to learn more, visit safetyactioncenter.pge.com captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for saturday, july 17: covid ses are on the rise across all 50 states, as vaccination rates falter. >> ( translated ): an entire nation, massacred, displaced. for facilitating their return, the government does not care. >> sreenivasan: and in our signature segment, yazidi survivors, and the struggle to rebuild all that was lost. next, on pbs newshour weekend. >> pbs newshour weekend is made possible by: sue and edgar wachenheim iii. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the anderson family fund. the estate of worthington mayo-smith.

the leonard and norma klorfine foundation. the rosalind p. walter foundation. koo and patricia yuen, committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. barbara hope zuckerberg. 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'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. cases of the coronavirus are increasing again across the country. the rise is fueled in part by the spread of the more- contagious delta variant, along with falling vaccination rates. the u.s. is currently administering about 550,000 shots a day, that's a sharp decrease from the peak of more than three million. the "new york times" covid tracker shows new cases are up 126% nationally over the past two weeks. infections from the delta variant make up about half of all new cases, and are rising in every state, with hot spots in nevada, arkansas, missouri, and florida. nationally, infection rates are still well below the highest mark in january. the "times" data map shows the correlation between low vaccination rates and new covid hotspots take for example places like baker county, florida-- where only 20% of people there

are fully-vaccinated. compare that to the national rate of 48%. in baker cnty, covid cases are up 164%, and hospitalizations are up 75%. los angeles county is responding to the uptick in cases by reintroducing an indoor mask mandate that starts tonight. the county is seeing an average of more than 1,000 new cases per day. and in tokyo, the organizers of the olympic games, which open next friday, announced the first case of the coronavirus in the olympic village. the unidentified person is not a participating athlete, and went into quarantine after testing positive yesterday. >> sreenivasan: for more on the rise in covid cases, including what the latest variant could mean for children not yet eligible for vaccines, i spoke with propublica reporter caroline chen. >> i think that this is a particularly difficult time, i can imagine, for a lot of parents, who are thinking about, you know, how can i protect my kid? we want them to go back to school. schools may have already been opened and back in session.

so i think the thing that we know for sure about the delta variant is that it is more contagious, at least, than the wild type variant. what's much harder for us to assess clearly when it comes to these variants is whether they are actually causing more severe disease, because there's so many factors that go into that sort of assessment. so, not only, you know, who's getting sick, how healthy are they in the first place, but also things like hospital capacity, right, and what are the resources? those can all affect outcomes. so at this point in time, there's no sort of super-clear signal that the delta variant is going to be more dangerous to kids, particularly; have worse outcomes for kids. we haven't seen any sort of that signal. but understandably, if your kid is going back to school, things are opening up, you could still be concerned about that. and so, unfortunately, i think there is still a little bit of time until there's going to be vaccines available for the under-12s.

>> sreenivasan: so, caroline, there-- and i should put this in perspective. when we spoke in the winter, the numbers were horrendous. so if there is some good news here, it's that collectively speaking, we are doing far better than the worst of what this virus did to us, in terms of cases and hospitalizations and deaths. however, if you start to zoom in on the map, into specific areas, you start to hear and see stories of hospitals that are filling up again. and it's mostly in places where there are large populations of unvaccinated people. >> right. i mean, unfortunately, that is just what you would expect scientifically, and it's bearing out here. where the virus is going to infect and go after-- you know, i don't want to anthropomorphize the virus here, but you know, the virus will more likely be able to infect somebody who's unvaccinated. that's just a fact there so if you have clusters of people who are unvaccinated and

states are opening up and not requiring people to stay at home or wear masks, it's unfortunately inevitable that you will start to see cases surge in those areas. so, that's zooming way in. zooming way out, and looking beyond our borders, you also see other countries that are unfortunately swamped. you know, in some countries, it's the worst the pandemic has been so far, for them. and also, this is often correlated with extremely low vaccination rates. >> sreenivasan: so, when we have these sort of forces combining, meaning, we've got countries who still don't have access to vaccines, we've got pockets in the united states where people, for whatever reason, choose not to take them. does that mean that there is an opportunity here for americans to kind of breed the next variant of the virus? i mean, does the virus have a better chance of escaping immunity in populations where

not enough people are vaccinated? >> well, i think any time somebody gets infected, it is an opportunity for the virus to mutate. and we know that, you know, this is just something, you know, there's no malicious intent here with the virus. it's just, as it copies itself, sometimes mistakes happen and that creates a mutation. not every mutation is a variant that we would even care about. a lot of them may become weaker. and, you know, so it is-- it is a game of chances, in a way. you know, if we give it lots and lots of opportunities to continue infecting people, there are more chances for it to mutate, and there are more chances for one of those to become a variant that we are even more concerned about. and of course, you know, over time, with elution, the ones that are stronger are going to win out. and we're very lucky so far that the vaccines are at least somewhat effective against all of the variants of concern that we're looking at right now. we don't know if that's going to be true always. so i think about, like, what are

