp speed has boroughs to our -- brought to our country three effective vaccines. it is a big part of our economic and healthcare recovery, getting the country back on a normal track. it is the answer to the prayers of the american people saying what are we going to do about this coronavirus crisis. we're now over a year into it. judy, i would say everyone should get vaccinated and looks like we have enough vaccinations due to operation warp speed that everyone could be vaccinated by may. i would recommend it for everyone. >> woodruff: senator john barrasso of wyoming, thank you very much, we appreciate it. >> thanks, judy. # >> woodruff: living through a full year of closed schools and

distance learning has taken a heavy toll on students, parents, teachers and school administrators. as william brangham reports, the covid relief law is meant to speed the return of the u.s. education system to more traditional school routines >> brangham: judy, the bill sets aside roughly $122 billion to help k-through-12 schools reopen, including money to improve ventilation systems, reduce class sizes and buy schools personal protective systems. during a visit to a school in concord, new hampshire today, first lady jill biden said everyone would benefit. >> we are going to safely reopen our schools. we are going to get people back to work. when schools like christa mcauliffe are open full-time and childcare providers are safe and affordable, parents can focus on the careers they love and support their families.

>> brangham: laura meckler is the national education writer at the "washington post" and has been following all this closely. i think it's fair to say that if you carved out $125 billion from this bill and said this was a stand alone education bill, this would be a record setting size of money, to begin with. i mentioned some to have the things that this is going to be spent on. where is this money going to go and what else is it going to be spent on? >> a lot of the money will be spent on staffing. one thing they want to do is prevent layoffs. in some places, taxes are down, budgets at schools are squeezed and this will help them or maybe grow staffing. you might need another bus driver, you might need another bus. you are both keeping the building facilities itself safe, but you're also trying to have the staffing that's necessary and keep kids apart.

>> reporter: we've heard through this entire pandemic, stay six feet apart. there's increasing research that maybe three feet apart is considered safe. that would certainly change the dynamic for schools if that became the recommendation, right. >> yes, this has been a subject of a lot of hot debate in the education world lately. the c.d.c., as you know, wove all been hearing six feet, six feet for a year now, but there is research that suggests that if you do a lot of other mitigation strategies and most importantly wearing masks, three feet is okay. the world health organization recommends three feet, the american academy of pediatrics recommends three feet because in a school setting you need to balance the risk. not having kids back to school or only a few hours a week, there's a lot of damage to kids, so maybe it's a bigger risk to have them at home so much than it is to have them a little bit closer together in the school building. so, yes, the c.d.c. director told us this week that she is

looking at revising that guideline and, so, we may see soon a change. maybe some sort of either all or in certain situations of three feet being enough. >> reporter: we also know that this year put kids at an incredible deficit, as you were saying, that getting them back in school is a priority for everyone, really. i know some of this money is targeted for what is called learning loss. is that what it sounds like, that this is trying to help fill some of the deficit that have occurred this year. >> yes, exactly. there has been, you know, e-forms damage done to students over the last year socially, emotionally and also academically. we have research from testing that was done in the fall that just measured what happened whel that were lost at the end of last school year because school shut down in the middle of march and there was still quite a bit of school to go. even just based on that the test scores showed kids were several months behind, already, and that was really before we really got

into the bulk of this year, and those deficit are etch greater for the kids who come from high-poverty families and greater for black and hispanic children. it is a serious issue. the congress told the states that, through this bill, they're giving a lot of money, as we've said, but each district is required to spend 20% of their funds on mitigating learning loss, so that might be a robust summer school program, it might be high-intensity tutoring. they're looking at a lot of different things, but those are two of the most popular ways people are thinking about to try to really help kids make up some of these deficits. >> reporter: i know that the bulk of this money is geared towards pools -- public schools and public school kids but some money was carved out for private schools, which some didn't like when betsy devos the former education secretary tried to do that, but that's in this bill, too. >> there's a special caver out

for private schools. docsecretary devos was using soe public school allocation and writing the formula in a way many thought was unfair and channeling too much money to private schools. there's no doubt what the law says, the law says 2, almost $3 billion is set aside for private schools. traditionally, democrats have said public schools get public money, private schools do not. they have been opposed to vouchers and other school choice type programs. however, th rationale from the senate majority leader chuck schumer is these private schools have also been hit hard by the pandemic which, of course, is true and they also serve a number of children. >> reporter: one of the criticisms of the larger relief bill and this education money has been this is so much money and there is leftover unspent money from prior relief bills. how true is that? >> well, it's true, there is

