♪ judy: good evening. i'm judy woodruff. on the "newshour" tonight -- vote 2021 -- president biden weighs in on the surprising results from yesterday's elections. we look at the issues that mattered to voters, and lessons for both parties looking ahead to next year's midterms. then -- guns in america -- for the first time in over a decade, the supreme court hears arguments in a firearms case that could have major implications for regulation. and -- house call -- we go door to door with health care workers as they try to increase vaccination rates by administering covid shots at patients' homes. >> it does provide yet another option for individuals to get vaccinated so that we're not just doing seven out of 10, we're hoping for 10 out of 10 eventually. judy: all that and more on tonight's "pbs newshour."

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judy: the results of yesterday's elections have turned two states on the east coast a lot less blue -- and left democrats feeling a lot more blue. congressional correspondent lisa desjardins begins our coverage of an outcome that has republicans celebrating. lisa: cheers heard around the country as virginia elected its first gop governor in more than over a decade. >> my fellow virginians. lisa: first time candidate and former investment ceo glenn youngkin defeated former virginia governor and former democratic national chairman terry mcauliffe -- the governor-elect said his win was for freedom and families. >> together, together, we will change the trajectory of this commonwealth. friends, we are going to start

and that transformation on day one. lisa: youngkin campaigned on more oversight for parents in public schools, as well tax cuts, gun rights and a pledge to heal political divides. and while former president trump endorsed him, youngkin avoided campaigning with or referencing him. with that formula republicans , flipped virginia just one year after president biden won it by 10 points. while that is an historic virginia trend rejecting a new president's party, exit polls showed republicans made particular gains with suburban women. like those we spoke with over a week ago who voted youngkin and had real concern about schools. >> people that speak out with their kids are targeted and afraid to do it. lisa: in all, it was the first statewide loss for democrats since 2009. >> thank you, god bless you. lisa: with the votes still close last night, mcauliffe waited to

concede. that came this morning. in a statement, he said, quote -- "i am confident that the long-term path of virginia is toward inclusion, openness and tolerance for all." republicans also won down ballot with winsome sears, who touted her support of gun rights, becoming the first woman of color to win lieutenant governor in the state. meanwhile in new jersey, more alarms for democrats with its -- as incumbent governor phil murphy narrowly led republican ciattarelli jack. in new york city, democratic former police chief eric adams became the second black mayor elected. >> we are so divided right now and are missing the beauty of our diversity. we have to end all of this division of who we are, where we go to worship, what do we wear. no, today we take off the intra-mural jersey and we put on one jersey team new york.

lisa: boston's new mayor will be city councilor michelle wu, making history as the first woman and person of color in the 200 years the office has existed. >> we're ready to be a boston that doesn't push people out, but welcomes all who call our city home. we're ready to be a boston where all can afford to stay and to thrive. lisa: in cincinnati, aftab pureval will be that city's first asian-american mayor. and voters in dearborn, michigan, chose the city's first arab-american mayor, abdullah hammoud. leadership was on the ballot, but so were issues. as in minneapolis, where residents voted to keep the city's police department, and reject a new agency proposed after the murder of george floyd sparked wide protests last summer. judy: the results of virginia's gubernatorial election are looming large in washington today, as president biden and congressional democrats feel

mounting pressure to find a path forward on passing his infrastructure and social spending bil. for more on this, lisa joins me, along with our white house correspondent, yamiche alcindor. hello to both of you. what is president biden's message today after the election -- the news democrats received last night? yamiche: president biden's message is that democrats need to do better and pass legislation to do better in future elections. he said democrats need to find a solution for prescription drug prices, past infrastruure plan that has not yet been passed. here is a bit of my exchange with the president. what should democrats possibly do differently to avoid similar losses in november, especially as republicans are now successfully running on cultural war issues and false claims about critical race theory? pres. biden: i think we should

