captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for sunday, may 16: criticism and confusion over new c.d.c. masking guidelines. the conflict in the middle east intensifies. and rarely seen works of yayoi kusama trace her early life and fetch millions at auction. next on “pbs newshour weekend.” >> pbwshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. the anderson family fund. bernard and denise schwartz.

the cheryl and philip milstein family. barba hope zuckerberg. the leonard and norma klorfine foundation. the peter g. peterson and an ganz cooney fund. the estate of worthington mayo- smith. we try to live ithe 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 no-contract wireless plans, designed to help people do more of what they like. our u.s.-based customer service team can help find a plan that fits you. to learn more, visit www.consumercellular.tv. additional support has been provided by: and by the corporation for public broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the american people.

and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> sreenivasan: good evening and thank you for joining us. the centers for disease control and prevention is defending its decision to allow fully- vaccinated americans to go wthout masks in many situatio. c.d.c. director rochelle walensky appeared on four sunday talk shows this morning, telling abc's martha raddatz that the new guidance is based on evolving scientific data. >> we have vaccine now across this country, widely available for anyone who wants it and we now have science that has really just evolved even in the last two weeks, that demonstrates these vaccines are safe, they are effective they are working in the population just as they did in the clinical trials, that they are working against our variants tt we have here circulating here in the united states and if you were to develop an infection even if you had been vaccinated, that you can't transmit that infection to other people. >> sreenasan: but even with more than one third of the u.s.

population fully vaccinated, the mask debate is continuing among states, businesses and medical providers. yesterday the nation's largest registered nurses union condemned the new c.d.c. guidce, releasing a statement that said the decision is “not based on science, does not protect public health, and threatens the lives of paties, nurses, and other frontline workers across the country.” the "new york times" reports new confirmed cases are now at their lowest level since last september and deaths are at the lowest number since last jy. in some of the hardest hit states, like new jersey, new covid-19 cases have fallen nearly 80% on average over the last two weeks and are down more than 40% in new york and michigan. the conflict between israel and hamas, the militant palestinian group that controls the gaza strip, continued for a seventh day as both sides exanged bombs and rockets with devastating results. in gaza, israeli air strikes hit a busy downtown street destroying three buildings.

at least 42 people were killed today in gaza in the growing escalation of violence. the israeli military said today that it had destroyed the home of gaza's top hamas leader, a different strike. in a televised speech, israeli prime minister, benjamin netanyahu, said the attacks would continue at full force a that when it comes to hamas leaders israel “wants to levy a heavy price.” rocket fire from gaza in the direction of israel also continued today. hamas and other groups have fired close to 3,000 rockets into israel since the start of the conflict. the israeli military said most have been intercepted or fallen short of targets, but eight people have been killed in israel in those attacks. the united nations security council held its first public meeting on the crisis today. the u.n. secretary general called the violence “appalling” and appealed for an immediate end to the fighting. earlier today i spoke with npr correspondent daniel estrin who is in jerusalem. niel, can you tell us about the latest set of attacks?

>> well, today we saw the deadliest single attack since the start of the fighting in gaza. it took place overnight, and my colleague in gaza described in the middle of the night hearing in central gaza city these booms, these sounds that he's never heard before, a kind of boom-boom and several multistory homes collapsed on the same street. this was just a couple blos away from al-shifa hospital, the main hospital in gaza. and large extended families were trapped under the rubble. ateast 37 people died. that number could rise, including eight children and 13 women. rescue teams are still digging under the rubble, searching for survivors. we spoke to neighbors in the area who said that the israeli military did not call and warn them of this attack as the israeli military has done with other attacks. the israeli military says that in this case, they were targeting underground hamas infrastructure and that that

infrastructure collapsed and when it collapsed, that the foundations of the homes above it also collapsed. we have seen other strikes as well. the home of the top hamas leer in gaza, yahiyeh sinwar, his home was bombed in an israeli strike. all in all, israel said that it has targeted so far 1,500 targets and in gaza. and palestinians told me that overnight the intensity of the bombings was something that they had never felt before in all the years that they've experienced these kinds of attacks and rounds of conflict. >> sreenivasan: and what about the israelis and how were they coping with the rocket attacks being launched at them? >> well, so far, israel says that more than 2,800 rockets have been launched at israel. this is the highest number of rockets launched ever inuch a short period of time. as we speak, there are no new deaths on the israeli side today