money re left over from previous relief bills. the school districts will tell you that's because they have budgeted the funds but haven't spent them. like any wise budgeters, you spend it a little at a time. you don't know if you leget more so you want to make it last. republicans respond if it was an emergency, it would have been spent already, so why do you need more. so that's why the de-- where the debate came down and the bill passed and we're moving on. >> reporter: laura meckler of "the washington post," thank you so much for being here. >> thanks for having me. >> woodruff: the world health organization is expected to release its report soon on the origins of the coronavirus and how the pandemic began. many researchers believe the virus first passed from bats to humans, adding to public fears around bats. but as special correspondent catherine rampell tells us,

their species are under threat in a way that presents significant consequences for us. and a note: parts of this report were shot before the pandemic. >> reporter: there's a p.r. push to help bats. >> we're an easy target. people have bought into this. i'm dark, i'm brooding, i'm malevolent, i'm bad. apparently it's our fault. >> reporter: and truth be told, bats could use all the help they can get. humans have long feared this spooky species. today things are much worse, since many blame bats for causing the pandemic. there's no hard proof that they did, but around the world, bats have been subject to misguided, sometimes gruesome attacks. >> how the virus that causes the covid pandemic got into the human population is still under scientific investigation. >> reporter: biologist winifred frick: >> scapegoating bats is

unjustified. and it also shifts the focus away from the real responsible party, which is ourselves and the way that we treat the planet. >> reporter: she means not respecting boundaries between humans and wildlife. in fact, humans have been a bigger threat to bats than bats are to humans. over the past 15 years, millions of bats have disappeared from north america due to a fungus probably brought into caves by hikers. itauses a disease called“ white-nose syndrome.” >> it's like a really bad case of athlete's foot. so the fungus actually grows into their skin tissues and that makes them wake up too frequently while they're trying to hibernate. and then there's nothing to eat during the winter. and so they starve to death before spring. >> hey rebecca can you lower this one down more? >> reporter: pre-pandemic, we joined biologists at a park in virginia as they captured bats to track the disease. >> ironically we actually wear batting gloves for this but they're baseball batting gloves. >> reporter: sam freeze is a researcher at virginia tech.

his friends call him batman, but he also shares a name with the caped crusader's nemesis, mr. freeze. >> the iceman cometh! >> reporter: so what do the bats think of you, do they think you're a hero or a villain? >> oh i'm sure they're just terrified for their life. they probably think i'm a big bad predator trying to eat them. >> reporter: back at the picnic tables, our bat underwent a thorough physical exam. >> wing score is zero. >> reporter: zero meaning no sign of scarring from white-nose syndrome. not all of her species are so lucky though. the northern long-eared bat is listed as threatened under the endangered species act. >> there are very few wildlife diseases that have affected so many species in such a short period of time. >> reporter: jeremy coleman, u.s. fish and wildlife service: >> in certain locations upwards of 90% or more of certain species are gone as a result of white nose syndrome. >> reporter: because bats only produce one pup per year, it would take a long time to rebuild the population. >> i've heard various estimates of 500 to 600 years.

>> reporter: so in just over a decade we've lost the same number of bats that it would take half a millennium to recover. >> yes. >> reporter: you might wonder why humans should care. there's the mor argument: as earth's stewards, we have a duty to protect all creatures. conservationists have also tried to win allies with economic appeals: our flying friends kind of work for us. each night they eat at least half their body-weight in insects, including pests that attack crops. >> this was one of our most prolific bat fields., >> reporter: and what about right now? >> almost none. >> reporter: nick lapham, a conservationist and philanthropist, owns an organic vegetable farm in virginia. he bought it in 2006. >> there were bats everywhere. >> reporter: that year, white- nose syndrome was first discovered in upstate new york. soon, it hit bats in virginia. >> we went from having them ubiquitous on the landscape to really over the course of two summers virtually gone. >> reporter: lapham lost a valuable farmhand. >> as an organic farm we can't

spray chemical pesticides. so nature is our frontline defense against insect pests the decline of bats, there are studies that suggest it could mean billions of dollars in losses to u.s. agriculture. >> reporter: he and other farmers, like michigan apple grower steve tennes, have scrambled to find other ways to control pests. >> insects is really our number one issue because nobody wants a worm in their apple. >> reporter: without the bats around, he has to wing it. for the apple maggot, sticky red balls are put out in early summer. >> and so this bug thinks, hey, here's a nice big red apple, it lands on it to lay its eggs, and then it never flies away. >> the pyramid kind of mirrors the look of a tree trunk. >> reporter: then there's this contraption, which the snout beetle likes to climb. >> eventually it goes into this removable. this is a pheromone. >> reporter: finally, sexy smells leave the codling moth too dazed and confused to mate.

