captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for saturday, april 24: president biden officially recognizes the armenian genocide; the skyrocketing surge of covid-19 cases in india; and in our signature segment, amsterdam experiments with a radical new theory for economic and environmental recovery. next on “pbs newshour weekend.” >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. the anderson family fund. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. barbara hope zuckerberg. the leonard and norma klorfine foundation.

the peter g. peterson and joan ganz cooney fund. the estate of worthington mayo- smith. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investments. >> for 25 years, consumer cellular has been offering cellular's goal has been to provide wireless service that helps people communicate and connect. we offer a variety of no-contract plans, and our u.s.-based customer service team can help find one that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: good evening and thank you for joining us.

today president joe biden kept a campaign promise and formally recognized the deaths of an estimated 1.5 million armenians more than a century ago as genocide. he is the first u.s. president to use that term for the killings and mass deportations that occurred during the ottoman empire in what is now turkey. the president issued a statement shortly after arriving in delaware for a weekend at his home. he said “each year on this day, we remember the lives of all those who died in the ottoman- era armenian genocide, and recommit ourselves to preventing such an atrocity from ever again occurring.” the u.s. has avoided use of the term, and turkey-- a nato ally-- claims the killings happened during civil war. in armenia today, the prime minister and government officials marked genocide remembrance day at a ceremony at the country's memorial to the 1.5 million who died. armenia says the killings began on april 24, 1915 and continued until 1923. for more on the significance of president biden's statement, i spoke with alex hinton, director

of rutgers university's center for the study of genocide and human rights. he is also the author of "it can happen here: white power and the rising threat of genocide in the u.s." professor hinton joined us from newark, new jersey. alex, the big picture question is, why does it matter that president joe biden makes this declaration that what happened decades ago was, in fact, a genocide? >> so in one sense, this is absolutely momentous for the victims. but i think more broadly, it's something that's momentous for all of us, you know, in terms of human rights. one of the principles that guides us and guides our countries, it's centered around respect for the dignity of the person. so, if we talk about dignity and respect, that starts with, if lives are lost, massive human rights violations take place, we need to acknowledge, that the descendants need truth, and there needs to be more broadly an acknowledgment that, sort of looking ahead, also is a signal

to other potential leaders that this can't be happening. you can engage in a campaign of denial that will, again, sort of perpetuate this. >> sreenivasanthis is at a time when the united states is grappling with the plight of black americans at the hands of police and we have been all summer and in the wake of a different administration that had perhaps a different set of values. >> you're pointing to something that's absolutely key, that in the u.s., there's also this demand that we recognize the truth and we think about the disempowerment of certain groups we consider structural racism, but we consider the atrocities of the past and what led us to the current moment. and in turkey, and sort of the point is, if we think about this reckoning with the past, it's never taken place for turkey, ww-i, with the formation of the modern turkish state, you know,

that moment which is intertwined wih genocide, is the beginning of the nation. and so, from the very beginning, the narrative in turkey has been that armenians rebelled and they, sort of, legitimate what took place with that canard. in addition, they minimize the numbers or a number of moves they had made. but again, if you sort of think about it, it's paradoxical, because perhaps if the turkish government recognized th genocide, people wouldn't be talking about it. it wouldn't be as big of an issue. and so, in some sense, they add fuel to the fire. >> sreenivasan: what does this do strategically to our relationship with turkey, who has been an important ally? >> yeah, certainly historically they've been an important ally. in recent years that relationship has definitely frayed in terms of geopolitical interests. it's no longer quite as central. so, that strategic partnership is one that i think needs to be reimagined and reinvented.

you know what might happen? no doubt there will be at least a public protest, a diplomatic protest. there might be some sort of sanction, something or another that's mentioned along those lines. but if you actually look, i really think in the long term, this will be something that passes by. and again, in areas where there are common interests, the united states and turkey will continue to collaborate. you know, the one difference is that the u.s., you know, in terms more broadly, it's recognition of the genocide is significant for many other countries. and there are other countries such as israel and britain who have not recognized it. and so, hopefully this may serve as a catalyst for other countries to recognize anyone who has a commitment to democracy and human rights needs to acknowledge a massive human rights violation, one of the first that took place at the beginning of the 20th century. >> sreenivasan: alex hinton from

