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 unproven, claims of bat-to-human transmission of covid-19 continue 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. judy: all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour."

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johnson. >> supporting social entrepreneurs and their solutions to the world's most pressing problems. skoll.foundationorg. >> the lemelson foundion. supported by the john d. and catherine t. macarthur foundation. committed to 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. judy: the suspect who confessed

to a shooting spree at spas in three the atlanta area was charged today with multiple counts of murder. eight people were killed. the attacks have prompted greater anger and fear within the asian-american community in georgia -- and around the country. stephanie sy begins with this report. stephanie: the mass shooting of six asian women at their place of work and two other white women is reverberating around the country. the full motive behind the attacks is unclear. >> we are early in this investigation. even though we have made an arrest, there is a lot of work to be done. stephanie: 21-year-old robert aaron long, now in custody, charged with murder and assault, admitted to the shootings. investigators in georgia said he frequently visited massage parlors in the past and denied his attacks were racially motivated.

>> he does claim it was not racially motivated. he does have an issue, a sex addiction, and a sees these locations as a place that allows him to do something he wanted to eliminate. stephanie: baker commented the murder suspect had a bad day. >> he was fed up, at the end of his rope. i guess it was a bad day for him and this is what he did. stephanie: the rampage began at 5:00 p.m., 30 miles south of atlanta at young's asian massage . an hour later, police responded to shootings at two other establishments across from each other in northeast atlanta. long was headed for florida, where he planned other attacks. even though law enforcement have not pinned down a racial motive, one said the murders raised fears among asian americans. >> obviously, whatever the

motivation was for this guy, we know that many of the victims were asian. we also know this is an issue that is happeng across the country. it is unacceptable, it is hateful, and it has to stop. stephanie: that condemnation for anti-asian violence echoed across the country today, including in washington. pres. biden: i am very concerned. i have been speaking about brutality against asian americans for the last couple of months. it is very, very troublesome. stephanie: on capitol hill, the chair of the asian-american caucus, judy chu, blamed the attacks on president trump and his xenophobic rhetoric during the pandemic. >> it 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. stephanie: the nonprofit group found hate incidents surged 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 that white supremacist propaganda is at a decades long high. for the pbs newshour, stephanie sy. judy: as stephanie just reported whatever the suspect's motives , turns out to be, atlanta's asian american community is already on edge. amna nawaz picks up the story from here. amna: 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. that is a civil-rights group.

she runs their atlanta office. thank you for making the time. you are there on the grounds. give us a sense of how last night's attack is impacting people. how are they reactg the day after? stephanie: this morning we had a community call with 16 different individuals including legislators, organizations, individuals. we were reeling from it people -- it. people are scared, closing businesses early. they are looking to do that again. it is creating a shockwave throughout the asian-american community here, nationally and also internationally. lisa: i need to ask you about things we have learned from authorities to up date the suspect's arrest. he told police he had a sexual addiction, launched these attacks as a form of vengeance. they say despite targeting women -- asian women, denied a racial

motivation, but they have not ruled out bias as motivation. what is your reaction? stephanie: i think that is absolutely untrue. i think this person has some smart lawyers and a good legal team. this is definitely a systematic approach to racism that is very gender-based. when we see this violence, particularly aimed at asian-american women, it is about the finishization of asian-american women and the violence targeted toward these places. it is very calculated. lisa: this is a -- amna: we have seen an increase in hate incidents and attacks. tell me about how that has impacted asian americans in georgia. stephanie: the hate and violence

against asian americans is not new. it has been increased over covid. this scapegoating of the disease to the asian-american community has exacerbated and is spilling into this moment. everybody feared this would happen, with the increased violence happening toward asian americans. now it is happening here in atlanta. for us as an organization, even when we were doing work on voter registration hotlines to give people information, we got harassing calls. when our organization was doing work on immigration bills over the past couple of years, because there are anti-immigrant bills here, we got threatening calls. this violence has been happening in the south for many years. it is the product of white supremacy. we see this as the culmination

of that. we are reeling as community, but are also strong, and are here to hold each other and ask for real accountability. amna: the investigation into last night's attack continues. regardless what authorities find, what do you worry the impact of last night's attack will be? stephanie: my worry is, people not speaking out against the hate, not speaking out and not wanting to tell people if they are experiencing harassment, hate, discrimination. this is the time for us to band together. -- together. we have had tremendous support. more and more people are creating solidarity in this moment and for the future. amna: we are certainly thinking of you and everyone in atlanta,