>> therefore there's no eggs laid on the apples. >> reporter: none of this comes cheap. >> it does add up a lot. bats by far are the most economical insect management device. >> how do we value nature? >> reporter: environmental economist eyal frank tries to measure what exactly we lose when we lose a species. >> how much is it worth for you to preserve polar bears or pandas or butterflies? >> reporter: why do we need to put a dollar value on a panda or a butterfly? >> if we don't inform those policy discussions about what is the value of a species, we're essentially implicitly assuming a value of zero. >> reporter: the sudden loss of bats, though, can show how nature adds value. first, in the year or so following white nose syndrome's arrival in a county, farmers revenues plunge about 50%. >> because they have fewer products to sell and or they just have lower quality product and they receive a lower price for it.

>> reporter: insurance claims for insect damage shoot up 30- fold. then, like organic farmers, conventional farmers seem to adjust pest-control strategies, and expenses go up. >> there is a very big increase in insecticide use. >> reporter: which has downstream effects for human heth. >> because they are toxic by design, and i find that indeed infant mortality rates go up. and i can mostly attribute that to the births that are conceived during the pesticide application season between april and july. >> reporter: it's a butterfly effect of sorts. but instd of “a butterfly flaps its wings,” of course, it's bats-- not flapping theirs. other studies have estimated the harm to humans when whales, bees, sea stars, and other parts of the ecosystem disappear. >> in the case of sea stars the role that they play in supporting fisheries. in the case of bats, the role that they play in supporting agriculture. massive potential impacts for which we are really not

prepared. >> reporter: some might worry this suggests a species with no documented economic contributions isn't worth saving. but that's not the right takeaway, says economist frank. ecosystems are complex and interconnected. >> imagine you get on a plane and you and you start unscrewing randomly screws here and there. how many can you take out before the plane stops, getting you from destination a to b safely. >> reporter: biologist frick agrees. >> for too long, people have thought that conservation is sort of this altruistic exercise, when really it is part and parcel to our species being able to persist on this planet. >> there they go, back into the forest to hunt for insects. >> reporter: for the pbs newshour, i'm catherine rampell. >> alright, good job team!

>> woodruff: it is among the most-visited sites in england, shrouded in mystery, meaning and mysticism. but now, a very modern problem has stonehenge back in the spotlight: whether to build a tunnel under the stone-age temple to improve traffic flow nearby. as special correspondent malcolm brabant tells us, archaeologists and activists warn a cherished site is now under threat. >> reporter: britain's most flamboyant druid, king arthur pendragon, is on the warpath. >> i'm a pendragon by name and nature. and pendragon means battle chieftain or head dragon. and i am head of what's thought of as the warrior political arm of the druid movement. it's me who takes the protest and it's me that opposes this tunnel by any means necessary if it comes to it. >> reporter: just take a moment

to listen to the silence here at stonehenge. what you can probably hear in the background is the noise of traffic from the highway 250 yards away. it's not very busy today but you can still hear it. not very prehistoric. what those in favor of the tunnel say is that it will bring tranquility back to this ancient site. this video from britain's highways authority visualizes what a difference the tunnel would make to the landscape, while improving the traffic flow in what is regularly a major bottleneck. nichola tasker is the director of stonehenge. >> as we stand here at the stones you can really see how this noisy and polluting road is a blight on the landscape. stonehenge and its landscape is one of the most important neolithic sites within europe. and at the moment it has that road cutting the landscape in half so we believe the tunnel will really enhance the experience that people have of enjoying and exploring the wider