produce for the american people. people need breathing room. they are overwhelmed. i think we have to produce results for them to change their standard of living and give them a little more breathing room. yamiche: that is president biden centering the idea that passing legislation is a way to avoid midterm elections suffering the losses they the president on ths idea of republicans being able to successfully run on false claims about critical race theory and the economy. the president said the way forward is to speak the truth. and he said understandably there is a lot of confusion out there about covid, children going back to school. the president say the way to figure that out is to pass legislation to give tax breaks and do all of the things in his build back that her agenda. the president said we will do

fine, talking about democrats in the midterm election. here is the president, he still says he feels confident democrats will do better next time around. judy: speaking of that legislation, as referencing the president, where does that stand? lisa: getting stuff done, is it getting done? the house is poised to move forward this week as i thought they would. the house is meeting right now and that means we could have a vote on build back better and infrastructure tomorrow. that is where leadership is going, to vote on both. everything you were talking about with the virginia election is affecting the idea, the atmosphere in congress. i want to play the difference between someone like senator joe manchin, a more moderate democrat, versus a progressive, how they saw the results last night and what it means for this

agenda. >> it is unbelievable to see what went on in virginia. and then not just not just from the governor's race, but all the way down that ticket. people have concerns, people are concerned, they're very much so. and for us to go down a path we've been going, they're trying to accelerate it, it has been slowing down. i think that we need to take our time to do it right. >> every attack that i saw against mcauliffe did not say congress hasn't passed the infrastructure bill. it had to do with education and parents. i think what we have to do is we have to get real relief to errands who are struggling, families who are struggling. that is why we have to pass these bills the infrastructure bill and the bill back better bill this week and i think that's what i'm hearing from all my colleagues. lisa: manchin is the outlier who wants to slow things down. democrats wanto speed things up when it comes to these two bills. judy: but in the senate you need

50 votes. last night you reported on a deal on prescription drug prices. what else is not resolved? lisa: there is so much happening. a few of the key points we are watching carefully that are unresolved and in discussion now, first, -- nancy pelosi put in four weeks of paid leave. that is different from what progressives wanted initially. immigration, there is a potential compromise being talked about, about five years of what is called parole for undocumented immigrants. that means it would not be a path to citizenship. that is where the house is going. on state and local tax deductions, some moderate members said they would not vote for anything unless there is more of a state and local tax deduction then currently. it would raise the cap from $10,000 to $75,500.

this house bill, whatever is voted on, is not the final. it is a first issue, first idea. the senate will respond. this will go back and forth. this is getting the process moving. that is what house democrats want to do. judy: a matter of days or weeks. lisa: i think days for the house bill 2 pass and weeks before a final end game. judy: when the president went to europe for the climate summit meetings he was saying he hoped at least one house would get this legislation passed. what is the white house doing to push this decision? yamiche: as you said, the president really wanted this to be passed, at least one of these bills. he wanted it passed while in europe, the bipartisan infrastructure bill. even though house speaker nancy pelosi was pushing lawmakers and

saying, let's give the president a vote of confidence from congress, when that did not happen, thehite house continued to engage. the president and top white house aides will make the case this is exactly what lawmakers including senator manchin, senator sinema, should be able to get behind. they say it does not add to the deficit. they are adding things back progressives wanted, like paid family leave, something critical to families, including women of color and men, who may have to take care of a family member if they are on medical leave. the president had a message for democrats as it relates to these bills, yet it on my desk. -- get it on my desk. it is anyone's guests if the president will be able to bring this together.

it could be weeks or days for the house vote. at the white house there is this feeling the president is trying to be the closer in chief. the white house is watching this closely. judy: the drama continues. yamiche the white house, lisa on the hill, thank you. to help us understand more about what these election results could mean, i'm joined by three political experts. veteran democratic strategist james carville worked on many democratic campaigns including as lead strategist for president bill clinton in 1992. he is now the co-host of the podcast, "politics war room." full disclosure -- the other co-host is my husband, journalist al hunt. former republican congresswoman barbara comstock represented northern virginia until 2019 and is now a senior adviser at the law firm baker donelson. and amy walter of the cook political report with amy walter.