rutgers, thanks so much. >> thank you. >> sreenivasan: the u.s. is resuming use of the johnson & johnson covid-19 vaccine this weekend. yesterday the centers for disease control and prevention and the food and drug administration lifted a pause on the one-dose vaccine following an investigation of possible links to severe blood clots. health regulators said the risk of developing blood clots was very low, pointing to 15 reported cases in the eight million people who received doses. the vaccine will now come with a warning of the rare possibility of blood clots. but even as use of the johnson & johnson vaccine resumes, demand for vaccinations in some parts of the u.s. is down. in kansas and iowa, several counties have declined new doses. and louisiana turned down new shipments of vaccines this past week. the waning demand for vaccines in some parts of the u.s. comes as cases and deaths decline nationally. but in india, the virus is surging to new levels. for the third consecutive day,

india set a new global record for daily covid-19 infections, recording close to 350,000 new cases and more than 2,600 deaths in the past 24 hours. we'll have more from india after the news summary. in indonesia today, a group of southeast asian leaders told myanmar's military leaders to end the violence in the country and to restore democracy following a coup in february. in a statement, the 10-nation group agreed to a plan including dialogue among the various parties, a special envoy to myanmar, and humanitarian aid. during the two hour emergency summit, members of the association of southeast asian nations demanded a halt to civilian killings and the release of political detainees. myanmar's coup leader and senior general did not commit to those terms. several independent monitoring groups report that security forces in myanmar have killed more than 700 people since demonstrations against the coup began in february. a four-person astronaut team onboard spacex's crew dragon capsule successfully docked at

the international space station this morning. representing the u.s., france and japan, the team became the first ever to be propelled into orbit by a rocket booster recycled from a previous flight. after 23 hours, they were greeted by the seven-member crew already aboa the space station. the new arrivals will spend six months at the space station. four astronauts from the seven- person team are scheduled to return to earth on wednesday. the mission marks the second launch by nasa aboard a spacex capsule since human space flights resumed om american soil last year, following a nine-year hiatus. for more national and international news visit pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: india's covid-19 cases and deaths are now a devastating second wave of the disease that threatens to overwhelm the cotry's hospitals and medical resources.

national public radio's india correspondent lauren frayer joined us from mumbai with more on the growing crisis. how significantly different is the situation in india now than it was a few months ago? >> it's night and day. in late january, india was confirming, like, 9,000 covid-19 cases a day. now we're seeing more than 330,000 a day. india had thought that it had put the ndemic behind it, and so, started to open up. and then, while the country was opening up, these new variants were lurking in the background. >> sreenivasan: so, what are the shortages and what are you seeing and hearing from people? what can't they get enough of? >> i mean, basically all the tools that you need to fight a pandemic are in short supply. so, literally hospital bed space. i mean, the hospitals are overcrowded. you can't fit more patients into them. major shortages of medical

oxygen. i mean, we're seeing big hospital chains tweeting things like s.o.s. messages like, "we have one hour of oxygen left" at a massive hospital chain that covers dozens of hospitals in e north and west of india. antiviral drugs, black market prices are skyrocketing, not to mention vaccines. i mean, two weeks ago, when this spike really took off, a lot of vaccine centers had to shut. >> sreenivasan: so, what's the government response been? >> well, the government has now just opened up vaccinations come may 1 for those over age 18. so, there is a rush to try to get vaccinations done. the government is also trying to rush oxygen, medical ogen supplies to hospitals. there is a special train making its way right now from southern india carrying oxygen tankers. but the government has also come under criticism by opposition

politicians and many other people for being slow to act. i mean, it was just about a week ago that prime minister narendra modi was holding these massive election rallies. there was also a huge hindu festival, a huge hindu pilgrimage, the kumbh mela, on the banks of the ganges river, ere literally millions of people, no social distancing, took a ritual bath in the ganges river, now are heading home to their homes across india and possibly spreading the virus across the country. >> sreenivasan: how are people getting information, accurate information about the vaccin about what type of steps they should take if they come down with symptoms of covid? >> yeah, i mean, social media has turned into this flood of just desperate pleas for people. one of the things that the government does also it sets up these dashboards. so, every indian state has a dashboard where in real time you can see the number of i.c.u. beds available. so, you can know if your loved

one needs a bed now, you can check the dashboard and say, let's try this hospital and this hospital. >> sreenivasan: what do you actually see on the news? or when you go ta hospital? >> there are people dying in the parking lots outside of hospitals. they're crowding into the doorways. i mean, families pushing people on gurneys, just calling out for help. is there any doctor here that can help my loved one? you can see the devastation in the faces of the patients, the relatives and the medical staff who are working around the clock. >> sreenivasan: as we know with this, hospitalizations are usually a leading indicator, or at least i should say deaths follow a few weeks after. so, the spike that we're seeing and infections right now could mean even more stress on families in coming weeks. >> yeah, and, you know, i have to stress that the numbers are most likely an undercount, because so many people are unable to get tested and we're also seeing crematoriums working around the clock. so, you've got to wonder whether