landscape and of understanding the stones themselves. >> these tunnels don't even start outside of the heritage site. it's absolutely head-bangingly stupid. >> reporter: we've come to cambridge, to meet david jacques, an archaeologist specializing in the mesolithic period dating back more than ten thousand years. >> the idea that you can meddle with such a place as the stonehenge landscape is beyond belief, it is heart breaking. >> reporter: jacques is one of 23 archaeologists who claim the tunnel will damage artifacts yet to be discovered and is in breach of the world heritage convention. jacques has been digging close to the river avon within the stonehenge heritage site and among other things has discovered what's believed to be a sacred stone used for tenderizing meat. carbon dating shows this to be a 6,000 year old hoof print of a wild cow. it's the oldest sign of life discovered at stonehenge. and these are knives that stone

age man would have used to put supper on the table. >> what we've got at stonehenge potentially is an archive of people managing crisis. whether it's death, whether it's good things in life. but it's going to be climate change which we know happened in the stonehenge landscape early on. there were almost certainly pandemics as well. we've got a natural archive ready and waiting for new science to bring those stories out. and it's all going to go. >> it's a problem that goes way beyond archaeology. it's a problem about roads, it's a problem about transportation. it a problem about getting a good solution to a difficult problem. >> reporter: archaeologist tim darvill has spent 30 years working on the stonehenge site. he's standing at one of the proposed entrances or portals to the tunnel, which he supports. well the reality is that for the last 20 years we've been working in this landscape in order to try to understand the density of archaeology and exactly what's here. and the engineers and the

archaeologists have worked together very closely to find places in the landscape where the impact will be absolute minimal. and that's the plan to make those portal areas in areas of the landscape where as far as we're aware, there's little or no archaeology at all. >> reporter: stonehenge is a veritable cathedral with spiritual significance for eco warriors, pagans and druids, who have a reverence for the natural world. they worship here each solstice, which mark the longest and shortest days. arthur claims to be a 21st century incarnation of the legendary british king who led the british defense against saxon invaders in the fifth and sixth century. he's awestruck by the engineering skills and grasp of astronomy displayed by the creators of this circle 4,500 years ago. the layout of stonehenge is perfectly positioned to frame the extreme limits of the sun's movement each solstice.

>> it's the very observances of the solstices and the equinoxes that stonehenge was built for that are in danger because of this tunnel proposal. to the western portal it actually comes up within a hundred meters of where the sun sets at the winter solstice. and the light pollution from it means you'll never see the sunset and the winter solstice ever again. >> reporter: but darvill rejects that assertion. >> that was a concern for some time, however the engineers working on this have moved the portal to the west so it's not going to be a problem at all. >> reporter: the battle for stonehenge will come to a climax soon when judges meet to decide whether to overturn the government's approval of the tunnel project >> please do something about it and save this landscape. because if a country like great britain lets unesco and world heritage status treaties down, we can't expect countries that are poorer than us to unhold those standards. >> reporter: stonehenge director

nichola tasker admits she's concerned about the judicial review. >> if the scheme doesn't go ahead it would throw this precious landscape probably back into decades of uncertainty. and the problem that the road presents in terms of pollution and noise will only get worse. reporter: the covid pandemic means stonehenge is currently sealed off to king arthur and all other visitors. the only way to see it up close is from a public footpath outside the perimeter fence. in 2019, before the virus killed off global tourism it attracted 1.6 million visitors. if and when it reopens, it could be embroiled in mass protests. >> the ancestors that are buried in this ancient landscape should not be disturbed. you wouldn't dig your granny up from that churchyard so what makes you think you could do it here? >> reporter: it would be a mistake to dismiss arthur pendragon's battle threats. he has a well documented record

of effective direct action in eco protests. the next stage of stonehenge's turbulent history is just a solstice away. for the pbs newshour, i'm malcolm brabant at stonehenge. >> woodruff: even amid the pandemic, some art exhibitions are opening. and some, like "grief and grievance" at new york's new museum, an examination of race and racism, are particularly timely. jeffrey brown reports for our race matters series and our ongoing arts and culture coverage, canvas. >> brown: a large painting, titled “souvenir ii”, by kerry james marshall: a living room, a woman with angel's wings, images of those who a gone. photographs by latoya ruby frazier: a personal history of a family and a neighborhood.

in a new exhibition, “grief and grievance” at new york's new museum, 37 leading black artists explore, in different ways, aspects of loss in the contemporary black experience, and their own roles in capturing that story. >> as a black american, i draw on my experience living in this country as a source to make the work. that's the subject matter that a lot of artists in the show are contending with. but they're also contending with issues of grief, or mourning, of digging into the subtleties of living in this society. >> brown: glenn ligon is himself a well-known artist. his neon text on the museum's exterior represents the words of a young man beaten while in police custody. but for this exhibition he had another role: helping to finish the work of the man who conceived and inspired it.