hello to all three of you. amy, i will start with you because you have been looking closely at the exit polls, interviews with voters as they left their polling places yesterday. we want to understand more about who voted. tell us what you are seeing. amy: it is clear whether it is virginia or new jersey that this was a repudiation of president biden's low approval ratings nationally, also low in blue states. the exit poll in virginia showed president biden's ratings just 45%. the drag the president's disapproval rating has goes into state and local races as well as gubernatorial. all politics now is national, not local anymore. that is a big factor.

the other question, through the trump years from democrats and republicans about how sturdy this suburban movement away from republicans and democrats would be. as one democrat said to me during that, i am worried we are just renting these lawyers. based on the results of last night, it looks like they were just rented. democrats lost the ground they had made during the trump era with many suburban voters, especially those outside of the beltway in washington in and around richmond. they did not lose as much ground as going way back. they did not rebound as well as barack obama did. you combine that with solid turnout above presidential level numbers for glenn youngkin in

rural areas and that was a politically deadly combination for terry mcauliffe. judy: we could show our viewers a graphic that shows glenn youngkin pulled in 53% of suburban voters in virginia compared to former president trump, 45%, just last november. james, looking at these results of your party, what went wrong? james: what went wrong was stupid wokeness. look at buffalo, minneapolis, seattle, washington. this defund the police lunacy, take abraham lincoln's name off of schools, people see that. it has a suppressive effect across the country.

some of these people need to go to a woke detox center. it is language people don't use and there is a backlash and frustration at that. you are right, suburbanites in northern virginia and northern new jersey pulled away a bit. you never ran any ads against biden. what he did was let the democrats hold the pin and watch the grenade go off. we have to change this and not be about changing dictionaries and change laws. these factory lounge people that sit around mulling i don't know what, it is not working. look what happened in buffalo. seattle, i think republicans may have won a city race. the autonomy zone? who could have thought of something that stupid. you are hurting the party, the very people you want to help.

terry got caught up. he is a good friend of mine, a good guy. he got caught up in something national and we have to change this entirely. judy: arbor, what about from the republican perspective, what did glenn youngkin do right and what did the democrats do wrong? barbara: for glenn, he is a uniquely talented candidate, he understands politics is about addition, not subtraction, like donald trump. he is bringing people together, the sunny optimism. as james knows, it is the economy, stupid. it was the number one ise. as a competent businessman and someone involved in charity and philanthropy, his genuineness

came through. focusing on education, those are always estate issues. parents have been homeschooling their kids online and want to be engaged and involved. that michael steele called terry's line about not being involved throwing parents under the schoolbus a disastrous line. those things happen in elections. and the public safety issue, james is right. the public safety issue played in virginia. you had police and law enforcement strongly supporting glenn. he had support from democrats in the law enforcement community because of what democrats have been doing. what you saw in minneapolis and new york with the new mayor who was a former police officer, the defund the police was also disastrous. it was a perfect storm. glenn did even better with rural

base voters than donald trump did because women realized, we would like to have a nice person with a sunny personality. it was not that we dislike republican ideas, we did not like donald trump. people like me, an anti-trump republican, it was very easy to vote for a positive bringing together vision of glenn youngkin after going through the toxic years of donald trump. judy: that is what i want to ask you about, terry mcauliffe went into this campaign trying to make former president trump a big issue, try to tie lynn youngkin to him. what happened to that strategy? amy: quite frankly, it did not work for the reasons just laid out. it was hard to make glenn youngkin a trump clone because he did not embrace donald trump. yes, he did have to thread the

needle during the nomination process. he did not completely give him a stiff arm and say get away from me, but he did keep him out of that race. this will be the real question going forward. will republicans be able to do the same thing, be as disciplined as youngkin was, in 2022? there was not a traditional primary in virginia this year, which means there was not a drawn out process where former president trump could come in and make mischief. that is not likely to happen in 2022. les, many republicans do believe donald trump is the answer in their state, which may work in some states. it does not work in a state like virginia. the trump piece, while it was

critical when trump was in the white house, using trump as a lightning rod does not work when he is not there. judy: james, we heard some of your prescription for what democrats should do or not do, but what about what president biden is saying today, that if you would just pass build back better, this infrastructure bill, people will be helped and that will make a difference? how much difference will that make? james: it could make an enormous difference. it seems the numbers are getting better. there is a ton of pent up demand in this economy. i do not think we are doomed in 2022. we could have a roaring economy. build back better will give people confidence. as long as we talk about things that are relevant to people and get rid of this left wing nonsense, this claptrap, we could be fine.