from rocket fire, but a lot of air raid sirens of towns along the gaza border, israeli towns. we'll hear the air raid siren and then they have about 15 seconds to ro a protected area in the tel aviv area. that's about a minute and a half that people have to run for safety. 90% of rockets have been intercepted midair, according to israel, and that's because israel has the iron dome anti- missile battery, which intercepts these rockets before they land. >> sreenivasan: any idea how long this could last or the progress of any cease fire talks? >> it appears that we're looking at days and not weeks. after yesterday's bombing of the associated press building, it seems to be that combined with the killing of a palestinian family in an air strike yesterday as well, led to more pressure to reach an immediate or cease fire soon. now, an official with the palestinian authority spoke with us and said that the u.s.,

qatar, egypt are all deeply involved in these negotiations and they wt a cease fire quickly, immediately, but that israel has asked for more time. today, the united nations security council has met and most of those countries expected to push for anmmediate cease fire. the european union has called an exceptional emergency meeting on tuesday of e.u. foreign ministers. that seems to be kind of a deadline, putting a deadline in the sand, saying tuesday is the day that we would not want to see any mo fighting. and that could be a signal also to the us to pressure israel to wrap this up. >> sreenivasan: daniel estrin from npr, joining us from jerusalem, thanks so much. >> thank you so much. >> sreenivasan: a three-day ceasefire between the afghan government and the taliban ended today, amid calls for new peace talks. the taliban announced last week the ceasefire would began thursday to mark the islamic holiday of eid-el-fitr. despite the temporary callo

halt fighting, the holiday was marked by continued violence. on friday a bomb exploded at a mosque just north of the capital, kabul, killing 12 people and injuring more than 15. yesterday, the islamic ste, which did not agree to the ceasefire, claimed responsibility for the attack. in a tweet on friday, a representative of the afghan vernment said there was a meeting with the taliban in qatar and both sides called r a speeding up of the peace talks. for moren the conflict in the middle east and other international and national news, go to pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: a third week of widespread protests and violence across colombia has left at least 42 people dead, thousands injured, and hundreds believed to be missing. the demonstrations began ovean unpopular pandemic related tax overhaul and have escalateover charges of excessive force used by police against the protesters.

newshour weekend's ivette feliciano spoke with sandra borda guzman, associate professor at los andes university in bogota, about the ongoing conflict. who is leading the protests and overall what are their demands? >> there is a strike committee and st composed by labor union leaders, student organization leaders, members of the indigenous communities, the teacher union. and they are the ones in charge of negotiating with the government. however it is getting more and more difficult to come to an agreement because the government is very weak. so i think that conversions are going to take a long while. >> a local advocacy group in columbia says that 40 protestors have allegedly been killed by national police. >> yeah, this is probably the most important problem right now. this is even more acute in

difficult neighborhoods in main cities, bog atta, where young people have very contentious relations with police. and then on top of this whole thing, we have a lot of disaddis appearances, more than a hundred young people that we don't know where they are, that they were basically retained by the police, illegally retained and they get no information where these people are now. >> and obviously these protests are happening at a time during the covid-19 pandemic. and the authorities in several of colombia's largest cities are warning that there might be another spike in infections. can colombia handle another spike? >> we haven't even been able to handle the first and the second spike but that's an argument that you cannot basically use because people right now are so

desperate about the economic situation that they say they have nothing to lose. we are all aware that this is going to be a prblem, especially taking into account that the government hasn't been able to negotiate for people here in colombia. and that is going to make the negotiation way the situation way more difficult than right now. >> what is the u.s.' role in this crisis? >> fortunately we have the biden administration paying a lot of attention to the human rights problem. they vow to pay attention to what is happening in colombia. we have a lot of cooperation, security cooperation, is the public forcing colombia to meet-- they have a way to punish them for doing that, just cutting the security aid. and also i think that the state department is paying close atntion to what is happening in terms of human rights. >> we've heard reports that some roads have been blocked into one galu onef the largest cities

in colombia. >> st getting difficult to move from one place to the other. and this has affected the supply of gaoline, food and necessary services. however the indigenous mmunity, the ones who are leading the demonstration there have implemented humanitarian corridors that you can use to get basic supplies through without stopping the strike. >> borda guzman-- thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you so much. have a good day. 6 >> sreenivasan: tomorrow is the deadline for filing federal income taxes; and while the tax code determines who pays and how much based on income, a new book is highlighting how it also disproportionately impacts people of color. i recently spoke with dorothy