>> it is really one of the most significant modern south africa artists of the 20th century. >> reporter: this nigerian-born man >> brown: nigerian-born okwui enwezor was a hugely influential art world figure, first as a champion of contemporary african art and artists, little known or seen in american museums. i spoke with him for his seminal 2002 exhibition, “the short century.” >> coming to the united states a little more than 20 years ago, i was really confronted with the complete absence of what i consider to be a history that i belonged to. >> brown: over the years, enwezor would help expand that space, before dying of cancer in 2019 at age 55.“ grief and grievance” was his last project, turning his attention to the african- american experience. glenn ligon points to the range of work to show the subtle yet powerful approaches of artists, including the oldest works here. jack whitten's “birmingham”, an abstract painting that looks ripped open.

inside: a news photograph of a man being attacked by a policeman with a dog. and daniel larue johnson's“ freedom now number one”: with a button and other items embedded in the surface. >> artists are thinking abstractly and figuratively, trying to blur the lines between them. they're thinking that art also has relevance socially, that it's commentary, you know, that the line between social justice and art is blurred. and that was at the beginning of okwui's thought about the show. and my thinking, too. i like to say that i'm an artist and a citizen. maybe i'm more of a citizen than an artist and the citizen has a kind of responsibility. >> brown: melvin edwards has created his welded-steel sculptures, called “lynch fragments”, over several decades. howardena pindell made this mixed-media collage in 1988.

it's titled “autobiography: water/ancestors/middle passage/ family ghosts." and adam pendleton has a brand new room-sized installation, commissioned for this exhibition, evoking graffiti and protest signs. dawoud bey's 2012 “birmingham project” presents a view of violence and death through ongoing life: young children the age of those killed in 1963, paired with people the age they would be now had they lived. naomi beckwith is another of the exhibition's organizers. >> so he began to reflect on those lost lives and those lost histories through these portraits that appeared together for dawoud's work. not an image of the bombing or the church or any of its effects. but really looking at human life and what was missing in between. >> brown: beckwith, a curator in chicago, was recently named deputy director of new york's guggenheim museum. >> what you can do in the

context of a museum and especially an art exhibition is, not confront people with those difficult terms right away, but give people something to ponder. make them feel a bit closer to the issue because they can access it through their emotions and through their sense of curiosity. >> brown: and even amid the¡ grief', there is music everywhere-- on the walls and in the air. another theme, apparent in several videos: the mix of the personal, as in garrett bradley's “alone” about a women's relationship with a man in prison; and the ¡public'. arthur jafa's “love is the message, the message is death” is just seven and a half minutes but epic in scope. >> the thing i hope people walk away with is an understanding of the riches of contemporary art by black artists across america right now. we often think about the violence that surrounds protests.

we often think about the rights that people really agitate for, as they should. but we don't often talk about the psychological effects on people. >> brown: that, the organizers show, is what art can do, particularly now. >> society as a whole has realized how deeply, deeply embedded white supremacy is into the fabric of this nation and that very hard conversations have to happen to change that. and i think this exhibition,“ grief and grievance,” is one of those conversations. >> brown: the exhibition at new york's new museum is now open for timed entry, with distanced viewing. on its website the museum also offers an interactive virtual tour, plus interviews with many of the artists involved. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown. >> woodruff: and that's the

newshour for tonight. i'm judy woodruff. 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: we offer a variety of no- contract wireless plans for people who use their phone a little, a lot, or anything in between. to learn more, go to consumercellular.tv >> the ford foundation. working with visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and individuals.

>> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. 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, you think this is just a community center?

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hello, everyone. welcome to "amanpour & company." here's what's coming up. >> we do not want people to panic. >> the truth about the astrazeneca vaccine. we cut through the copy cat h hysteria to separate facts from fiction. then with women in britain and around the world still shaken from the murder of sarah everad, we ask how can men do better? >> they are going to be returning from what is the most likely traumatic incident of their entire life. >> teacher of the year turned congressman representative jahana hayes talked to michel martin about this