captioning sponsored by wnet >> sreenivasan: on this edition for sunday, october 17: american missionaries are kidnapped in haiti. why native american tribes are increasingly willing to pay to reclaim ancestral lands. and the many acts of musician- turned-actor-turned musician stevie van zandt. 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.

leonard and norma klorfine. 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. atutual 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 plans designed to help people do more of what they like. our u.s.-based customer service team can help find the 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. a group of 17 missionaries, including five children, was kidnapped in haiti late yesterday. the ohio-based religious organization the missionaries are associated with said an armed gang abducted the group. christian aid ministries said the missionaries were traveling from an orphanage outside of port-au-prince when they were captured. the group includes 16 americans and one canadian. the u.s. state department said in a statement that it was aware of the kidnapping reports, but had no additional information as of late this afternoon. kidnappings for ransom in haiti are common. the country has been experiencing a spike in gang violence that predates the assassination of president jovenel moïse in july. the news of the kidnappings comes just days after u.s. officials visited haiti and pledged to provide more financial support for the country's security forces. in the united kingdom, multiple news reports identified the suspect in the stabbing death of

a member of parliament as a british citizen of somali heritage today. the bbc and others reported the man inustody since friday's attack is 25-year-old ali harbi ali. police are now reportedly lding him under the country's terrorism act. officials said they are not looking for any other suspects, and that the early investigation points to islamist extremism as a motivation in the killing of sir david amess. the chinese military accused the u.s. and canada of threatening peace and stability today after the countries each sent warships through the taiwan strait last week. the warships sailed through the narrow waterway that separates taiwan from china on thursday and friday. china claims democratically- ruled taiwan as its own territory. in a statement, china's military said the u.s. and canada "made provocations and stirred up troubles." over the past few weeks, china has flown close to 150 aircraft into the airspace near taiwan. the u.s. military said last

week's exercise demonstrates the commitment of the united states and its allies to a free and open indo-pacific region. the venezuelan government suspended talks with the country's u.s.-backed opposition leaders which were set to resume in mexico today. yesterday venezuela's negotiating team announced the government would not be attending the next round of talks today in mexico city, just hours after a venezuelan envoy was extradited from cape verde, africa to the u.s. businessman alex saab is a close ally of president nicolas maduro, and a member of venezuela's negotiating team. he is wanted on money laundering charges. the meetings, which began in august in mexico, are aimed at solving venezuela's political crisis. there was no word on whether the venezuelan government is abandoning negotiations altogether. former president bill clinton was released from a southern california hospital today. mr. clinton was hospitalized tuesday for treatment a urological infection that doctors said was not related to covid-19. hillary clinton accompanied the

75-year-olformer president today. he is expected to return to their home in new york and to continue receiving antibiotics. for more national and international news, visit pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: the delta wave of covid-19 here in the united states continues to subside, with daily confirmed infections down 50% on average compared to the beginning of september. but while things are moving in a positive direction here, the data from other parts of the world is not as encouraging. in russia, officials reported a record-high number of confirmed cases over the past hours, and nearly 1,000 deaths. vaccinations have been slow to get into arms there, as the country battles some of the same skepticism and hesitancy seen in the u.s. caroline chen, who covers public health for "propublica," joined me for more about the continuing covid-19 risk and vaccine rates around the world. caroline, one of the reasons we

are having this conversation is new data that's come out that shows how significant covid is as a cause of death, especially in people that are 35-54. >> new data that has come out analyzing that, sort of, burden of mortality has shown that for 35-54, at some point, some months in this past pandemic, covid has been the number one cause of death. >> sreenivasan: you know, because most of the time, or at least early on, we were worried about the elderly, we were worried about the auto immune suppressed. is this population, say for example, in september, the 35-54 year olds, are the bulk of these people dying because they are unvaccinated? >> i would say the bulk of these people who are dying are definitely unvaccinated. and i think we have this added factor of the delta variant, and we're, sort of, seeing the impact here because it is so much more infectious. >> sreenivasan: the population