all of those people are being counted and whether we will see these tolls go up even more. >> sreenivasan: npr correspondent lauren frayer joining us from mumbai. thanks so much. >> you're welcome. >> sreenivasan: when the covid-19 pandemic hit, cities worldwide were already facing environmental crises. many of them are vulnerable to climate change induced flooding, heat waves and drought. the pandemic added a health and economic crisis on top of that. but amsterdam is now experimenting with a radical new theory to rebuild its economy and create a more sustainable post-covid future for its residents. special correspondent megan thompson has more. this story is part of our ongoing series "peril and promise: the challenge of climate change." >> so welcome to the denim clubhouse!

>> reporter: james veenhoff is taking us for a tour of denim city. it's a combination workshop, foundaon, archive and trade school in amsterdam, a city with a high concentration of big-name demin brands and denim wearers. >> we wear it to work. we wear it to school, weddings and funerals. we wear denim all the time. >> reporter: but denim is also one of the most resource- intensive fabrics in the world. each pair of jeans requires thousands of gallons of water and the use of polluting chemicals to produce. >> clearly, if you use 7,000 liters of water per jean, and you are producing about a billion a year, that's something that is going to end at some point because there's just not enough water for everybody. >> reporter: so veenhoff is experimenting with different ideas, like increasing the use of recycled materials. >> this fabric is made using 20% recycled cotton fiber. this is part of the high tech part. this is cool. >> reporter: and rather than using gallons upon gallons of water to give jeans that finished look, they are trying lasers instead.

denim isn't the only industry in amsterdam focusing more on sustainability. the entire city is in the midst of a massive shift, launched last year, embracing a radical new economic theory th a catchy name: “doughnut economics.” >> this is the shift we need to make if we, humanity, are going to thrive here together this century. >> reporter: kate raworth of oxford university calls herself a renegade economist. she came up with the model, outlined in her 2017 book, which made waves around the world and was even commended by the pope. what is doughnut economics? >> so, doughnut economics, it's not about doughnuts, but it's about the future of humanity. we offer a doughnut shaped compass for creating the 21st century that we want. >> reporter: what makes the theory radical is raworth's assertion that governments need to stop looking at g.d.p. growth as the ultimate measure of success.

>> we're getting very, very clear signals from the earth system, from climate breakdown, from ecological breakdown, that the way we are pursuing growth is destroying the living systems in which we depend. >> reporter: instead, she says societies should strive to operate within two concentric circles that look like a doughnut. she uses a diagram like this to explain. the outer ring represents earth's “ecological ceiling,” limits on damage being done to the planet, including climate change, air pollution and shrinking freshwater supplies. the inner ring represents a“ social foundation,” minimum living standards like having enough food, housing, work and a political voice. the ring in between, described as “humanity's sweet spot,” is the doughnut. >> so, let's leave no one in the hole in the middle. everybody into this lovely green ring. >> reporter: don't we need economic growth in order for economies to survive and provide resources to their citizens? >> what we need are economies that enable people to have good

jobs in communities where they reap some of the value that's created. so, we need to reorient our economies away from the notion that growth is success to the notion that thriving that meets the needs of all people within the means of the planet. that's success. >> reporter: amsterdam was the first city in the world to formally adopt this model, and they did it last april right after the coronavirus crisis began. >> the historical part of amsterdam with the canals... >> reporter: depy mayor marieke van doorninck saw it as an opportunity. >> actually this is a time where people start thinking about what is really important in life. maybe money making isn't the most important. it's about having enough. but not having everything. >> reporter: van doorninck says amsterdam is now full speed ahead with the doughnut. part of that means becoming a so-called “circular city” by 2050. >> a circular city is a city where we don't have waste. if something is broken we want to have it repaired.