we have to stop, we have to understand they are not popular around the country, people do not like them. they are voting because that is the only way they can express themselves and how much they disagree with this. it is not just virginia and new jersey, it is everywhere up to and including seattle. there is a real lesson here that can't be corrected. people have to understand, you're not popular. you are annoying people and they have to understand that. judy: to clarify, you're saying president biden is not a drag for democrats? james: he probably was somewhat, but youngkin never mentioned president biden. he just let the democrats light themselves up and terry got

caught up in it. if they get this through, they have to sell it. every democrat wants to be a policymaker. no one wants to be a salesperson. you have to tell people about your product and to stop worrying about being a self-important bureaucrat. judy: barbara, if president biden is able to get this passed, well that help democrats? barbara: i think their policies are unpopular right now and biden's numbers and terry's numbers were underwater, and trump costs as well. it was only glenn youngkin focusing on policies, the economy, schools, and public safety. he had good numbers, he was positive. if republicans get back to the

issues and popular issues, we can focus on pleasant people, and get rid of the surly sore loser in the rearview mirror, they can do better. the problem with the democrats, they will continue this infighting. we had it with our freedom caucus. now everyone is united to get back in the game. if democrats have already spent a year on this infighting, i think it had an impact. thank you very much, congress. judy: it is the day afternd a lot to chew over. thank you all, we appreciate it. ♪ stephanie: i am stephanie sy

with newshour west. will return to the main program after the headlines. the associated press called the race for new jersey for the incumbent, phil murphy, who nearly beat jack ciattarelli. republicans blocked consideration of a voting rights bill for the fourth time this year, they needed 60 votes, but fell short. they see it needed to combat restrictions on voting in at least 19 states. republicans say it would usurp state authority over elections. a judge denied a motion to receipt eight black jurors in the murder trial of ahmaud arb ery. they argue the defense struck them from the jury pool because of their race. the judge agreed there had been intentional discrimination. it leaves one black juror out of a panel of 12 in the trial of three white men who chased arbery and killed him.

young children acrs the u.s. may be getting vaccinated against covid-19 today. inoculations began after the cdc approved low doses of pfizer's vaccine for children five years old to 11 years old. meanwhile, white house officials warned against vaccine misinformation. >> every parent has a right to the facts so they can make decisions for their children based on accurate scientific information. misinformation robs them of this freedom, that's why i'm asking parents to please seek answers from credible sources. stephanie: officials also say a federal rule mandating vaccinations at large private companies will be issued in the next few days. the u.s. military warned today that china's nuclear force is growing much more rapidly than expected. a pentagon report said beijing could have 1,000 nuclear warheads by 2030. the u.s. has some 3,750. general mark milley, chair of the joint chiefs of staff, said

he does not expect china to use its growing power against taiwan -- at least within the next two years. another pentagon review has concluded no one should be punished for a u.s. drone strike that mistakenly killed 10 afghan civilians. it happened amid the chaotic u.s. pullout in august, days after an islamic state bomber killed 13 u.s. troops and 169 afghans. the review cites communications and targeting failures, but no misconduct or negligence. the un human rights office is blaming ethiopia's government and tigrayan rebels for extreme brutality in their civil war. thousands have been killed and wounded in tigray province since fighting began a year ago. and, witnesses have told of famine and mass expulsions. the government joined in the probe and barred investigators from some of the worst-affected areas. the international criminal court is opening a formal