and the families of the victims. that is stephanie cho in atlanta. thank you very much. ♪ stephanie: i am stephanie sy with newshour west. we will return to judy woodruff and the rest of the program after these headlines. tornado warnings in effect across the deep south this evening as a wave of storms affect some 16 million people. this video shows damage after a tornado touched down in wayne county, mississippi. tens of thousands of homes and businesses are without power from texas to alabama. president biden 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. pres. biden: yes, i think he

will be 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 is what is going on. stephanie: mr. biden conceded it will be tough to pull troops out of afghanistan by the may 1 deadline agreed to by the trump administration. for the first time, the president voiced support for changing the filibuster rule to require lawmakers to talk on the floor if they want to hold up a bill. senate minority leader mitch mcconnell warned of a scorched earth, if democrats end the filibuster. the homeland security secretary mayorkas refused to characterize the influx of migrant children into the u.s. as it crisis. crisis is a term, he said, more

applicable to the trump administration's family separation policy. we will get a republican perspective from senator john barrasso after the news summary. the federal reserve settable key -- keep the key interest rate near zero through 2023. chairman jerome powell says he remains hopeful the economy will accelerate this year. >> we do expect we will begin faster progress on both spending, labor markets, and inflation, as the year goes on. because of the progress with the vaccines and fiscal support we are geing. we expect it, but we have to see it first. stephanie: meanwhile, the irs is extending its deadline to file federal taxes until to give may 17, americans more time during the pandemic. stocks climbed higher on wall street today. the dow jones gained 189 points to close at 33,015.

the nasdaq rose 53 points and of 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 a 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 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 does not 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? stephanie: republican opponents argue the measure would unnecessarily curb 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 contracted the virus. 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. he was 77 years old. dick hoyt -- the father who for decades pushed his quadriplegic son in a wheelchair through the boston 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. stelter, on the newshour with a judy woodruff, we speak to a leading republican senator about

the border crisis and more. the white house aims to highlight the covid relief law's education benefits. the unproven theory of bat-to-human transmission of covid-19 has a devastating effect. and much more. >> this is the pbs newshour from weta studios in washington and in the west from the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: economic aid from the new covert relief law is already flowing to americans but as the , biden administration hits the road promoting its benefits, the political debate continues. get the republican perspective now from wyoming senator john barrasso, the third ranking republican in the senate. thank you for joining us. let me ask you about the covid economic relief package. your state of wyoming is due to

receive at least $1 billion, another $170 million for municipalities and counties. you and other republicans are saying this is toouch money for the federal government to be spending. how much is unnecessary for wyoming? sen. barrasso: the proposal republicans in the senate have had is to do something appropriate and targeted to get people back to work and kids back to school and the disease behind us. this big $1.9 trillion bill, only 9% went to defeat the virus. only 1% went to vaccines. we wanted to target it. we have done bipartisan bills successfully in the past. this was not supposed to be about $1400 checks to illegal immigrants or felons currently in prison or block grant to sanctuary cities. i talked with our government --

governor sunday. wyoming is getting $1 billion out of $350 billion going to states. there are 22 governors, republican and democrat alike, who sent a letter to say, this is a biased approach to giving out money. it is unfair because this is top-heavy, going to states that shut down the earliest and stayed shut down the longest. states that acted in a responsible way opened up for businesses and are punished for the way the money is being distributed. judy: how much should wyoming get? your fellow republican senator rick scott of florida said governors of the republican states should give the money back. his own governor, ron desantis, said no, that does not make sense. who is right in that disagreement? sen. barrasso: we brought a bill

of the -- to the floor of the senate during the final passage of this coronavirus bill and said, if you distribute this money to the states, let's use the same formula used with the c.a.r.e.s. act. that seemed to more fairly distribute money to the states because all the states have needs as a result of this. i thought a more targeted bill overall would be better. 10 republicans did go to the white house to meet with president biden. he talked in his address about unity and bipartisanship. he said, let's focus on getting the country open, kids back to school, shots in the arm, $1 trillion. this bill includes so many things. what i mentioned is just the tip of the iceberg. judy: how much less should wyoming get then it is getting -- than it is getting? sen. barrasso: the proportion

should be used by the c.a.r.e.s. act. $350 billion, new york would get less, california would get less, and other states would be getting more. i am saying we should not have done any of this major spending that is unrelated to getting people back to work and kids back to school and the disease behind us. judy: immigration, as you know, it is an issue ongoing for the last resident, this resident. democrats are criticizing president biden for not being tough enough on border issues. he said again in an interview last night he is being very clear. he is telling people who are not documented not to come in. pres. biden: i can say quite clearly, don't come over. the process of getting set up, it won't take a whole long time,