brown, professor at emory university school of law and author of “the whiteness of wealth: how the tax system impoverishes black americans and how we can fix it.” miss brown, as we head into tax filing day, you wrote an entire book based on all the things that you uncovered when you started to go through your parents' taxes and how really the system is designed unequally. how did it start? >> well, it starts with a tax system that we wouldn't even know there's this racially disparate impact because the i.r.s. doesn't collect and publish statistics by race. so, i became a detective of sorts anlooked for research, looked for other disciplines to basically show how tax law subsidizes white americans wle disadvantaging black americans when we engage in the same activities. >> sreenivasan: for example, marriage: how is it different by race?

>> white americans are more likely to have one single wage earner with the other spou staying at home. black americans are more likely to have two eql wage earners contributing roughly the same amount. tax law gives the single wage earning household a tax cut. but the other household, with two full time workers contributing equal amounts, they don't get a tax cut. and for decades they paid higher taxes. called the marriage penalty. >> sreenivasan: one of the largest sources of wealth in america has been the ability to own real estate and profit from it, but you say that that breaks down differently when it comes to black americans and white amicans. >> the majority of white americans own homes. the majority of black americans are renters. we don't allow a tax break to rent, but we allow a tax break for homeownership. white americans own homes in predominantly white neighborhoods. black americans own homes in racially diverse or all black neighborhoods.

most homeownership appreciation is in the all white neighborhood. we have a tax break for appreciation on our homes. if we sell our homes for a loss, no tax break. and what the research shows is black homeowners are more likely to sell their home for a nondeductible loss. >> sreenivasan: somebody is going to look at this and say, you know what? these are just market forces, right? but you're saying that property taxes are also so connected to how school districts are funded. >> black and brown neighborhoods may have high tax rates, but because the value of the property is so low, they're not able to spend as much money on k-12. but the real problem is the federal government is subsidizing this ract market. they disadvantage us when we buy homes through tax policy. >> sreenivasan: what kinds of policies should we be thinki about to try to level the playing field? >> we should think about a

system that is a lot fairer and a lot simpler, which is all income is taxed the same income from stock, it's taxed the same as income from wages. and we should get rid of these deductions and loopholes tt disproportionately benefit white americans. >> sreenivasan: is there any kind of bipartisan consensus o any sorts of policy prescriptions as you start looking at the ways that people are ki of harmed by unequal taxation? >> you know, the question of bipartisanship in 2021 is a biggeronversation than we can have here. but i will go back to the simpson-bowles, which was a bipartisan tax report that basically my proposal builds on that. simpson-bowles said, let's get rid of these deductions and loopholes. we can lower tax rates. so, in a world where there w real bipartisanship, my ideas would resonate across party lines. but we're not there anymore. >> sreenivasan: dorothy brown,

professor of law at emory university, and the title of the book is called "the whiteness of wealth how the tax system impoverishes black americans and how we can fix it." thanks so much. >> thank you. >> sreenivasan: last month we brought you the work of panese artist, yayoi kusama, and her latest exhibition, "cosmic garden," at the new york botanical garden. the outdoor exhibit captured her fantastical art from the mid 1940's all the way through 2020. last week kusama's work was on display ain in new york, this time at an auc that fetched more than $15 million for some of her earliest and rarely seen works of art. newshour weekend's christopher booker has more. >> reporter: long before 92- year-old yayoi kusama became one of the world's most celebrated artists, she was a struggling artist in new york. she arrived in the u.s. in 1957

with a suitcase full of kimonos and paintings, and just a few years later she crossed paths with a fellow japanese doctor who would unwittingly become a steward of her work. >> dr. hirose was a ry well respected doctor, author of more than 40 books on the profeion, and he was a philanthropist. >> reporter: ralph taylor is the globalead of post-war & contemporary art at bonhams, one of the oldest auion houses in the world. he helped uncover the story of some of kusama's earliest pieces. in 1960, while living in new york, sama sought out the care of dr. hirose, himself a recent immigrant and one of only two japanese speaking doctors in the city. unable to pay for his services, she gave the doctor 11 pieces of her artwork, and that began a lifelong friendship. this is kind of a unique american story. they both have arrived in new york. she is a struggling artist and, because of the nuances of our city, of the american healthcare system, this relationship is