investigation into crimes against humanity in venezuela under president nicolas maduro's rule. the probe was announced after the chief prosecutor after visiting the country and maduro. they alleged venezuelan security forces committed killings and torture in 2018. back in this country, the federal reserve will begin easing its pandemic-era economic stimulus. today's announcement came as prices for food, fuel and other goods keep rising. fed chair jerome powell acknowledged today that it's likely the problem will last well into next year. >> as the pandemic subsides, supply chain bottlenecks will abate and job growth will move back up. and as that happens, inflation will decline from today's elevated levels. of course, the timing of that is highly uncertain, but certainly we should see inflation moving down by the second or third quarter. stephanie: the fed plans to dial back its bond purchases by next summer. for the first time since 1995,

baseball's atlanta braves are celebrating a world series championship. they finished off the houston astros last night in game six. the braves erupted in the last out, marking their fourth world series title overall. stilted, on "the newshour," the health care workers making home visits and a push to improve oxidation rates. dr. gupta discusses lessons of the pandemic. a new exhibit honors the legacy of artist and educator, david driskell. plus, much more. >> this is "the pbs newshour" from weta studios in washington and from the west in the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. judy: gun rights and the second amendment were front and center.

reporter: while the supreme court said the constitution gives americans the right to keep a gun at home, gun rights advocates say that should apply outside the home as well. >> the second amendment doesn't end at your doorstep. reporter: tom king is president of the new york state rifle and pistol association. >> i think that someone who is not otherwise prohibited should be issued a concealed carry permit without any problems at all. reporter: king's group sued new york on behalf of two upstate members who are licensed to carry guns for hunting and target shooting. both were denied concealed-carry permits for self-defense because officials said they didn't prove they needed them. >> they were turned down for no reason at all. ok. no reason given other than, “i don't think that you need it.” when the supreme court recognized an individual right to gun ownership in 2008, the ruling, written by the late justice antonin scalia, acknowledged that “--the right secured by the second amendment

is not unlimited.” gun control backers argue that limits are needed to protect another right. kris brown, president of the advocacy group, “brady.” >> it's about the right to live, about our ability as americans to walk down the street, to leave our homes, to go to church, to go to synagogue and actually be able n to fear being shot. that's ultimately what's at stake in this case. reporter: while king, a member of the national rifle associations' board, says that big city gun laws do little to curb violent crime, brown says that licensing systems like new york state's do. >> states that don't have robust permitting systems have on average at minimum, about a 12 % increase or spike in gun related violence in those states. these permitting systems work. reporter: new york is one of eight states plus the district of columbia that require gun owners to prove a need for a

concealed carry permit. some of today's oral arguments focused on the history of gun regulation in america, which the court had used to establish the right to gun ownership. justice sonia sotomayor, pressed the attorney arguing for the gun group, on which history was relevant. >> in colonial america, at least four if not five states restricted on concealed arms. after the civil war, there were many, many more such states, some included in their constitution that you can have a right to arms but not concealed. i don't know how to get past that history. without you sort of making it up, saying there's a right to control states that has never been exercised in the entire history of the united states as to how far they can go in saying this poses a danger. reporter: chief justice john roberts asked one of the attorneys arguing in support of the new york law why someone

should have to show a special need to exercise a constitutional right. >> so why do you have to show in this case, convince somebody that you're entitled to exercise your second amendment right? you can say the right is limited in a particular way, just as first amendment rights are the idea that you need a license limited. to exercise the right i think is unusual in the context of the bill of rights. >> that showed one indication that the chief justice is thinking that there's something not quite right here about what's going on. reporter: marcia coyle, chief washington correspondent of the “national law journal.” >> the court appeared just as divided as thewere in 2008, and in 2008, the court was divided over what the right in the second amendment meant. but this time they're looking at what is the scope of that right.

reporter: roberts and other justices pushed the gun owners' attorney on whether the right to bear arms extends everywhere -- the new york city subway, crowded football stadiums, times square on new years' eve. >> this is why this case is difficult. there is this balance between public safety and a constitutional right. reporter: the court will likely rule by next summer. for the “pbs newshour,” i'm john yang. ♪ judy: even as vaccinations for younger children are expected to ramp up soon, covid-19 vaccination rates for adults have slowed across much of the country. nationally, about 70% of americans 18 years and older are fully vaccinated. but many cities and states aren't giving up on pushing that number higher. amna nawaz reports on one effort in washington, d.c. that brings vaccines straight to residents' homes.