the parts that we can control to make the outcomes better, right? and again, as i mentioned earlier, there are factors that are not sort of inherent to the virus, things like what resources are avaible, how-- how full are the hpitals. all of these sorts of things can affect the outcomes. and vaccinations, right. so those are the things that we can act on. so, i feel then that if you're an adult who's eligible for the vaccine and you don't have any medical concerns, that's your way of being able to contribute to changing the outcomes here, for everyone. >> sreenivasan: what are you hearing from expts, when it comes to figuring out how to get that last 20% or 30% vaccinated? >> yeah, i think thest thing is to recognize that this, whatever the percentage of people in your region who haven't been vaccinated yet, they're not a monolith. so, there's not one reason or one answer. i mean, that would be maybe easier for public health

officials to combat, but unfortunately, that's not the case. so there are going to be a group of die-hard, "never going to get a vaccine, nothing you say can convince me," whether that's because they have some misinformation at hand that they're believing, or whether it's, you know, a grand conspiracy theory to them. like, they're-- unfortunately, they're just going to be people who are never going to accept vaccinations. but there are many other people who we've seen over the course of the pandemic who started out with some questions or doubts-- a lot of them which were very valid. you know, wanting to see more data, wanted to understand the safety profile. maybe that they were confused by misinformation that was going around on the internet. and, having the opportunity to have those one-on-one conversations with their provider, you know, with a family member who could kind of talk them through their fears. that's what sort of changed their mind. and so i think that there is still a good percentage that can be convinced over time with repeated conversations. and i think that it is doing a disservice to folks who have concerns and fears to just say,

you know, we're going to lump you in with people and say, like, you're a lost cause here. >> sreenivasan: caroline chen of propublica, thanks so much for joining us. >> thanks for having me. good to see you. >> sreenivas: immigrant rights advocates are calling for congressional action, after a federal judge in texas ruled yesterday that the deferred action on childhood arrivals program, or daca, is illegal. the court order does not affect the more than 600,000 people already enrolled in the progm who were illegally brought into the u.s. when they were children, but it blocks any new applications from being processed. today, president biden released a statement calling the ruling "deeply disappointing," and said the administration will appeal. he also called on congress to "ensure a permanent solution by granting a path to citizenship for dreamers that will provide the certainty and stability that these young people need and deserve."

daca has faced numerous legal challenges since the program was created in 2012 by then- president barack obama. last year, the supreme court blocked the trump administration from ending the program, though it did not rule on the legality of daca itself. >> sreenivasan: waters are receding in western europe after days of torrential rain and massive floods displaced thousands and killed more than 160 people. joshua stokes of itv news has more on the rescue and recovery. >> reporter: in western europe, the search for survivors continues. over 150 people have died, and hundreds are still missing, after days of destruction. washing away people's homes, and their livelihoods along with it. in belgium, they're searching througwhat's left of their belongings. "we are devastated," said this resident. "this is our living room. we can see how high the water has been. the water was so high".

in germany, a refuge center gathering what they can for the thousands now homeless. outside, the military have been called in to clear what remains. visiting erfstadt, the german while parts of the netherlands have declared a national emergency, expertsay this extreme weather is down to climate change. but it'll be days before leaders can assess the full extent of the damage. and for residents, it's damage that'll take months to recover from. >> sreenivasan: in the western united states, dry and windy conditions are fanng wildfires that continue to sprd rapidly. in sthern oregon, the bootleg fire has burned morehan 241,000 acres-- an area larger than new york city-- as of this afternoon. on thursday a fire cloud caused dangerous downdrafts that forced firefighters to retreat from the blaze. crews are back on the lines but officials have issued a red flag warning through tonight. the fire is already the fifth- largest in oregon in more than a

century, destroying at least 67 homes and 117 other structures. 2,000 people are currently evacuated from the area. the bootleg fire is just one of 70 wildfires burning throughout the u.s. right now. according to the national interagency fire center, as of thursday, the fires had burned more than one million acres. marcel theo hall, also known as the rapper biz markie, died last night at the age of 57. he was best known for his song "just a friend." markie was part of the developing hip hop movement in new york in the '80s. dubbed "the clown prince of hip hop" for his comedic style, markieegan as a dj and beatboxer. later, he became known for his goofy lyrics as part of the juice crew, a group that featured future big names like kool g rap and big daddy kane. ♪ you you've got what i need ♪ but you say you're just a friend ♪ >> sreenivasan: his 1989 song "just a friend" went platinum