is to apply for asylum in place. don't leave your town or city or community. judy: senator, he is saying don't come. why then are republicans blaming him for what is happening at the border? sen. barrasso: joe biden on inauguration day signed executive orders his first day which turned on the switch which said, open borders. he is fully responsible for what is happening at our borr right now. whether you want to call it a crisis or condition. the number of unaccompanied minors is at an all-time record high. adults positive for coronavirus were getting on buses and going through the country carrying the disease. they were told, once you get to your final destination, be careful and isolate yourself after the fact. this will get worse. president biden has eliminated the stay in mexico order, he has

eliminated or delayed deportations. he owns this and has to take responsibility. the president may not like it, but president trump was successful in this incentivizing people -- disincentivizing people. it did secure the border and helped save lives of people who would otherwise make this very dangerous trek to united states. it is a dangerous journey. mark my words, the caravans are coming and it is time for president biden to change his policies. judy: they are turning away all single adults at the border. they are turning away many families at the border. it is only children they are allowing in and trying to take care of. the increase in immigration

began under president trump. i want to ask you a question about the vaccine. all the polls are showing a large proportion of self identified republicans and republican men are saying they do not want the vaccine. are you trying to get the message out that this is a good and important thing to do? sen. barrasso: as a doctor, as soon as i was able to get the vaccine, i did. i got two shots per the vaccine saves lives. operation warp speed has brought to our country three effective vaccines. it is a big part of our economic recovery, health care recovery, getting the country back on a normal track. it is the answer to the prayers of the american people. we are now over a year into it. everyone should get vaccinated. it looks like we have enough

vaccines because of operation warp speed, that everyone can be vaccinated by may. i would recommend it for everyone. judy: senator barrasso of wyoming, thank you. we appreciate it. sen. barrasso: thanks, judy. ♪ judy: living through a full year of closed schools and distanced 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. william: the bill sets aside roughly $122 billion dollars to help k-through-12 schools reopen. it includes money to improve ventilation systems, reduce class sizes and buy schools personal protective gear. 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 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. william: a national education writer at the post, thank you for being here. it is fair to say, if you carved out $125 million from this bill and said it was a stand-alone bill, it would be a record-setting size of money. i mentioned some things this would be spent on. where will this money go and what else would it be spent on? laura: a lot of the money will be spent on staffing.

they want to prevent layoffs. in some places, tax collections are down, school budgets are squeezed. this will allow them to maintain or grow staffing. there are situations when you want to keep distance on the bus and you may need another bus driver, another b. you are keeping the building facilities safe and also trying to have the staffing necessary. william: we have heard, stay six feet apart. there is increasing research that may be three feet apart is considered safe. that would change the dynamic for schools of that became the recommendation. laura: this has been the subject of hot debate in the education world lately. the cdc -- we have all been hearing six feet for a year now -- but there is research that suggests, if you do a lot of other mitigation strategies like wearing masks, three feet is ok.

the w.h.o. recommends three feet. part of the reason, in a school setting, you need to balance the risks. not having kids back in school, or only having them a few hours a week, does a lot of damage to kids. maybe it is a bigger risk to have them at home so much than to have them a little closer together in the school building. the cdc director told us she is looking at revising that guideline. we may see soon a change. maybe all or in some situations three feet being enough. william: this year put kids at an incredible deficit. getting them back in school is a priority for everyone. i knowome of this money is targeted for learning loss. does that sound like this is what they are trying to help, some of the deficits this year? laura: there has been enormous

damage done to students. socially, emotionally, academically. we had testing from the fall that measured what happened for the months of school that were lost. school has a shut down in the middle of march and there was still school to go. based on that, test scores showed kids were several months behind already, before we got into the bulk of this year. those deficits are even greater for kids that come from my poverty families, greater for black and hispanic children. congress told the states they are getting a lot of money, as we have said. each district is required to spend 20% of their funds on mitigating learning loss. that could be a robust summer school program, tutoring. they are looking at different things, but those are two of the

most popular ways people are thinking about to help kids make up some of these deficits. william: i know that the bulk of this money is geared toward public schools and public school kids, but there is some money for private schools, which is something the democrats did not like when betsy devos tried to do that. now that is in this bill. laura: there is a special carveout for private schools. one of the controversies around betsy devos, she was using some of the public school allocation and rigging the formula in a way some thought was unfair. this case, there is no doubt what the law says. 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 programs.