amna: every morning in this washington, d.c. warehouse begins like this -- nurses prepping, packing up, and rolling out portable subzero freezers full of covid-19 vaccines. patrick: today, we're doing 20 vaccinations. amna: patrick ashley helps lead the district's health emergency response. that includes this program that takes the vaccine straight to people's homes. patrick: we want to take out any excuse they might have for why they would not get vaccinated. so we've heard from some people that it's child care. so we take we've taken that away. we've heard that it's hard to find. pick up a phone, we will schedule it for you, come to your house. my name is adae. askmy name is adae. i'm calling from department of health. i'm calling regarding your vaccination for today. amna: on this day adedelapo adegbite -- she goesy adae -- is one of two nurses crisscrossing the district to dole out doses.

adae: with this homebound, it literaly makes people feel safe. i'm in my home, i have a nurse coming to me. i get to be in the comfort of my zonemy home, and i feel they feel safer. amna: since launching this spring, d.c.'s at-home vaccine program has administered more than 1500 shots. it's a fraction of the one million shots the city has given out. but officials say it's just one part of the district's plan to boost its vaccination rate which, at around 75%, is already higher than the national average at about 73%. patrick: we're not going to get everybody with this program, but it does provide yet another option for individuals to get vaccinated so that we're not just doing seven out of 10, we're hoping for 10 out of 10 eventually. in fact, the majority of residents using the service are getting their first covid vaccination. but adegbite's first stop today is to administer boosters to 90 year old peggy templeman and her caretaker lillian bazemore. both were originally vaccinated in the spring.

peggy: it's difficult fome to get out and about. amna: so if they hadn't come to you to give you the shots, how would you have gotten your vaccine? peggy: i would have had to go out. which would have been kind of difficult for me, more difficult than staying in the house. amna: bazemore says she works around the clock, making it hard to go get a vaccine during business hours, even though it's crucial for her job. lillian: i work around seniors and i'm always around seniors. i can't afford for any of them to get sick. so i'm afraid to take something to them, you know, even though i might not feel bad, i wouldn't want to jeopardize them in that fashion. amna: adegbite delivers the doses, monitors for side effects, and answers questions on site. sometimes, she asks some of her own. especially now that demand, she says, has ticked up. amna: do you ever ask them why they waited till now to get the shot or why they're getting it

now? adae: for first dosers when you ask, it's like my job is making me get it. amna: most of them because they're getting them because of mandates. adae: right or, i didn't know i could get it or i didn't know how serious it was. , there'another variant and it's like, wow, yeah, yeah. and for some people it's just education. amna: health officials tell us among the many reasons they hear for why people choose to get vaccinated at home, privacy is something they hear often. in fact, even though most of the shots they administer are first or second doses, none of those patients wanted to talk to us today. dr. hildreth: whatever avenues are available to us to get more shots in arms we need to take advantage of them. amna: dr. james hildreth of nashville's meharry medical college says every shot counts. and figuring out how to get to people who aren't looking for the vaccine is a challenge for health officials nationwide. dr. hildreth: trust is a huge issue here. so whether it's a city or state or federal agency that's trying to get more vaccines, we have got to identify trusted

organizations and trusted individuals to be engaging the communities, those who are resistant to vaccines, because that really is what makes the difference when you have someone engaging, those who are hesitant, who they trust or respect. >> we are going to the last morning appointments. amna: back in washington, d.c., adegbite's day continues. house after house, shot after shot. amna: do you think about the role that you're playing and sort of the bigger picture ending this pandemic every day? adae: initially it wasn't much of like, i just felt like i was working like this, just me doing my day to day work. but knowing what the covid did to everybody and how long it's taken for us to like, get over it it's really exciting to know that people are actually coming out now for whatever reason they're coming out to get it. we're just glad that we were able to help. one house, one patient, and one shot at a time. for "the pbs newshour," i'm amna nawaz in washington, d.c. ♪

judy: late next month, it will be two years since china confirmed a mysterious new virus was behind a cluster of pneumonia-like infections in the city of wuhan. as of today, that virus, covid-19, has claimed the lives of over 5 million people worldwide and nearly 750,000 americans. many questions about the virus still exist, but much more is known, as well. we see that in a new book by dr. sanjay gupta: "world war c: lessons from the covid-19 pandemic and how to prepare for the next one." in it, he has insights about the last two years, and some optimism about the future. and dr. gupta joins us now. welcome to "the newshour."