if something can't be repaired we want to have the materials that are-- the products are made of can be reused, but we also want to cut down on consumption as a whole. >> reporter: in short, reduce, reuse and recycle. and they want to do it in three key areas: food, consumer goods and construction. they have come up with a system called “the monitor” to measure their progress. among the goals: by 2030 the city must reduce overall consumption by 20% and reduce food waste by 50%. and starting in 2022, all new urban development in amsterdam must use sustainable materials as much as possible. for example, on amsterdam's east side, beach island is being built with the doughnut principles in mind. the city requires construction companies to list a “materials passport,” so if the building is ever demolished the building materials can be reused. there will be 8,000 new homes here helping address the city's housing shortage, 40% allocated

for social housing. and the homes will be environmentally friendly. >> yeah, i think the doughnut model-- yeah, i embrace that. totally. >> reporter: yvonne van sark lives in another new development on the north side of amsterdam, a floating community that embraces sustainability. >> so, we have five entrances to the jetty, but they are all connected. you can just walk through the area, which is really nice. >> reporter: in all, 46 families live here. >> this our house, this is where we live. >> reporter: her house, like the others, was built elsewhere and towed to this site. van sark's home is super- insulated with natural straw between the walls and solar panels on the roof. >> so, we produce our own electricity and we have a smart grid that shares it among the households. it's vacuum, so-- >> reporter: they have special toilets that use much less water. and they contract with a company to share electric cars and bikes. >> some of the techniques we

have been piloting, we hope they will be spread around the city and around holland and around the world. yeah. >> reporter: but will they be enough to address the global environmental crisis that kate raworth describes? >> it's not an even situation >> reporter: no, says economist and income inequality expert, branko milanovic, one of kate raworth's most outspoken critics. >> when it comes to real policy advice, it's very, very weak, and it's purely voluntary, and there is really no bite in that advice. >> reporter: milanovic also thinks raworth's ideas about limiting global economic growth are unrealistic and would lead to trade-offs the world isn't prepared for. >> the issue is really, if we were to espouse kate's ideas, that we should not have an increase in the world g.d.p. that means that we have to either make rich people become much poorer than they are now, or we will have to keep all the

poor people at the very same very low level of income for a very long time. >> reporter: are these ideas politically viable? >> well, i think that they are not viable. and i think that she uses the word, for example, “thriving,” that we can keep flourishing and thriving without having higher income. yes, maybe we could. but maybe also the fact is that many people want to have higher incomes in order to live better. >> reporter: how realistic is all of this? how do you convince the world's largest economies to get on board? >> well, i would flip it around, say how realistic is it to keep running economies that think they can grow endlessly while we are visibly, evidently destroying the life supporting systems on which our planet depends? >> reporter: to help promote her ideas, raworth launched the doughnut economics action lab. she says cities including brussels, copenhagen, portland, philadelphia and others are reaching out to her to learn how to incorporate the concept of doughnut economics into their long term plans.

>> this is pbs newshour weekend, saturday. >> sreenivasan: finally tonight, there's new evidence that as dinosaurs roamed the earth tens of millions of years ago, there were also some mammals alongside them-- and they were here much earlier than many scientists previously thought. on a windswept hillside in chilean patagonia, paleontologists recently discovered the fossilized partial jaw and five teeth of a skunk-like mammal that lived between 72-74 million years ago. the researchers named the extinct mammal orretherium tzen, meaning beast of five teeth, in a blend of a language spoken by the original inhabitants of the patagonian plains and greek. it's the second discovery of a mammal in this southern tip of the americas that lived in the age of dinosaurs, tens of millions of years earlier than researchers previously thought. the finding was published

earlier this month in the journal "scientific reports." university of chile paleontologist sergio soto is one of the study's authors. >> ( translated ): in addition to being the second mammal of the mesozoic dinosaur era to be found in chile, it also represents a lineage that has not been found in this country, and which helps fill a gap in historical evolution, of an enigmatic group of mammals that became extinct and which today have no descendants. >> sreenivasan: based on the fossilized teeth that were found, researchers believe the mammal was an omnivore, eating both plants and insects, and living among dinosaurs. soto believes more paleontological finds will come from this part of the world, in part because of the effects of climate change. >> ( translated ): the ice is melting at the poles, it has allowed rocks that had been covered by ice for thousands, up to millions of years, to be revealed, and things that have not been seen before are appearing.

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

the estate of worthington mayo- smith. we try to live in the moment, to not miss what's right in front of us. at mutual of america, we believe taking care of tomorrow can help you make the most of today. mutual of america financial group, retirement services and investments. additional support has been provided by: consumer cellular. and by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. is your family ready for an emergency? you can prepare by mapping out two ways to escape your home,

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[announcer]: this program was made possible in part by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. [music] [tog: the brain is what makes humans human. it's central to everything about us. thilit lrn things new, to experience new things. it's all between my ears. [banfield]: e brain is our command center and it's imbued with an incredible gift. it can change its structure and function through a process called neuroplasticity. [moffett]: we used to think that the brain was set up the way it was set up. but it turns out, the brain can adapt also. and if it's given a different set of circumstances, it'll change.