of concern for millions of americans right now are their schoolchildren that are in some way shape or form back in full time school, part time school, maybe some are in zoom school classes when those recommended doses of vaccines will be available to children. >> yeah, and hari, as we've talked about a couple of times now, the reason why it's taken so long is because children may be getting a different dose, particularly the really young children. and so, you have to go through a rigorous process to assess what is, what they call the "goldilocks dose." you know, small, smaller, so it'll be safer and have fewer reactions, but a big enough dose that it will be effective. so, where we are right now is that pfizer has submitted data to the f.d.a. for 5-11 year olds, and i am hopeful to see the 5-11s have an option for vaccine by the end of this year. >> sreenivasan: while americans, some americans, still hesitate on taking a vaccine that has

been available for months and months, we still see a large scale disparity on other parts of the planet, other countries that don't have either access or the ability to deploy these vaccines very quickly. and so, there's this sort of ethical dilemma that's also presenting itself to americans. should we be getting a third shot or a booster shot before millions of people even get their first? >> yeah, i so appreciate you bringing this up, because i think so many people don't even realize that there are countries that are waiting for their first shots still. and i think it's really important for us to be thinking about the impact of boosters, especially over the long term, but the people who are in the hospital today, who are being hospitalized, people who are dying, are people who haven't even gotten their first shot, whether this is in the u.s. or outside of the u.s. and so, i think this is a really important question for every government to be grappling with. and, you know, the consortium called covax, which is the

w.h.o., cepi, gavi, a number of different alliances together, are asking countes to basically give up their spot in the manufacturing production and swap. so, say you're a wealthy nation, you have a shipment of moderna vaccine coming your way, but you have abundance already. can you swap your schedule slot with a country that's been waiting for their first doses? so, i do think this is a very high level discussion, and i don't know at this point that if you as an individual citizen, sort of, refuse your booster, at that point, the shipment might have already been made to your local pharmacy, right. so, that's very hard to unwind. but at this macro level, i do think global leaders need to be really thinking seriously about this picture and thinking about other countries. >> sreenivasan: "propublica's" caroline chen, thanks so much. >> thank you.

>> sreenivasan: we continue our two-part report toght on the growing movement among native americans to reclaim land that once belonged to them. tomorrow, the u.s. department of the interior is set to begin a series of consultations with nativemerican tribes on how to return more land to tribal management, or even ownership. but much of ancestral native american land is in private hands, causing tribes to take a more commercial approach to social justice. newshour weekend special correspondent kira kay has the second part of our report. >> ladies and gentlemen, good evening from kamiah, idaho. >> reporter: the chief looking glass powwow is the cultural and social event of the year for the nez perce tribe. it is first and foremost an intense dance competition, held on the grass of the community

center on the tribe's idaho reservation. last year's powwow was cancelled because of covid-19, so this is also a bittersweeteunion, with families camping together for the weekend. >> here we go, junior girls traditional. >> reporter: dancers of all ages compete in various categories. your rhythm and footwork are important. so is your personal flair, including the design of your regalia. >> these are elk teeth-- imitation, but the real ones, only two comes with every animal. so, if you have this many on there, your husband would have to be a very, very good hunter. >> you have nobody to blame but yourself if you are out of shape, you know, because you had a whole year to get into shape. >> reporter: amidst the lighthearted banter and the impressive athleticism, there is also a nod to the tribe's tragic history: its war with the u.s. army and expulsion from its homeland. >> we recognize our ancestors

and the struggle and sacrifice that they went through. and it was during that time in 1877 that our people were driven out of this valley. >> reporter: the nez perce fought, and fled, across 1,800 miles of some of the most difficult terrain on the continent. old women and newborn babies were killed. the bloody pursuit ended in surrender and confinement for the survivors. >> where ogon, idaho, and washington now sit, i like to call that-- they're a part of the united kingdom of the nez perce. and-- and so, each of those states have portions that lie within our territory. >> reporter: we met tribal vice- chair shannon wheeler in the wallowa valley of northeast oregon. he's been coming here all his life, as visitor. >> the first thing you notice of course is wa-walmuks, the mountains here. the second thing i noticed was the water when i'd come over here as a kid. >> reporter: but you would come and stay in a hotel on your land? >> yes, yes. or a tent. yeah. >> reporter: it remains a sacred