on the rationale from the senate majority leader, these private schools have been hit hard by the pandemic, which is true. they also serve aumber of children. william: one of the criticisms of the larger relief till and money, this is so much money and there is left over unspent money from prior relief bills. how true is that? laura: it is true, there is money left over. the school districts will tell you that is because they have budgeted those funds, but have not yet spent them. like any wise budgeter, you spend it a bit at a time. you want to make it last. republicans response, if it was an emergency, it would have been spent already. why do you need more? the bill passed and we are moving on. william: laura, thank you for being here. laura: thanks for having me. ♪

judy: the world health organization is expected to release its report on the origins of the coronavirus. many researchers suspect the virus began in bats and somehow was passed to humans, adding to public fears around the winged creatures. but the species is under threat and that is not good news for humans. special correspondent and washington post columnist catherine rampell has the story. and a note, parts of this report were shot before the pandemic. >> everybody is scared. catherine: there is a pr push to help bats. >> people of bought into this, we are an easy target. i'm dark, i'm brooding, i'm malevolent, i'm bad. apparently it's our fault. catherine: 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 is 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. catherine: 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. catherine: 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. it causes 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. >> rebecca can you lower this , one down more? catherine: 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. catherine: 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! catherine: so what do the bats think of you, do they think you're a hero or a villain? >> i'm sure they're just terrified for their life. they probably think i'm a big bad predator trying to eat them. catherine: back at the picnic tables, our bat underwent a thorough physical exam. >> wing score is zero. catherine: 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.

facts there are very few wildlife diseases that have affected so many species in such a short period of time. catherine: jeremy coleman, u.s. fish & wildlife service. >> in certain locations, upwards of 90% or more of certain species are gones a result of white nose syndrome. catherine: 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. catherine: so in just over a decade we have lost the same number of bats that it would take half a millennium to recover. >> yes. catherine: you might wonder why humans should care. there is the moral 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 that fields. catherine: and now? >> almost none. catherine: nick lapham, a conservationist and philanthropist, owns an organic vegetable farm in virginia. he bought it in 2006. >> there were bats everywhere. catherine: that year, white-nose syndrome was first discovered in upstate new york. facts the farm went from having ubiquitous on the landscape to really over the course of two summers virtually gone. catherine: lapham lost a valuable farmhand. >> as an organic farm we can't spray chemical pesticides, so nature is our front line 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. catherine: 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. catherine: without the bats around, he has to wing it. for the apple maggot, sticky red balls are put out in early summer.

>> of this bug things, here is 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. catherine: then there is this contraption which the snout , beetle likes to climb. >> eventually it gets trapped into here. catherine: finally, sexy smells leave the codling moth too dazed and confused to mate. >> therefore there's no eggs , laid on the apples. catherine: 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? catherine: environmental economist eyal frank tries to measure what we lose when we lose a species >> how much is it worth for you to preserve polar bears or pandas or butterflies? catherine: 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. catherine: 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, farmer revenues plunged 50% during >> because they have fewer products to sell and or they just have lower quality product and they receive a lower price for it. catherine: insurance claims for insect damage shoot up thirty-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. catherine: which has downstream effects for human health. >> 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. catherine: it is a butterfly

effect of sorts. but instead of a butterfly flaps its wings, it is 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. catherine: some might worry this suggests a species with no documented economic contributions is not worth saving. that is 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? catherine: the biologist degrees. >> 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. >> 1, 2, 3. there they go, back into the forest to hunt for insects. catherine: for the pbs newshour, i catherine rampell. am>> good job, team. ♪ judy: it is a site shrouded in mystery, meaning, and mysticism -- and among the most-visited in england. 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. malcolm: britain's most

flamboyant druid, king arthur pendragon, is on the warpath. >> i, pendragon by name and nature, i am the battle chieftain or head dragon. and i am head of the warrior political arm of the druid movement. i will oppose this tunnel by any means necessary. malcolm: 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 is not very busy today, but you can still hear it. not very prehistoric. with those in favor of the tunnel say is, it will bring tranquility back to this ancient site. this video from britain's highways authority visualises 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. at the moment we have 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. malcolm: these tunnels don't even start outside of the world heritage site. it is headbangingly stupid. malcolm: we have come to cambridge to meet david jacques, an archaeologist specialising in the mesolithic period dating back more than 10,000 years. >> the idea that you can meddle with such a place as the stonehenge landscape is beyond belief, it is heart breaking. malcolm: jacques is one of 23 archaeologists who claim the tunnel will damage artefacts 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 is believed to be a sacred stone used for tenderising meat. carbon dating shows this to be a 6,000 year old hoof print of a wild cow. it is the oldest sign of life discovered at stonehenge. these are knives that stone age man would have used to put supper on the table. >> what we have got at stonehenge potentially is an archive of people managing crisis. whether it is death, whether it is good as in life, but it is climate change, which we know happened in the stonehenge landscape early on. there were almost certainly pandemics as well. we have a natural archive ready and waiting for new science to bring those stories out and it will go. >> it is a problem beyond archaeology. it is a problem about roads,