forged. >> absolutely. and-- and that, it's a really important point. you know, she was definitely someone who was desperate to move to america, who really wanted to throw off the shackles of postwar japanese life. and the same actually for dr. hirose, but in a slightly different way. so, i think it's really only in america in the wonderful melting pot in the 50's and 60's that you could have found these two combining into this unlikely duo. >> reporter: dr. hirose pass away in 2019, the work of his long ago patient still hanging on his wls. >> with amelia there at $3.8 million, and we sell it here in bonhams new york. ( gavel ) >> reporter: and on wednesday, art dealers from around the world bid on these rarely seen works from the earliest days of kusama's career, eight pieces she brought on the plane with her from japan, and ree paintings created after arriving in t u.s. where do these works fit within the story of kusama? >> the works themselves, as ey

fit into the artist's career, are... are totemic. you know, she is someone who's most familiar themes revolve around flowers, around the polka dots, around infinity nets, and then latterly things like pumpkins, et cetera. but really her most important works, you think of the innity net and these river paintings are absolutely fundamental. so really, these are at the most significant point in her career. and there are very, very few works like these. >> reporter: kusama thrust herself into her art, and in the early 1960's painted "untitled," and these two pieces, "hudson river" and "mississippi river," one of the first times red appears in her work. >> a lot of the themes in her work are represented in these, but she's doing it through the lens of new york. so, the river, there was a river behind her house growing up in japa and it was a meditative place for her. she does not have a very happy childhood, but she used to go sit by the river and watch it, watch it flowing.

and so, that is an absolutely central theme in her work. but then, you know, this is the hudson river, the mississippi river. so, this is an accumulation of these experiences, but very much rooted in america. >> reporter: the eight pieces she brought with her from japan are rife with symbols of her upbringing as the daughter of seed merchants. they sold on wednesday for $3 million. and her new york works fetched re than $12 million. >> this whole project is a celebration of his life, of that relationship, of his keeeye and his charitable nature, but also this fantastic artist who bestrides the world these days. you know, these are the urgent, but very early, ocations of her talent, and i think it's only natural and appropriate at that should also manifest in price. and so, it really, it's about people who recognize kusama as being one of the preeminent artists, hugely influential. she represents so much to so many people, but the opportunity to be able to own these works, it's very rare, works such as

this. >> is is pbs newshour weekend, sunday. >> sreenivasan: finally tonight, gradual reopenings and lifting of covid-19 restrictions are underway in france. at the paris zoological park, the return of visitors will be a welcome sight for both the animals and the zookeepers after more than six months of lockdown. the animals siems oblivious with the preparation, munching on meals enjoying the sunshine in t peace and quiet compared to the usually crowded grounds. along with museums, restaurants and movie theaters, this paris park will reopen to a limited number of visitors on wednesday. zookeepers say it is likely many of these born in captivity beasts will be entertained when human visitors return. >> for the animals, the public has been part of everything they've experienced since their

birth here it is part of their environment like the trees, the parisienne sky, the planes that fly by, they have been desense advertised to all of these things. >> the animals will get to see humans strolling and stopping to watch them, socially distanced, and with covid-19 protocols in place. >> we have a recommended route for the zoo visit. we will have hand sanitizer gel available all throughout the pathway. the objective is to make sure that the experience isthe bes possible while respecting health safety measures. >> zookeepers say having humans on hand again will be a good thing for the 2500 individual animals from more than 230 species. >> this will probably reawaken their curiosity because even if it doesn't look like it, people come to see them, thy're curious. and they looat them. but the inverse is true too. they also look at the people. some are even very interested. >> reopening is also welcomed financial news for all the natural history museums and

parks of paris which lost more than $20 million in ticket sales last year. >> 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. 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. you're watching pbs.

k: every dy i came home so happy. sacha baron cohen: yeah, yeah. ramisetoodeh: who better to get inside an actor's head than another actor. jarred leto: holy guacamole, what a performance. ramin: variety studio invites you to listen in as some of today's biggest stars talk to each other about their craft. leslie odom, jr.: in order to tell these stories truthfully, we offer ourselves up. ramin: with ben affleck and sacha baron cohen, andra day, and leslie odom, jr., and jarred leto, and john david washington. ♪♪♪ ramin: welcome to "variety studio actors on actors." i'm ramin setoodeh. we're not in our studio this season, but we still have a great lineup for you with virtual conversations and lots of revelations. ben affleck and sacha baron cohen both took on roles recently that show them being unguarded and personal.