we are used to seeing you on cnn. thank you for joining us to talk about the book. you end this book on hope and talk about a fight for the future, but also have a sobering message throughout that -- you quote experts that this could just be a dress rehearsal, that many of us in our lifetime are going to see another pandemic. why do they believe that? dr. gupta: i think what most people believe when they look at these emerging pathogens are that these jumps of pathogens from animal to human are happening more frequently because the population of humans is increasing, we are encroaching on animal habitats and that is where the majority of these pathogens come from. that is likely to happen. that is the part that alarms people. i think the optimistic part is that it does not mean those

pathogens have tturn into pandemics. that is what struck me over the last year and a half, talking to experts all over the world, this idea we could become pandemic proof, first it sounded audacious, but became increasingly real, those jumps may happen, but do not have to happen what happened here. judy: mistakes were made by developed countries like the united states that we would have assumed would have known bette what are mistakes you have seen and what are the prescriptions for avoiding them in the future? dr. gupta: i will preface by saying pre-pandemic united states was listed as the past prepared country in the world. a wealthy country, lots of resources. we know how that turned out. there were times when we had the highest number of cases per capita, and overall in the

world. there were a couple of specific mistakes and philosophical mistakes. one mistake was testing. in order to diagnose a problem in medicine, whether it be an individual patient or societal pandemic, you have to understand what you are dealing with. with this particular pandemic, for lots of reasons, we simply were not testing. we did not do testing early enough. even when the tests world out, and part because they were flawed, we did not have enough widespread testing. it is still a problem now. in the fall of 2021, it is hard to get a clear idea of how widespread the problem is. if i were to ask a simple question, how many people have been exposed to covid in the u.s., you would get lots of different answers from different experts.

i second big one, if you look at the data coming out of wuhan at a time they were saying look, it is not that bad, does not appear to be spreading human to human, they were shutting down a city of 11 million people. that should have been a significant clue that this was not only spreading, but seemed to be spreading asymptomatically, meaning people did not have symptoms, yet were still spreading. that should have been a clear indicator that masks would be necessary. we did not start leaning into masks in the u.s. until later in the spring, whereas other countries including china, south korea, many countries were doing masks earlier. those were specific things. philosophically, when you live in a wealthy country, a lot of times you have this belief that

we can wait for the homerun hit, then knockout punch, we don't have to do these simple things. we can do the big thing when it comes. the big thing was the vaccine. as a result of waiting so long, we missed a lot of opportunities to have prevented a lot of deaths. hundreds of thousands of deaths have -- potentially prevented. judy: and we'll have the rest of my conversation with dr. sanjay gupta tomorrow on the newshour. ♪ judy: artist david driskell died last year of covid at age 88. a longtime collector, who raised the profile of african amereican art and artists, his own paintings are now getting their due. jeffrey brown has this report for our arts and culture series,

canvas. jeffrey: scenes of city life and nature. of christian religious imagery and african masks. they were subjects david driskell would return to again and again in his more than 6 decades as an artist. work, says art historian and curator adrienne childs, that deserves to be better known. >> why are we looking at david driskell now? it's because it's about time! i think his work was overlooked because his energy was not funneled into getting his work on the wall. it was funneled into getting others noticed. artist, historian, curator, educator, collector -- driskell influenced several generations of artists and students and helped change the landscape of american art generally with exhibitions such as his 1976 landmark “two centuries of black american art”howcasing en under-recognized individuals and art forms. art historian julie mcgee is author of a biography of driskell.