and hit number nine on the billboard hot 100 chart. markie lost a major copyright lawsuit for sampling a song on his 1991 album "i need a haircut." the ruling set a precedent for the entire music industry, dictating that original owners pre-approve use of their music. biz markie died in los angeles. no cause of death was released, but a representative said he died peacefully with his wife at his side. >> sreenivasan: for more national and international news, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: seven years ago, a brutal attack by the islamic state forced close to 100,000 yazidis to flee from their homes in northern iraq, to nearby mount sinjar, where they were trapped for days. those unable to flee were imprisoned, sold into slavery, or killed. in march, the iraqi parliament passed a landmark yazidi survivors law,ecognizing crimes against the community as genocide and mandating compensation and assistance for

yazidi women survivors. but for many survivors, trust in the government is low, and the future remains uncertain. newshour weekend special correspondent leilmolana-allen returned to the sinjar region, now deemed safe, to talk with the survivors. >> reporter: seven years ago, an ancient people ran in their thousands up a mountain that had sustained their lifeblood for centuries. for those who came down again, their lives would never be the same. mount sinjar-- shingal to yazidis-- and the area around it, was ravaged, destroyed by those they were fleeing, the advancing insurgents of the islamic state. hundreds of thousands of yazidis were displaced, captured or killed by isis. of around 12,000 who went missin at least 5,000 have been identified as being killed, and several thousand more have been rescued since isis lost its territorial hold in 2017. the rest are still unaccounted for. today, while isis no longer holds territory here, little

else has changed. the town and its surrounding villages still lie in pieces. while some have begun to return since it was deemed safe last summer, many thousands still live in camps and tented settlements across north iraq. the landscape is dotted with sites like these; fenced-off known mass graves. you could once see human remains on the surface here. but now, the grasses have grown long and rain has washed away the evidence. but, for the families of the thousands of people still missing, they know many of their loved ones lie under the ground here. they've been waiting nearly seven years for answers, and most of them are still waiting. locals estimate there are up to 80 mass graves in the sinjar area. there are five here in the tiny village of hardan alone, which they think contain the bodies of 150 people. the exhumations have begun, and more than 100 bodies have now been identified and buried. it's an agonizingly slow process, but many here feel it hasn't been prioritized. >> ( anslated ): it's governmental negligence.

it's international negligence. an entire nation, massacred, displaced. for facilitating their return, the government does not care. especially when it comes to those displaced; it's not politically stable. >> reporter: shokor melhem is an iraqi army officer, and a yazidi himself, who has tracked the status of the mass graves since he and his unit began to discover them while pushing isis out of the area. his youngest daughter, who's seven, is called shingal. she was born on the mountain in august 2014, as her pregnant mother and her sisters ran for their lives. shukur says it is impossible for yazidis to begin to rebuild their lives here until they know the fatef their loved ones for certain. >> ( translated ): folks still don't know whether their kids, their children are still alive, dead, or buried somewhere, maybe still in captivity. it's no surprise that people are agonized and feel like this matter is being forsaken. when most people die, they only die once. for those whose families are in mass graves or kidnapped, they died a hundred times a day.

>> reporter: khalil muramchu and his family are doing their best to start again here, but they don't have much to work with. as with st of the homes in this area, isis flattened it with dynamite. not much has changed since. this was kahlil's family house. it still stands here destroyed. they were living in a camp until nine months ago, and they've come back because they do have some farmland here, but he and his children are living in tents and don't see any sign that their home will be rebuilt. >> ( translated ): it's really hard to live in a tent and to see your house in ruins, what we really are afraid of are snakes and scorpions under these collapsed houses. >> reporter: they came home because they could no longer survive in a camp with no way to work. but things aren't much better here, and every day is a struggle. withhe security restrictions intense and so little reconstruction, the economy here has collapsed, and they live on the pennies they scrape together selling eggs and goat milk to the few neighbors who have dared to return. >> ( translated ): have no future here. we can't get our old life back again. it's really hard to make a home

here. >> reporter: and it's not just the money. even as sinjar has been left a wreck, it's become a political hotspot, with multiple factions vying for power here. for a community that's deeply traumatized, living in the midst of a military zone does little to make them feel safe. iraqi and kurdish forces roam the area, as do different arms of the local shia militias known as the hashd shabi, or popular mobilization forces. fighters from the p.k.k., the kurdish resistance group outlawed by turkey, hide amidst the mountains, and the turkish military launches sporadic strikes against them. a recent survey carried out by the u.s. institute of peace found that 53% of sinj's residents-- all of them returned from displacement-- don't feel safe in the area, and 96% believe they're at risk of violence. the alternatives aren't much better. nearly 200,000 yazidis are still displaced across north iraq, many of them living in camps or basic rented accommodation. camps like this one at sharya,