transportation, getting a good solution to a difficult problem. malcolm: archaeologist tim darvill has spent 30 years working on the stonehenge site. he is standing at one of the proposed portals to the tunnel, which he supports. >> the last 20 years we have been working in this landscape to understand the density of archaeology and what is here. the engineers and the archaeologists have worked together very closely to find places in the landscape where the impact will be absolute minimal. that is the plan, to make portal areas in areas where there is little or no archaeology at all. malcolm: 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 defence against saxon invaders in the fifth and sixth centuries. he is awestruck by the engineering skills and grasp of astronomy displayed by the creators of this circle 4500 years ago. the layout of stonehenge is perfectly positioned to frame the extreme limits of the sun's movement each solstice. >> it is 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 100 meters of where the sun sets at the winter solstice. the light pollution means you will never see the sunset and the winter solstice ever again. malcolm: 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 will not be a problem. malcolm: the battle for stonehenge will come to a climax soon when judges meet to decide whether to overturn the government's approval. >> please do something to save this landscape. 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. stonehenge director nichola tasker admits she is concerned about the judicial review. >> if it does not go ahead, it would throw this precious landscape probably back into decades of uncertainty. the problem the road presents in terms of pollution and noise would only get worse. malcolm: 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 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 sacred landscape should not be disturbed. you would not dig your granny up from that churchyard so what makes you think you could do it here? >> it would be a miss -- 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 malcolm am brabant at stonehenge. ♪ judy: even amid the pandemic, some art exhibitions are opening and some like grief and grievance at new york costs 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. jeffrey: a large painting titled souvenir ii by kerry james marshall: a living room, a woman with angel's wings, images of those were gone. photographs by latoya ruby frazier: a personal history of a family and a neighborhood. in a new exhibit show and grief and grievance, 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 is the subject matter a lot of the artists in the show are contending with. they are also contending with issues of grief mourning, of

, digging into the subtleties of living in this society. jeffrey: glenn ligon is himself a well-known artist. his neon text on the museum 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 one of the most can sick -- significant south african artists of the century. jeffrey: 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 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. jeffrey: 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. hidden inside, a news photograph of a man being attacked by a policeman with a dog. and, 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 are thinking that art also has relevance socially, that it is commentary, you know, that the line between social justice and art is blurred. that was at the beginning of his

thought about the show. my thinking too, as an artist, i like to say i am an artist and a citizen. maybe i am more of a citizen than an artist and the citizen has a kind of responsibility. jeffrey: melvin edwards has created his welded-steel sculptures, called lynch fragments, over decades. howardena pindell made this mixed media collage. it is titled autobiography water , ancestors, middle passage, family goes. 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 young children the age of those 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. >> we began to reflect on those lost lives and those lost histories through these portraits that are paired together. not an image of the bombing or the church or any of its effects, but looking at human life and what was missing. jeffrey: 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 little bit closer to the issue, because they can access it through through their sense of their emotions and through their sense of curiosity. jeffrey: even amid the grief, there is music everywhere. on the walls and in the air. another theme aarent in several videos, a mix of the personal as in garrett bradley's

alone about a women's relationship with a man in prison. and the public, love is the message, the messages is death. it is just 7.5 minutes, but epic in scope would >> 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 and the rights people should agitate for. we don't talk about the psychological effects on people. jeffrey: 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. i think this exhibition is one

of those conversations. jeffrey: the exhibition is open for timed entry with distance to 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. judy: that is the newshour for tonight. i am judy woodruff. join us online and again tomorrow evening. for all of us at t pbs newshour, thank you, please day safe. we will see you soon. >> major funding for the "pbs newshour" has been provided by -- >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has no contract wireless plans. our customer service team can find a plan for you. visit consumercellular.tv. ♪ >> johnson & johnson.

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>> this is pbs newshour west from weta studios in washington and from our bureau at the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪ >> you are watching pbs. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.]

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