and special place for the tribe. >> our people are buried all over here, and there have been many inadvertent discoveries and, and their remains not handled correctly. >> reporter: the nez perce had lived on this land for 16,000 years. the u.s. government granted them rights to 7.5 million acres, including the wallowa valley, in an 1855 treaty made in exchange for access to trade routes to the pacific. >> we agreed to live in peace. we agreed to do the things that we promised within the treaty, and our people upheld those things. >> reporter: and the u.s. had accepted that? >> yes. >> reporter: and then changed their mind? >> after gold was discovered. it took, like, 14 years, and then the united states army, well, we're going to forcibly remove you now. >> reporter: their land was reduced to a reservation only 5% the size of the tribe's original territory. much of their sacred spots and

rich farmland excluded. at the heart of the lost territory sits am'saaxpa, or land of the boulders, where the most famous of the nez perce leaders, chief joseph, held his council. today, the nearby town of joseph, oregon, has become an artsy tourist stination, celebrating chief joseph, but with little hint of the ethnic cleansing that led to the creation of towns like this. am'saaxpa became the hayes family farm, but the last of the hayes family died in 2014. and then, last year, a tribe official got word the property was for sale. another bidder wanted to put a housing development on the land, but the nez perce pulled together $3.3 million to buy it themselv. coast to coast, other tribes are also buying back their lost land when it hits the market. in maine, the passamaquoddy saw a real estate listing. and with the support of an environmental consortium, bought back pine island.

>> what an honor to be above our land. >> reporter: they had been given it in thanks for their assistance to the colonists during the revolutionary war, but lost it when maine became a state in 1820. near california's big sur, the esselen tribe bought the 1,200 acre adler ranch, again with the help of a nature conservancy. an esselen representative likened it to getting back the tribe's sistine chapel. and just a few hours north, the yuk tribe has spent 10 years slowly buying back more than 70,000 of the half a million acres once taken. back at the idaho powwow, nez perce tribe members see their purchase as a reassertion of their identity. >> the government has had control of us, the army has had control of us, the christian church have had control of us. and now we are getting back some of the power that we had in the past. >> it does bring that healing, and it also brings a responsibility for us to take care of that land again.

i can't wait to go camp on that land, you know, just to set up a teep, set up a tent. >> reporter: and this past july, a moment 144 years in the making: the nez perce returned on horseback to the land they now again own, for a blessing ceremony. >> those same bloodlines that had to leave are still alive. and that's what this ceremony was for, to be able to let those emotions out, so that our people could walk from this day forward with a better heart. >> reporter: behind is good news though, is the lingering question of whether paying for land rewards historical wrongs. the owner ofhis land though, he called it a business transaction. >> yeah. he was dinitely all about business, uh-- uh-- and he benefited from it. >> reporter: there are people who might watch this and say,“ problem solved. they'll just pay for it.” are you worried that you're setting a bad precedent? >> if we set a precedence of

this is the way that we have to do it, then that's what we're having to do. at some point in time in the future, we would hope that the federal government would see that, "what we did was wrong." the-- this tribe and these people need to be compensated for that. we have to fight for every ounce that we get, and if we have to pay for some of it, then that's what we have to do. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> sreenivasan: anyone who thinks there are no second acts in life obviously never met musician and actor stevie van zandt.“ little stevie,” as he is often known, has had a second, a third... actually, it's hard to say just how many acts he's had. and nohe has a memoir, too. newshour weekend's christopher booker talked with van zandt about his career choices and success. >> reporter: stevie van zandt

believes there are two types of people in the world: solo artists and band members. >> i'm a band guy. i'm an ensemble guy. i like bringing people together and finding the common ground, you know. >> reporter: but to van zandt, "band" can mean different things. there is his role with bruce springsteen and the e street band, as well as southside johnny and the asbury jukes, and as frontman in little steven and the disciples of soul. but then there are also his television roles. was part of a criminal band in "the sopranos." as he recounts in his new memoir, "unrequited infatuations," his shifting band guy story starts, not surprisingly, with rock n' roll. it went like this: born in boston, raised in new jersey, falls in love with music in the early '60s. gets a guitar, learns to play, and then the beatles chang things for him entirely. fit on ed sullivan and then with the release of "sgt. pepper's lonely hearts club band," opening his eyes to the artistic possibilities of a life in music, van zandt considering himself part of the third