near the kurdish town of duhok, where yazidi survivor laila taalo and her family once took refuge, and where thousands of displaced yazidis still live. this is the same spot where i laila's family lost 19 members when isiattacked. her uncle khalid then spent years trying to find them and bring them back. i met laila just after she and her two nieces, shaima and suheila, had been rescued, after years of being bought and sold as slaves by isis supporters across iraq and syria. at just 25, laila had lost her husband. he's still missing, presumed murdered by isis. but she managed to rescue her five-year-old son from the training camp isis had taken him to, and bring him and her infant daughter home safe when she finally escaped and found a smuggler to get her out of isis-occupied raqqa. when she spoke of going home, her eyes lit up with hope. >> ( translated ): nowhere is like shingal. i don't feel a stranger in other places in iraq, but shingal belongs to us. >> reporter: even so, she feared the trauma of further violence

would stop them going back. >> ( translated ): honestly, it is very hard. yazidis are so afraid. i don'see any future for yazidis here. it's hard to live there again. my eyes can't bear to see it. i don't have any future for myself. the only hope i have is my children. >> reporter: in the years since, laila has become a leading activist for yazidi survivors' rights and recognition of the attack as a genocide against her people. this spring, she was part of the team that pushed through the yazidi reparations bill in the iraqi parliament, which promises a stipend, land, and increased job opportunities to survivors. despite their landmark success, laila says she and her people have been let down time and again by the government and the international community. now, she'll believe it when she sees it. >> ( translated ): when i go to conferences, i talk and they listen. they feel for us, and some of them cry. the problem is, they make promises to us, but they do nothing. that's very difficult for us. >> reporter: laila has little

faith that the promise to secure and rebuild sinjar will come through, either. her nieces have already left, taking up asylum in australia. laila says she's giving up, and wants to go and join them. >> ( translated ): we want to live a normal life. this is not a huge request. i just want information about our missing people, and to rebuild shingal. it has been seven years. we are still living in camps. until when will this last? how long will we be displaced in our homeland? >> reporter: thousands of yazidis have already left iraq. without the option of going home, a historic community of nearly half a million pele is in danger of being lost for good. >> ( trslated ): it's true armed groups, scarce job opportunities, and the lack of reconstruction have turned the homecoming to shingal from a dream to a nightmare. many who have come back are already thinking about leaving again. this land, scarred so deeply and its people scattered, may soon become a lonely place to call home.

>> this is pbs newshour weekend, saturday. >> sreenivasan: finally tonight, as coronavirus cases rise worldwide, vaccinations are mandatory in some countries. the u.s. has no mandate, but there are incentive programs, including lotteries, free food d drinks, and even tickets to sports and arts events. so, what works? the carrot or the stick? in greece, the government is imposing mandates, while a factory is putting cash on the table. at cosmos aluminum, orders are up, and workers are running the production lines with masks on and social distancing rules in place. but with more than half of eeks not yet fully vaccinated, the company decided to offer a vaccine bonus worth close to $600. >> ( translated ): clearly, there are a number of people in the general population who have not been convinced yet about the

benefits of being vaccinated. we thought that by rewarding all those who were responsible, we could build on a trend among those who were more indifferent and change their minds. >> sreenivasan: reactions were positive, particularly among those who have had their shots. >> ( translated ): it was a nice surprise. it was a nice way to reward those that were responsible and listened to doctors advice. >> sreenivasan: whether the incentive works for the still- unvaccinated remains to be seen. this past wednesy, thousands of greeks marched outside parliament, when the government ordered all healthcare workers to be ccinated or face penalties. and starting yesterday, only those who showed proof of vaccination were allowed to sit indoors at bars, cafes, and restaurants. back at the aluminum company, executives say they'll stick with the bonus pay offer, hoping to avoid the cost of another covid outbreak. >> ( translated ): in a year where output and orders are going very well, we did not want to think about closing or reducing our production, even

for one day. that would have been catastrophic. >> sreenivasan: that's all for this edition of pbs newshour weekend. for the latest news updates, visit www.pbs.org/newshour. i'm hari sreenivasan. thanks for watching. stay hlthy, 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 anderson family fund. the estate of worthington mayo-smith. the leonard and norma klorfine foundation. the rosalind p. walter foundation. koo and patricia yuen,

committed to bridging cultural differences in our communities. barbara hope zuckerberg. 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.

(man) this program is made possible in part by contributions to your pbs stations from viewers like you. thank you. can you all live the ultimate retirement? you can. (man) from the new world center in miami beach, acclaimed personal finan expert suze orman provides essential advice to make your retirement more successful and secure. every little action that you take can make a tremendous difference. it's never too soon to begin. fear no more. (man) join us for suze orman's "ultimate retirement guide." please welcome suze orman! [loud cheers & applause]