>> i think there are probably five david driskells. five? yeah, or maybe more than that. i think he absolutely felt a sense of mission to be an educator. the way that factored into his life was as an art educator an , art historian, who took up the mantle to ensure that african-american art was known and that african-american artists were supported. jeffrey: now, driskell is being celebrated for his own art, in “david driskell: icons of nature and history,” co-organized by the high museum of art in atlanta and the portland museum of art in maine. julie mcgee is its curator. adrienne childs is coordinating curator for the installation at its current stop, washington d.c.'s phillips coection. one of the earliest works here: the 1956 painting “behold thy son,” a response from driskell to the gruesome murder of 14 year old emmett till in mississippi a year earlier.

till's mother had insisted the casket be open so the world could see the viciousness of the racist attack. >> driskell comes up with this interesting take on it in “behold thy son” where his mother, the beaten boy's mother, is holding him up and presenting him in church to the congregation. jeffrey: it's painting almost in real time, but it's also looking to the history of art, right? i mean, the crucifixion, christ on the cross. >> he's definitely looking through the history of western art in this case. but bringing it home. jeffrey: another subject for driskell: scenes of urban black life. he painted “ghetto wall #2” in 1970: a brick wall, graffiti, a figure in black, the american flag exploded, in pieces amid a riot of color. >> it is very much an artist who is using the canvas to express the experience of living in america in 1970.

the associations that david driskell would have as a black man in america. what is it? do i love america? is the flag: i, you, me? is it a shattered promise? jeffrey: color, form, surface, composition -- driskell was looking at artists like cezanne and rembrandt and constantly experimenting as a painter. his homage to romare honors the artist romare bearden and his work with collage. driskell then developed his own collage technique, seen in paintings like “upward bound” in 1980 and “flowing like a river” in 1996. driskell taught all his life: at talladega college, howard and fisk universities and, beginning in 1977, the university of maryland. which in 2001 established the david c. driskell center, dedicated to furthering scholarship in african american and african diaspora art and culture.

he also had a longtime home and studio in falmouth, maine, where he continued to work on another great love: scenes from nature, especially, in a variety of forms, the pine tree. julie mcgee would often visit him there. >> there's something about the studio space that was a creative sanctuary for him, that provided -- for him. i would say it is the audacity that he had as an artist and creator that enabled him to be the curator and scholar that he was. jeffrey: driskell, who collected and painted african masks often spoke of art as a priestly calling. here he is in a 2020 interview for the phillips collection. >> everybody has a calling, everybody has a field that they are supposed to be dedicated to.

if one can define that field beyond self, and be inclusive of others, then that's one of the most important things that can be done, if you can pass it on, if you can say here is my gift to you. jeffrey: he often walked through the galleries of the phillips. when he was a student at howard university, washington, d.c. was still a segregated city and the museum was one of the few cultural spaces open to him. >> there is a sense of coming full circle back to the phillips, where he was a student. where he was as a student, yes. >>1 -- >> it is bittersweet to be in his studio going from the 1950's , up into the 2000's. and he's not here. jeffrey: david driskell helped with the early coordination of this exhibition -- it was meant to coincide with his 90th birthday. he worked to the end of his life, dying of covid at age 88

on april 1st, 2020. the exhibition, “david driskell: icons of nature and history continues in washington through january 9th, 2022, and then moves to the cincinnati art museum. for the pbs newshour, i'm jeffrey brown at the phillips collection. judy: "the newshour that is "the newshour" for tonight. i am judy woodruff. join us tomorrow evening. from all of us at "the pbs newshour," these stay safe and we will see you soon. >> maj funding for the "the pbs newshour" has been funded by -- >> the rules of business being reinvented by embracing innovation, looking not only at current opportunities, but looking ahead to future ones. >> people who know, know bdo. >> consumer cellular's goal is to help people communicate and

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>> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting and the contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. ♪ >> this is "pbs newshour west" from weta studios in washington and from our bureau of the walter cronkite school of journalism at arizona state university. ♪ [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy.] ♪ ♪ >> you are watching pbs.

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