generation. >> and then here we come. we're like, we take it all for granted. plus, it became a legitimate business in the '70s, you know, so, we were really the luckiest generation, i think,n that sense. >> reporter: he may have been among a lucky musical generation, but it still took a tremendous aunt of work. the hustle and effort of his early days spent playing night after night in venues like new jersey's stone pony are cemented in musical lore. >> i am kind of a later starter. you know. i didn't start really actively becoming an artist until my 30s. you know, i didn't become an actor 'til my 40s, you know what i mean? so, everything was, kind of, delayed a couple of decades. ( laughs ) >> reporter: so, you don't consider those periods when you were young and in your 20s-- you're playing all the time. you don't consider that period to be an artistic period for you? >> no, that's a craft period. you know, i think you're learning your craft or multiple crafts. you know, you're a guitar

player, you're-- you're a singer, you're a bandleader, you're an arranger, you're a producer, you know. these are all crafts. >> reporter: van zandt worked for years on his craft, recording, playing and touring some of springsteen's seminal albums: "born to run," "darkness on the edge of town" and "the river." in 1982, van zandt released his first solo effort, and two years later he left the e street band right before "born in the usa" was released. was it a painful decision in hindsight? >> oh, yeah. yeah. the most painful of my life, yeah. yeah. you know, you do what-- you do what you're compelled to do. >> reporter: "born in the usa," which van zandt co-produced, went on to become a cultural phenomenon, selling more tn 30 million copies worldwide. the ensuing tour was a stadium extravaganza. s it painful because of just how big thin then got immediately after, or...? >> i couldn't even picture that level of success. you know, "the river" did three million and i thought, that's

the most you can ever sell. we're selling out arenas. what else do you need to do, you know? ( laughs ) no, no, it was leaving one of my best, my best friend. >> reporter: van zandt stayed plenty busy, though, releasing his own politically charged solo music through the decade, while organizing an entirely new type of band. artists united against apartheid urged musicians who had long performed at south africa's casino resort, sun city, to refuse to play there while apartheid stood and nelson mandela remained in jail. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> that was my whole life at that point. so, i was completely committed to it, you know? >> reporter: while his efforts were applauded by critics and fellow musicians, his solo career failed to find a wider audience, and by the '90s his career had slowed down. but toward the end of the decade, the phone rang with an offer to join yet another band. >> you know, a guy calls up and says, you know, "this is david chase and you want to be an actor," you know.

well, not really. ( laughs but i got nothing better to do, you know! >> reporter: for seven seasons, on what has been called one of the most groundbreaking television shows in history, van zandt played silvio dante, the best friend and consigliere to mob boss tony soprano. along the way, he would also rejoin the e street band. was it liberating to write a book, to take stock and process all of these periods and try to create one thing? >> really going back and living the moments chronologically helped me understand why i made some decisions, you know, that i've always wondered about, you know. i don't look back on anything i did artistically and think, and think i wish i'd done something different or better. i really, really quite happy with my work when i went back and really reexamined it. you know, that's the thing. jump in and 100% craft, craft, craft. it comes down to craft. the art takes care of itself.

>> this is pbs newshour weekend, sunday. >> sreenivasan: finally tonight, what happens when you combine the capabilities of a bipedal walking robot and a flying drone? researchers at the california institute of technology might have the answer. it can fly, walk a slackline, and, yes, skateboard. researchers at caltech's center for autonomous systems and technologies call the 2.5 foot tall robot “leonardo,” which stands for “legs onboard drone”" or “leo” for short. leo is part robot, part drone, the first to use both multi- joint legs and four propeller- based thrusters. >> leonardo is unique because it combines two modes of locomotion in a very elegant way to achieve locomotions that are not possible before with previous

robots. >> sreenivasan: leo's cameras and sensors-- including the ones on his feet-- help him navigate, so he can take on difficult activities like skateboarding. >> skateboarding is a hard task. we as humans try for weeks to be able to skateboard without falling. basically, the robot uses the extensions of its legs to be able to steer the skateboard right and left, and then the propellers by tilting the body. >> sreenivasan: researchers hope that leo can be used for challenging and potentially dangerous tasks in the future. >> when we designed leo, we envisioned that leo can solve problems that are difficult for people. for example, inspection of high voltage lines, or painting of tall bridges, because leo, using the ground contact, is more robust than a drone, and it can leverage this ground contact to be able to make these activities much safer and with more efficiency.

>> 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. bernard and denise schwartz. the cheryl and philip milstein family. the anderson family fund. the estate of worthington mayo-smith. leonard and norma klorfine. 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.

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